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 (_F. ferind), 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:— 



" I 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 9tli 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 thim 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 tlie Zoological Society's Grardens. 

 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 31st July : lengtli 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, being 



