584 BRITISH BIRDS. 



It is represented on the American continent by a perfectly distinct species, 

 Fuligula collaris, which, besides having a much shorter crest and a some- 

 what differently coloured bill, has the wing-speculum pale slate-grey 

 instead of white, and has a chestnut collar round the neck. 



Although the Tufted Duck is found on the coast in winter, it is exclu- 

 sively a freshwater Duck during the breeding-season. It prefers lakes to 

 rivers, and may often be seen on very small ponds if they are secluded 

 enough and weed-grown at the bottom. Such pieces of water are usually 

 surrounded with rushes, sedge, and flags, and often with reeds; but the 

 Tufted Ducks are generally seen in shallow open places, where they dive 

 into the water and having torn up a bunch of weed from the bottom, pro- 

 ceed leisurely to pull it to pieces as it lies floating on the surface. The 

 winter visitors arrive in our islands early in November, soon after the male 

 has resumed his nuptial dress and the female has completed her autumn 

 moult, and leave again towards the end of March. They migrate by night, 

 and frequently during the periods of migration large flocks suddenly appear 

 on lakes where not a bird was to be found the previous evening. 



In no part of England is the Tufted Duck so abundant during the 

 breeding-season as in the old haunts of Robin Hood. The district is well 

 preserved, and during the critical period of nesting the birds are absolutely 

 undisturbed, and each pair usually rear nearly a dozen young ducklings. 

 Now and then one may fall a victim to some voracious pike, but they have 

 little to fear from poachers or birds of prey. The property is mostly in 

 the hands of large landed proprietors, under whose protection the Ducks 

 appear to thrive, although every autumn a murderous fire is opened upon 

 them and other game, which possibly restores the balance of Nature, which the 

 destruction of the birds of prey would otherwise disturb. My first acquaint- 

 ance with the Tufted Duck was made in this district five-and-twenty years 

 ago at Clumber ; and more recently I have been indebted to the kindness of 

 my friend Mr.Whitaker, of Rainworth Lodge (within twenty yards of which 

 they breed), for an opportunity of examining their habits more closely. One 

 of the tributaries of the Idle river rises in a large wood on the Newstead 

 estate, and flows through a succession of little lakes, ponds, and swamps, 

 where the Tufted Duck may be seen all the year round. Mr. Whitaker 

 estimates the number of pairs breeding in this district at more than a 

 hundred. It is not an uncommon thing to see five or six pairs on each 

 pond besides Mallard and Shoveller, numerous Waterhens and Coots, and 

 a few Grebes. The Tufted Duck pairs in March, and is seen in pairs until 

 early in June, when the female begins to sit. At this season the male is 

 devotedly attached to her, and the pair are always seen together. They 

 are not very wild, and may be approached with care within a comparatively 

 short distance. The male is the first to show any alarm, and sometimes 

 swims backwards and forwards, showing his anxiety to his more stolid mate, 



