TUFTED DUCK 247 



These eight diving clucks are all interesting, and some of them 

 very handsome birds in their richly coloured and conspicuous 

 plumage. They have stout, heavy-looking figures, and are clumsy 

 walkers on land ; but in the water they are as much at home as 

 grebes and guillemots, and are also strong on the wing. But they 

 are not so familiar to us as the mallard, wigeon, and teal, as com- 

 paratively few persons have the opportunity of observing them. 

 Mr. Abel Chapman, in his valuable work, ' Bird Life on the Border,' 

 says that these ducks are only well known to those ' who are 

 enthusiastic enough to follow the regular sport of wildfowling 

 afloat, and who alone enjoy the opportunity of becoming ac- 

 quainted with these wild creatures in their bleak and desolate 

 haunts.' 



The tufted duck is a winter visitor to our coasts, also a resident 

 throughout the year, and a regular breeder in various localities in 

 England, Scotland, and Ireland. In winter it is both a sea- and 

 fresh-water duck ; in the breeding season it is exclusively an 

 inhabitant of inland waters, with a preference for small ponds with 

 weedy bottoms. It pairs in March, and male and female there- 

 after keep company until incubation begins, when the marriage tie 

 is dissolved, as is the case with most ducks. It feeds chiefly by 

 night, and is inactive by day, floating lazily on the water, dozing, 

 or preening its feathers. At sunset it leaves the pool where it has 

 passed the day, to seek its feeding-grounds. Its food consists of 

 weeds growing at the bottom, for which it dives, and, tearing them 

 up, brings them to the surface, to be eaten at leisure. 



The nest is placed among the rushes at the waterside, or in the 

 centre of a tuft of aquatic grass, and is composed of dry sedges and 

 grass, to which down is added as incubation progresses. Eight or 

 ten eggs are laid, sometimes more, greenish buff in colour. 



When rising from the water it utters a grating cry. In winter 

 it is gregarious, and is often seen associating with the scaup, 

 pochard, and goldeneye. 



Scaup. 

 Fuligula marila. 



Head, neck, upper breast, and back glossy black ; mantle 

 finely vermiculated with greyish brown and white ; speculum 

 white, terminated with greenish black; rump, wing- and tail- 



