BIRDS 



165. Ruddy Sheld-Duck. Tadorna casarca 



(Linn.). 



A rare and occasional visitor. One is said 

 to have been shot about twenty-five years 

 ago on the Main, outside the estuary of the 

 Blackwater (Birds of Essex, p. 200). 



1 66. Mallard or Wild Duck. Anas boscas, 



Linn. 



A fairly common resident, breeding in in- 

 creasing numbers on the marshes round the 

 coast and in private parks containing sheets 

 of ornamental water. In winter the resident 

 birds are however greatly recruited by ar- 

 rivals from elsewhere. At this season con- 

 siderable numbers are taken in our decoys. 



167. Gad wall. Anas strepera, Linn. 

 Locally, Sand Wigeon. 



A scarce winter visitor. 



1 68. Shoveler. Spatula clypeata (Linn.). 



A scarce resident breeding in small but 

 increasing numbers at several spots on the 

 marshes round our coast. Fairly common, 

 especially near the coast, during the winter. 



169. Pintail. Dafila acuta (Linn.). 

 A scarce winter visitor. 



170. Teal. Ntttion crecca (Linn.). 



A resident, breeding in small numbers on 

 the marshes round our coast and occasionally 

 inland. Better known however as a fairly 

 common winter visitor. 



171. Garganey. Querquedula circia (Linn.). 

 Locally, Summer Teal. 



A scarce visitor, chiefly when on migra- 

 tion. Not improbably it has bred in the 

 county, but I know of no instance of a nest 

 having been found, though a bird shot at St. 

 Osyth on May 24, 1890, belonged probably 

 to a breeding pair, and on July 1 7, 1 896, nine 

 (probably a family party) were seen together 

 on a fleet at Paglesham (Hope). 



172. Wigeon. Mareca penelope (Linn.). 



A very common winter visitor on our coast : 

 less often seen inland. Adults have been seen 

 occasionally in the county during summer 

 and young birds early in autumn. Probably 

 therefore it has bred with us, but there is 

 no conclusive record of its having done so. 

 Prodigious numbers were taken formerly in 

 our decoys, and fair catches are still made. 



[American Wigeon. Martca americana 

 (Gmelin). 



A female is said to have been shot on the 

 Essex coast in January 1862, but the record 



requires further substantiation (see Birds f 

 Essex, p. 20l).] 



173. Red-crested Pochard. Netta rufina 

 (Pallas). 



A rare and casual visitor. One was killed 

 near Colchester about January 1 844. 



174. Pochard. Fuligula ferina (Linn.). 



A common winter visitor to our coast. 

 Vast numbers were taken formerly in the 

 decoys. Early in last century a few bred 

 occasionally on the marshes, but for a long 

 period none were known to do so until within 

 the last seventeen years. It is now resident 

 in small but steadily increasing numbers at 

 several spots round our coast, chiefly on 

 the Old Hall Marshes, Tollesbury, where it 

 first bred (so far as is known) in 1886. 



175. Ferruginous Duck. Fuligula nyroca 

 (Gdldenstadt). 



An occasional straggler during winter. One 

 was obtained at the Marsh House Decoy, 

 Tillingham, about the year 1880 (see Birds 

 of Essex, p. 209). 



1 76. Tufted Duck. Fuligula cristata (Leach). 

 A somewhat uncommon winter visitor to 



our coast : occasionally met with inland. Not 

 improbably it has bred in the county (for 

 instance, at the Wade, in Steeple parish, in 

 1888 : see Birds of Essex, p. 206), but there is 

 no authentic recorded instance. 



177. Scaup-Duck. Fuligula marila (Linn.). 

 A fairly common winter visitor, principally 



to the coast. 



178. Goldeneye. Clangula glaudon (Linn.). 

 As the foregoing. 



179. Long-tailed Duck. Hare/da gladalis 

 (Linn.). 



A rare winter visitor. 



1 80. Eider Duck. Somateria mollissima (Linn.). 

 An uncommon winter visitor to our coast 



during severe weather. 



18 1. Common Scoter. (Edemia nigra (Linn.). 

 Locally, Black Duck. 



A very abundant winter visitor to the seas 

 round our coast : very rarely seen inland. A 

 few non-breeding birds remain through the 

 summer. 



182. Velvet-Scoter. (Edemia fitted (Linn.). 

 A scarce winter visitor to our coast. 



247 



