VOL. XV.] NOTES. 91 



Three pairs were apparently in process of courting and their 

 behaviour was most interesting. Both cocks and hens were 

 swimming in the water near the shore or in pools among the 

 rushes. Suddenly a hen would raise herself in the water and 

 flutter her wings at a great pace with her head held down and 

 neck outstretched, all the while uttering a curious harsh call. 

 She would then pursue the cock rapidly through the water 

 for a few yards as though trying to attract bis attention. 

 At times the cock rose from the water and flew round about 

 the pool where the hen was, with a low erratic flight and 

 very slow wing-beats, calling as he flew. This display only 

 lasted a minute, when he would again alight on the water. 

 Once after this flight the hen followed him closely and he 

 turned and seemed to be about to mate her, but she would 

 not let him. I saw no more on this occasion, but on June i8th 

 I watched two hens and one cock in a pool. One of the hens 

 kept close to the cock and whenever the other hen came nearer 

 she would chase her away. Both the cock and the hen were 

 seen to stand up in the water and flutter their wings as 

 described above. The cock seemed to pay little attention 

 to the hens and was busy pursuing, and picking up off the 

 water, large black flies. Then, without any warning or 

 unusual excitement on the part of either cock or hen, the 

 nearest one to the cock suddenly put her head low down in 

 the water with neck outstretched and made a curious single 

 note. The cock at once swam to her and mating took place, 

 the hen being submerged in the water except for her beautiful 

 red neck. The cock fluttered his v^dngs all the time ; he 

 then went ashore into the grasses. The second hen still kept 

 in the neighbourhood, though I imagine she must have 

 realized she had lost her chance of a mate. 



On June 13th I found one nest. It was half way between 

 the loch and the sand dunes in short dry grass. When found 

 the cock bird flew straight off the nest and alighted on the 

 loch. I constructed a hide and watched from it on the i6th 

 and i8th. I never saw the hen anywhere near the nest. 

 The cock always came on to the nest by creeping through the 

 grass for a considerable distance. Once I saw him turn the 

 eggs. He was continually pulling the grass over him when 

 sitting. I did not hear him call once. This bird was 

 exceedingly confiding and did not mind how much noise I 

 made inside the hide, although it was only three feet from him. 



On June 22nd he was still safe, although the cattle had 

 been all round the nest. This was my last visit to the loch, 

 so I do not know when the eggs hatched. Audrey Gordon. 



