ON THE NESTING OF THE TUFTED DUCK. 343 



when this bird appeared " (Brit. Birds, vol. iv. p. 143). Mucli the 

 same opinion has been expressed b_y Gray and Anderson in rela- 

 tion to the Tufted Duck in two of the neighbouring counties : — 

 " Strictly a winter visitant, frequenting the open sea in fine 

 weather, and coming up the larger rivers during storms " (' Birds 

 of Ayrshire and Wigtonshire,' p. 46). 



In all the references to this bird in our own and neighbouring 

 districts, no observation is made of its increasing frequency in 

 winter, nor — except where a hope is expressed by Messrs. Mac- 

 pherson and Duckworth {op. cit.) that it may yet be found breeding 

 in Cumberland — is there any allusion made to its nesting. 



Last year I observed two pairs of Tufted Ducks frequenting 

 Lochratton, a loch a few miles west of Maxwelltown, during May 

 and June, and there is a strong suspicion that at least one of the 

 pairs nested, but I could not obtain any satisfactory proofs of it. 

 On the 23rd May of last year I saw a pair of Tufted Ducks on 

 Loch Ken. This j'^ear there were three of the same species 

 on Preston Merse, below Southerness, on May 15th; and during 

 the past breeding-season I have made frequent visits to Loch- 

 ratton for the purpose of observing a couple of pairs of Tufted 

 Ducks which again remained about the Loch after the other 

 Tufted Ducks, Goldeneyes, and Pochards had left. On the 24th 

 May their actions plainly showed them to be preparing for 

 nesting. Several days afterwards only one pair remained, and 

 these were seen together frequently till nearly the end of June. 

 On July 2nd I saw the male only, the female evidently having 

 commenced to hatch, but the place being strictly preserved 

 whereon the nest was likely to be, no attempt was made to find 

 it. On the 21st July the female appeared out on the Loch 

 surrounded with a brood of eight young ones, which at a little 

 distance looked quite black. They were a few days old, so they 

 had been hitherto concealed amongst the reeds, or they ma}' 

 have come down one of the burns. 



A week later I again saw them, but in the interval they had 

 decreased to five, the three missing ones having jsrobably been 

 taken by Pike, with which the Loch abounds. We approached 

 in a boat to within less than ten yards before the mother duck, 

 thinking her safety compromised, rose and spluttered along the 

 water, feigning inability to fly properly till she was forty or 

 fifty yards oflf, when she sat down on the water pecking at her 



