Mr Buchanan on the Breeding of the Pochard. 105 



quickly attracted the attention of a number of local poachers, 

 and these men, Mr Jameson informed me, despatched at 

 least seven tons of diseased eels to the London market. 

 When the ice finally broke up, it was found that the edges 

 of the loch, chiefly at one extremity where the water flowed 

 out, were literally lined with dead fish, which it was necessary 

 to remove and bury. Mr Jameson had twelve cart-loads of 

 these offensive dead fish buried. They consisted of about 

 two-thirds eels and one-third roach and perch, but not a 

 single pike was found dead. The cause of this destruction, 

 in Mr Jameson's opinion, was that the very considerable 

 amount of sewage which is always discharged from the town 

 into the loch is rendered less noxious in ordinary seasons by 

 evaporation. This year the gases could not escape, being 

 bound down under thick-ribbed ice. This was very obvious, 

 Mr Jameson said, as on holes being bored in the ice, very 

 offensive effluvia was immediately felt. This fact I cannot 

 corroborate, in so far that I happened to see a gentleman 

 testing the depth of the loch through a hole he had made in 

 the ice, and I did not observe any smell, though I have no 

 doubt Mr Jameson did on other occasions. The fact that 

 no pike were found among the dead fish is interesting, and 

 seems to show that these tyrants of the lake possess stronger 

 constitutions than their co-habitants, including eels, or else 

 some habit in the pike had tended to its preservation. 



Xll. Note on the Breeding of the Pochard (Fuligula ferina) 

 in the SoiUh-iuest of Perthshire. By J. Hamilton 

 Buchanan, Esq. 



(Bead 29th May 1879.) 



The accompanying series of eggs were collected by Mr 

 Gibson and myself at a loch in the south-west of Perthshire, 

 on the 22d of this month. It includes six pochards which 

 we were fortunate enough to secure. The nest was placed 

 among very tall reeds. It seemed to be somewhat similar to 

 a coot's in structure, and was lined with a small quantity of 

 down. When we approached within ten yards of it the 



