550 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON A HYBRID DUCK. [ Dec. 21, 
Mr. Howard Saunders, F.Z.S., exhibited on behalf of Mr. R. J. 
Howard, of Blackburn, a specimen of a hybrid between the Tufted 
Duck (Fuligula cristata) and the Pochard (#. ferina), bred in 
Lancashire; and read the following extract from a letter addressed 
to him by Mr. Howard on the subject, dated Fern Bank, Blackburn, 
Oct. 28th, 1886 :— 
“7 have forwarded for your acceptance a hybrid between the 
Pochard and the Tufted Duck, knowing that an authenticated 
specimen will be of interest ; for I suppose I must take it for granted 
that the bird referred to by you in the 4th edition of ‘ Yarrell’ 
(vol. iv. p. 433) as ‘apparently a hybrid between the Tufted Duck 
and Pochard’ is the only one known to you. 
*¢ A pinioned pair of Pochards first bred at Woodfold Park in 1882, 
since which date several broods have been annually reared there 
(‘ Yarrell,’ vol. iv. p. 414). I found the Tufted Ducks nesting on 
the same reservoirs in July 1884, some of the young birds being sub- 
sequently captured, pinioned and turned down again (ibid. p. 431); 
the first recorded instance of the breeding of the Tufted Duck in 
Lancashire. The birds of both species leave the reservoirs during 
the severe weather of winter. 
“On the 9th of May last, I saw a male Pochard apparently paired 
with a pinioned female Tufted Duck. On the 23rd of the same 
month two male and one female Tufted Ducks appeared ; the male 
Pochard would not allow the male Tufted Ducks near the pinioned 
female, but drove them off if they approached within 30 or 40 yards. 
Soon after this all the drakes left, and I saw little of the ducks until 
the 20th June, when both appeared on the water; the full-winged 
female Tufted Duck with a brood of 9, the pinioned one with 10 
young hybrids. 
“From the first I could easily distinguish the pure-bred young 
from the hybrids: the upper parts of the former being uniform 
umber-brown, whilst the latter had the cheeks and throat buff. As 
the birds began to feather, I noticed that the hybrids were bulkier, 
the general appearance being more that of the Pochard than of the 
Tufted Duck ; the head, neck, and upper surface were of a much 
lighter and warmer brown, the feathers about the base of the upper 
mandible rather lighter-coloured than the rest of the head, but not 
showing a distinct patch as in the Tufted Duck. We caught two 
hybrids on the 30th July, and put them on the reservoir in the 
Blackburn Corporation Park ; and on the 2nd August I sent two, in 
the name of Mr. Thwaites (to whom I am indebted for permission 
to deal with the birds as I wish), to the Zoological Society’s Gardens. 
Their description is as follows, the sex being uncertain :—Length 
15°5 and 15 in.; bill dark blue, almost black, 1-6 in. in length, and 
a trifle more dilated towards the point than in the pure Tufted 
Duck ; irides yellowish brown ; legs and toes blue, darkest at joints, 
webs black. Two of the young Tufted Ducks, male and female, 
caught on the 3lst July: length 14°5 and 14 in.; bill black, 1*5 in. 
in length ; irides dull yellow; legs and toes as in the above hybrids. 
“The bird which I sent you was shot on the 19th August, beg 
