208 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



company all the year. Even at its breeding-grounds 

 it is a social bird, many pairs nesting in a small 

 area, and collecting at certain spots to feed. Its 

 breeding-grounds are on the Arctic tundras, near 

 the rush-and-grass-fringed lakes, amidst the thickets 

 of birches, junipers, and willows. The nest is 

 placed under a bush, or amongst herbage on a 

 bank, and is merely a hollow lined with dry grass 

 and sedge and dead leaves. To this, however, the 

 usual lining of down is added. The eggs, from 

 six to nine in number, are greenish-gray, and of 

 smooth texture. The female, as usual, takes sole 

 charge of the young. The Scaup Duck inhabits, 

 during summer, the Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, 

 and America, drawing southwards in winter almost 

 to the tropics. 



TUFTED DUCK. 



This species, the Anas fuligula of Linnaeus, and 

 the Fuligula cristata of most modern ornithologists, 

 is a fairly common winter visitor to the British 

 coasts. It is not so exclusively a marine species as 

 some of the other diving Ducks, being often met 

 with on inland waters during that season. The 

 Tufted Duck derives its name from the bushy crest 

 or tuft of feathers growing from the top of the head, 

 and drooping down over the back of the neck on 

 the male. The head, neck, and crest are glossy 

 black, shot with purple and green ; the upper parts, 

 the breast and the under tail coverts, are black ; the 

 remainder of the underparts and the alar speculum 



