20 JANUARY 



glass that he can be recognised by the silvery grey 

 back, which in the tufted drake is sooty black. The 

 irides of the scaup, also, are white instead of yellow. 

 The female birds are very similar in appearance, 

 though the old duck gets a ring of white feathers 

 on the face round the bill. 



VII 



The latest addition to the lake populace is that of 



the great crested grebe (Podiceps cris- 

 The Great 

 Crested tatus). In the spring of 1894, being on 



a visit to Lord Dartmouth at Patshull, 

 in Staffordshire, I was greatly interested to see 

 numbers of this fine bird nesting on a large mere in 

 the park, and conceived a strong desire to get some 

 of the eggs, which I thought it might be possible 

 to hatch, and that the young birds might become 

 naturalised on the sanctuary of the White Loch. 

 Owing, however, to the peculiar nature of the incu- 

 bation of this species, which, like all grebes, lays its 

 eggs awash, and keeps them constantly wet till 

 they are hatched, that 'idea had to be abandoned. 

 Imagine my delight when, in November of the same 

 year, I detected a solitary great crested grebe busily 

 fishing in the White Loch. It is a very rare bird in 



