134 ANATID.E 



Immature birds 1 are more often met with than adults ; 

 the former are harder to distinguish than the old males, 

 which are strikingly handsome. 



This species is gregarious, though it seldom collects 

 into very large flocks. In the year 1856, Mr. Warren 

 observed fifty birds together (nearly all males), feeding 

 outside the Moy estuary, co. Mayo. 



This Duck delights in the open sea, and is driven only 

 by stress of weather to take refuge in bays and shallows. It 

 is seldom met with away from the tide, but Mr. Ussher 

 mentions several interesting instances from inland lakes, also 

 one from Portadown on the River Bann, and another from a 

 small pond at Rathf arnam near Dublin (' Birds of Ireland ' ) . 



Voice. Long-tailed Ducks attract attention by their loud 

 gabbling cry (unlike the hoarse croak of most Diving Ducks), 

 which may be syllabled cal-loo-bb-cal-lod-bb. In Scotland 

 this cry has been translated into coal-an-can-le-licht. 



Food. Being an expert diver, this Duck frequents deep 

 waters studded with rocks, from which periwinkles and 

 other shell-fish can be picked at a depth of three or four 

 fathoms. Seaweeds and worms also form part of the diet. 



Nest. The nest, composed of broken stems of withered 

 grass, with a warm lining of down, is built on the ground 

 and generally concealed in some sort of rough herbage, 

 such as a grass-tuft or in scrub ; or it may be placed at 

 the foot of a low bush, but always close to a river, lake, 

 or pond. The eggs, ten to twelve or more in number, are 

 greenish-white with a tinge of buff (Yarrell). In the breed- 

 ing-season this Duck is sociable, and many nests may be 

 discovered within the confines of a small area. 



Except occasionally in the Shetlands (Buckley and 

 Evans, ' Fauna of the Shetlands,' 1899), and perhaps in 

 the Orkneys, there is no evidence of the Long-tailed Duck 

 breeding in the British Isles. 



Geographical distribution. This species nests numerously 

 within the Arctic circle in Europe, Asia, and America, its 

 breeding-range being practically circumpolar. It breeds 

 more sparingly in Sub-arctic latitudes. 



On its southern migration, it visits the seas and large 

 sheets of fresh water of the European, Asiatic and North 



1 Several examples of immature Long-tailed Ducks have been shot on 

 the Dublin coast ; I have collected three from that locality. 



