POCHARD. 575 



FULIGULA FERINA. 

 POCHARD. 



(PLATE 64.) 



Anas penelope, Briss. Orn. vi. p. 384 (1760). 



Anas ferina, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 203 (176G); et auctorum plurimorum 



Gmelin, Latham, Temminck, (Selby), (Bonaparte), (Dresser), (Sounders), &c. 

 Anas lurida, I & Q Qmd Rdse Rmsl j 70 ?1 (mo) 



Anas erytrocephala, \ 



Anas rufa, Gmel Syst. Nat. ii. p. 515 (1788). 

 Nyroca ferina (Linn,), Flem. Phil. Zod. ii. p. 260 (1822). 

 Aythya ferina (Linn.), Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 564. 



Fuligula ferina (Linn.}, Stej)h. Shaw's Gen. Zool. xii. pt. ii. p. 193 (1824). 

 Platypus ferinus (Linn.), Brehm, Lehrb. Naturg. eur. Vog. ii. p. 828 (1824). 

 Aythya erythrocephala (Gmel.), Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 919 (1831). 

 Fuligula homeyeri, Baedeker, Naumannia, 1852, Heft i. p. 12, pi. i. 

 Fulix ferina (Linn.), Salvad. Faun. Ital. Ucc. p. 265 (1872). 



The Pochard is best known in the British Islands as a winter visitor, 

 but many remain behind in spring to breed. It is one of the most 

 abundant species of Ducks on the coasts of Scotland, including the Orkneys, 

 Shetlands, and the Hebrides, and there can be little doubt that it breeds 

 in that country. In England it is equally well known, and its nest has 

 been taken in many localities. It breeds regularly in Norfolk and in 

 Dorsetshire, in the East Riding of Yorkshire at Hornsea Mere, and in some 

 of the Midland counties. In Ireland it has been known to breed in the 

 counties of Sligo, Antrim, and Tipperary. 



The geographical distribution of the Pochard presents some difficulties 

 which future researches may possibly remove. Its known breeding-range 

 appears to be confined to the western half of the Paleearctic Region. In 

 Russia it breeds as far north as Lake Ladoga and as far south as the Cau- 

 casus. This wide range apparently contracts both to the east and to the 

 west until its boundaries meet in West Europe in England and in West 

 Siberia at Lake Baikal. To the rest of West Europe and to North Africa 

 it is a winter visitor, though it is said that a few formerly bred in Spain 

 and Algeria. It is principally known on passage in Turkestan, but some 

 remain to winter in the south of that country. Its winter range in Asia 

 is very extensive, reaching from Asia Minor through Persia, Afghanistan, 

 India, China, and occasionally to Japan. It has not been met with in 

 the valley of the Amoor, but Prjevalsky observed it on migration in South- 

 eastern Mongolia. On the American continent the Pochard is represented 



