VOL. XV.] NOTES. 117 



TUFTED DUCK BREEDING IN BERKSHIRE. 



Two pairs of Tufted Ducks {Nyyoca fuligula) have nested 

 at Englefield Park, Berkshire, this year (1921). I think 

 this is the first definite record of the species having bred in 

 Berkshire. Each nest had a clutch of 10 eggs, which, of 

 course, were left alone. The first opportunity I had of 

 seeing the young was on July 14th, when there were six 

 one-third grown, and five very small ones. The next 

 opportunity I had was on August 17th, when there were 

 seven fully grown birds, perhaps including the two old 

 females. The rest had almost certainly been eaten by 

 pike. On July 14th I tried to catch a young Tufted Duck 

 to ring it, but quite failed. Once one had just dived when 

 there was a big swirl of water close by, and I have no doubt 

 a pike had captured it. Norman H. Joy. 



INCUBATION-PERIOD OF COMMON SANDPIPER. 



The following notes on the Common Sandpiper {Tringa 

 hypoleuca) were made during the summer of 1921. On 

 the morning of May 23rd I found three "scrapes" within 

 a few yards of each other ; at 4 p.m. on the 24th one of them 

 contained two eggs. At 11 a.m. on the 26th the bird was 

 sitting on three eggs; twenty-four hours later there were still 

 only three, but at 6 p.m. the bird was sitting on four. At 

 II a.m. on June 17th the eggs were chipped and the young 

 could be heard " peeping " inside. At 8 p.m. on the i8th 

 they had hatched and were barely dry. Thus the incubation- 

 psriod was exactly twenty-two days. E. Richmond Paton. 

 [This confirms previous observations by Messrs. Gladstone, 

 Turney and Patterson. — Eds.] 



WOOD-SANDPIPER AND RUFF IN CHESHIRE 

 IN JUNE. 



On June 5th, 1921, I watched a bird, which I am sure was a 

 Wood-Sandpiper {Tringa glareola), feeding on a filter-bed at 

 Prestbury Sewage Works. What struck me was its length 

 of leg above the " knee." I had a close view of it both feeding 

 and flying low and noticed its lighter colour as compared with 

 a Green Sandpiper {T. ochropiis), especially about the tail. 

 On June 7th it had gone. On the i6th I saw a bird which at 

 first sight I thought was a Redshank {T. totanus), but when 

 flushed it showed no white on the secondaries or rump. On 

 the 26th I saw it again and noticed that the neck and throat 

 were lighter than the rest of the bird, and I also saw the dark 

 line down the centre of the tail, caused by the overlapping 



