244 THE DIVING DUCKS 



well as thin-shelled Mollusca and Crustacea, and Newstead has recorded worms and 

 grass. Sand and small pebbles are usually found in the gizzard. The young are 

 tended by the duck, and though able to dive at an early age, pick up their food at 

 first on the surface of the water. [F. c. R. J.] 



6. Song Period. The low, soft courting-notes are only uttered early in the 

 spring, several weeks before breeding takes place. [F. c. R. J.] 



TUFTED-DUCK [Nyroca fuligula (Linnaeus); Fuligula cristdta (Leach). 

 Curre, tuftie, black-wigeon, magpie-diver ; goldeneye, arp (Norfolk) ; 

 covey-don (Sussex) ; black-pocker (Yorks.). French, morillon ; German, 

 Eeiher-Ente ; Italian, moretta]. 



I. Description. The tufted-duck is to be distinguished by the more or 

 less conspicuous pendant occipital crest, the almost uniform black or brown 

 coloration of the upper parts, and the broad white bar across the secondaries. The 

 sexes differ in coloration, and the male undergoes a seasonal change of plumage. 

 (PI. 161.) Length 17 in. [431 mm.]. The male in full dress has the head and 

 neck black with a purple gloss, the rest of the upper parts dull black with a green 

 gloss on the secondaries, which are crossed by a broad white band. The belly and 

 flanks are white, while the under tail-coverts are black. The beak is slate-grey 

 tipped black, the legs and toes slate-blue, the iris yellow. The eclipse dress 

 resembles that of the female, the crest being greatly reduced in size, while the flanks 

 are clouded by black vermiculations. The female is readily distinguished ; the 

 wing, as in the case of the male, has a broad white, black-bordered band, while the 

 rest of the upper parts are of an almost uniform dark brown hue, darker on the 

 scapulars and wings, the breast is a dull, brownish white, and the flanks are dark 

 brown, with traces of grey vermiculations. The short, wide beak, and the very 

 dark hue of the upper parts distinguishes the female of the tufted-duck from the 

 female of the rare ferruginous duck, which it otherwise resembles. Immature 

 birds resemble the female, but have no crest, the breast mottled with dusky 

 brown, and a patch of whitish brown on the lores. Young males are darker than 

 the females of the same age. The young in down is of a uniform dark brown 

 above, save for a faint trace of a whitish brown spot near the base of the tail, and 

 an obscure band of pale brownish over the eye and the sides of the head. The 

 under parts are white, [w. p. p.] 



3. Distribution. There is no evidence of the breeding of this species in 



