266 THE DIVING DUCKS 



Great Britain during the Nesting-Season," 1 he was only able to record 

 the breeding of the pochard from three districts the Tring reservoirs 

 on the borders of Herts and Bucks, Norfolk, and three localities in 

 Yorkshire. At the present time it has extended its range to all the 

 east coast counties of England, as well as along the south coast west- 

 ward to Dorset. It also holds its own in Herts and Bucks, and has 

 bred in Bedford and Berks as well as in Stafford and Lancashire. 

 But in Scotland, where More had no records, it is now widely distri- 

 buted, and breeds on many lochs from the Border counties northward, 

 and is extending its range even to the outlying island groups. In 

 Ireland it is also said to have bred in various localities, but more 

 evidence is wanted here. The case of the tufted-duck is even more 

 extraordinary. Up to about 1850 it was only known as a winter visitor, 

 but in 1849 a brood was observed in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 

 and in 1854 in Notts. Now it breeds regularly, not only in most of the 

 English counties, but has nested in Anglesey, and probably also in 

 Merioneth ; in Scotland it is now very widely distributed, and in some 

 places is extremely plentiful, and it ranges north to the Orkneys and 

 west to the Outer Hebrides ; 2 while in Ireland, where no case of 

 breeding was known prior to 1877, it is now well established in every 

 province, and is still spreading. 



The pochard and tufted-duck differ from the other diving ducks 

 in being much less marine in their habits, preferring, when possible, to 

 seek their food in fresh water. Like the other ducks they are migra- 

 tory, and large numbers visit us in winter from the Continent, while 

 the birds which breed with us forsake their nesting haunts and betake 

 themselves to the lakes and estuaries of our larger rivers, only visiting 

 our coasts as a rule during severe weather. During the winter they 

 tend to congregate in large or smaller flocks, feeding chiefly during 

 the night, and also performing their migratory movements at this 



1 Ibis, 1865, p. 445. 



2 For details as to the spread of this species in Scotland, see J. A. Harvie-Brown, Proc. 

 Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin., vol. xiii. p. 144 ; and Antials Scot. Nat. Hist., 1896, p. 5. Cf. also 

 W. Evans, torn, cit., p. 148. 



