9050 Birds. 
mostly males. They only stayed while the floating ice prevented the 
boats from plying; as soon as the water ceased to be quiet every bird 
disappeared. They visited the Serpentine again in the following 
March, when the water was also quiet. It appears therefore that 
these birds, although bred in the Kensington Gardens, do not make 
the Serpentine their usual haunt, but only visit it at rare intervals. 
Frequently as I walk the whole length of the Serpentine, carefully 
examining its waters with a glass, these pochards could not have 
escaped me had they been in the habit of coming here in the day- 
time. 
I have never seen any party of diving ducks on the Serpentine from 
that time (early in 1862) until the 5th of January last, on which day 
I saw a party of about twenty diving ducks: I counted nineteen. 
The water was then also quiet, partially covered with ice, which did not 
bear, and no boats: so dark was the day and distant the birds that I 
could not be quite sure as to the species, but believe they were 
pochards, with a few tufted ducks among them. 
From the accompanying notes, it will be seen that the number of 
the species, as well as of the birds, which frequent the London waters 
has increased since 1860, although those waters have certainly not 
become more quiet. All the birds mentioned in the following list 
I have seen myself. 
1860. 
April.—St. James’s Park Canal: two male gadwalls. 
November.—St. James’s Park Canal: two male gadwalls. Regent’s 
Park: two hybrid wigeons, male and female. 
December.—Regent’s Park: one male and two female hybrid 
wigeons. St. James’s Park Canal: a ferruginous duck. 
i861. 
January.—Round Pond, Kensington Gardens: a female pochard, 
quite tame. Regent’s Park Lake: one male and two female hybrid 
wigeons, and four teal, three male and one female (these four birds were 
quite tame); there was skating on the lake. 
February.—St. James’s Park Canal: two male gadwalls and one 
ferruginous duck. 
March.—Regent’s Park Lake: two male hybrid wigeons and one 
female. 
April—Round Pond, Kensington Gardens: one male and one 
female pochard, and a female ferruginous duck. St. James’s Park 
Canal: one male ferruginous duck, one female pochard and one male 
gadwall. 
