162 BRITISH BIRDS WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



Family ANA TID^l. 



LONG-TAILED DUCK. 



Hardda glacialis, LINN. 



THE Long-tailed Duck, or Ice Duck as it is sometimes called, is a very regular 

 winter visitor to the east coast of England as far as the Lincolnshire Wash 

 and the coast of Norfolk. South of that, and in the Channel from the South 

 Foreland to the Land's End, it is comparatively scarce. North of Flamborough 

 Head its numbers increase and with a much larger proportion of old males. Those 

 obtained in the autumn south of that headland are generally old females and young 

 of both sexes. In the winter of 1887-8, exceptional numbers occurred on the 

 Lincolnshire coast and in the Wash, but not old males. In Merionethshire, Mr. 

 Haigh says it occurs at irregular and uncertain intervals, generally after violent 

 gales ; he has never, however, seen or heard of an adult male ; on the water the 

 female or young look like young Goldeneyes, but are far more graceful divers. 



The chief haunts of this species in winter are, however, the coasts of Scotland 

 and the islands. In the Shetlands, Dr. Saxby says, it is by far the commonest of the 

 Anatidte, arriving in small flocks late in September or in October, and wintering 

 on the coast and never resorting to fresh-water, but in very wild weather entering 

 the inlets and voes to feed. In the Orkneys also it is a very common species in winter, 

 and has several times been seen in Jiily ; also all over the Hebridean Seas in 

 winter, especially, Mr. Gray says, in the Sound of Harris and the coasts of Skye, 

 Mull and Islay.* In Ireland, except in the north of that country, this Duck is 

 rare and its occurrence in the south unfrequent. 



The breeding range of the Long-tailed Duck extends over the Arctic and 

 Subarctic regions of three Continents. In Europe it nests in Iceland, Novaya 

 Zemlya, where it is the commonest Duck in the country, Kolguev, and also in 

 Spitsbergen. In Northern Norway it is very common on every lake. I found it 

 in some numbers in flocks on the Avaters of the Varanger fjord, in August, 1896. 

 It has not, although seen there in summer, as far as I know, been recorded as 

 breeding in Fseroe. It is, however, quite probable that a few pair do remain to 

 nest on some of the Scotch islands or on the mainland, and there are good grounds 

 for supposing this is the case. The most southern limit of this Duck in winter 



* The Long-Tailed Duck is a comparatively rare bird on the Skye coast. H.A.M. 



