THE RED-CRESTED POCHARD. '43 



be materially increased if we take into calculation that in the winter of 1826, Mr. 

 Bartlett saw several exposed for sale in Leadenhall market (Nat., Vol. Ill, p. 420). 

 Also a flock of eighteen, of which only one was got, was seen in the Thames, at 

 Erith ; and there are also Norfolk specimens unrecorded in Mr. Harting's book. 

 In 1 88 1, on January i8th, one was shot near Tralee, in Ireland. Altogether one 

 is recorded for Scotland, one for Ireland, two for Wales, and the remainder for 

 England. 



The Red-crested Pochard has, as far as I know, not been obtained north of 

 the Baltic ; there is a male and female in the Konigsberg Museum stated to have 

 been killed in that province. Gatke has not recorded it in Heligoland. It has 

 occurred, but only as a wanderer, to Holland and Belgium. It is known to breed 

 in several localities in Germany and in the valley of the Danube. In Transylvania 

 it is rare, but has been shot on several occasions on the Meb'seg. According to 

 Favier it is extremely rare in Tangiers ; and Colonel Irby never met with it on 

 either side of the Straits. 



In the Albufera, of Valencia, Mr. Howard Saunders found it very abundant 

 in 1863, and, although greatly reduced in numbers, it was the only species he 

 found there in May 1870. The species winters in Sardinia and, according to 

 Salvadori, breed in one locality. It is one of the commonest breeding Ducks in 

 Sicily. It is not uncommon as a nester in the Camargue, that is the Delta of 

 the Rhone, where Mr. W. Eagle Clarke found it in May, 1894. Canon Tristram 

 found it nesting on the Algerian lakes. It is a winter visitor to the Italian lakes. 

 Mr. E. Cavendish Taylor has recorded (" Ibis," 1878, p. 374) a fine male shot at 

 Damietta : a new species for the Egyptian list. 



The Red-crested Pochard is seen near Astrakhan, but is not common ; 

 it winters in the Caucasus and probably breeds there ; according to Severtzoff 

 breeds in several districts of Turkestan, also Persia ; at Kandahar Colonel Swinhoe 

 says a few were shot in March, but it was not common ; it is fairly numerous, 

 according to Col. Sir O. B. St. John, in Southern Afghanistan and Kelat, and is 

 reported to be an exceedingly common species in northern and central India in 

 winter, thousands assembling on the jheels and sheets of water. My son, however, 

 Captain W. W. Cordeaux, does not consider it a very common Duck, although a 

 few will form part of most bags at the end of a days wild-fowl shooting. Unlike 

 most of the diving Ducks it is an excellent bird for the table. In July, 1862, 

 an immature male was purchased in the Fulton market, New York, probably 

 shot on Long Island Sound ; this is the only occurrence recorded for the New 

 World. 



The most recent addition to our knowledge of the breeding habits of this 



