POCHABD. 205 



county, which were too far off to be identified with 

 certainty, but I took them to be pochards. On the 15th 

 April; 1876^ I again, in a neighbouring piece of water, 

 saw about a dozen ducks which, with the aid of a good 

 glass; I had no doubt were pochards, but in 1875 Mr. 

 Stevenson and Mr. H. M. Upcher had found both eggs 

 and young of this species on Lord Walsingham's waters^ 

 whilst in 1876 Lord Walsingham and Professor Newton 

 had ample evidence of the pochard nesting freely in the 

 same locality, where it has continued to do so to the 

 present time, and for some years I have met with it 

 regularly in other localities in the same district. 



Mr. Frank Norgate, who had exceptionally good 

 opportunities of observing the nesting of the fowl in this 

 portion of the county from 1885 to 1887,, has kindly 

 given me some valuable notes on this species, from 

 which I make the following extracts, omitting precise 

 localities for obvious reasons : 



1885. April 24. Saw several pairs of pochards on a pool, and 



again on May 26th. 



June 22. I identified, and watched with a telescope, two 

 broods of young pochards, one brood about three-fourths 

 grown ; these last, and the old pochard, always jumped 

 nearly out of the water before diving, as if to give im- 

 petus to the dive. 



1886. May 8. I watched five pairs of pochards, fifteen pairs of 



tufted ducks, one pair of gadwall, a male teal, &c., and 

 found a wild duck's nest. 



June 2. I found a pochard's nest of six incubated eggs in 

 the crown of an isolated tussock of Carex ; no feathers, 

 only grey and brownish down, and dead sedge for nest. 

 Saw the old female, dark-eyed, rusty-brown head, blotchy- 

 grey and brown back. I had many good views of her 

 close to this nest, both swimming and flying. 



June 5. I found a pochard's nest of ten eggs in a bed of 

 Scirpus lacustris. This nest was made of bits of dead 

 Scirpus, and profusely lined with pale grey and brownish- 

 grey down. I saw the female swim out of the rushes 

 from the nest, and had many good views of her colours 

 with and without a telescope. Close to this nest was one 

 of four little grebe's eggs. 



June 7. I found a third pochard's nest of nine eggs, near 

 hatching, in the crown of an isolated tussock of Carex, 

 and clearly identified the female as she flew up from the 

 nest. The other clutch of ten eggs is now hatching, 

 three or four ducklings are now out, and others half out 

 of their shells. I saw another female pochard swimming 

 with a brood of young. 



