508 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



Yarrell, quoting Hewitson, says the eggs are of a 

 uniform clay-brown colour. 



TUFTED DUCK, Fuligula cristata. The Tufted 

 Duck appears to make more frequent visits to our 

 inland waters than any other of the diving Ducks, 

 except perhaps the Pochard; as far as my own 

 experience goes I have met with the present species 

 in such situations much more frequently. About 

 here, like the Pochard, it generally goes by the name 

 of the " Wigeon." It is easily kept in confinement 

 and is very conspicuous and ornamental; it has also 

 been known to breed several times in confinement 

 in the Zoological Gardens, though in a wild state it 

 seems very rarely, if ever, to breed in any part of 

 Britain. In a neighbouring pond a wild female 

 Tufted Duck remained for a long time into the 

 spring in company with two pinioned males, but did 

 not remain to breed. 



Meyer says the nest is usually placed in a hollow 

 on grassy ground, or under shelter of a stone or 

 stump of a tree, or of some vegetable production, at 

 a distance of from sixty to a hundred yards from the 

 water : it is made of stalks and grasses carelessly put 

 together. 



The food of the Tufted Duck, which is mostly 

 obtained by diving, consists of shell- fish, small frogs 

 and their spawn, aquatic insects and the roots, buds 

 and seeds of aquatic plants. In confinement it will 

 also eat grain, and both this bird and the Pochard 



