20 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vii. 



Geese in Norfolk, and Mr. Jourdain gave details (p. 62) 

 of the killing by lightning of some Brent Geese in 

 Jutland, — ^Eds.] 



INEQUALITY OF SEXES AMONG DIVING DUCKS. 



I HAVE often noticed in Orkney a great predominance of one 

 sex over the other among the Diving Ducks, and especially 

 in the case of those species which visit our shores as winter- 

 migrants. Among the resident-species females are much 

 more numerous than males in the Eider, Merganser, Goosander 

 and Tufted Duck. But among the migratory diving ducks 

 the case is just the reverse and drakes largely predominate. 

 Long-tailed drakes outnumber ducks by three to one, and by 

 more than this if we include young drakes, which being so 

 much like ducks are difficult to distinguish without handling. 

 In the case of Scaup the same applies, drakes outnumbering 

 ducks by about five to one. The difference is not quite so 

 apparent in the Goldeneye, because many of the birds seen 

 which appear to be ducks at a distance are in all probability 

 young drakes, at least that is my experience, for nearly all 

 the supposed females that I have shot have proved on 

 examination to be young males. . 



The greatest difference however is shown in the case of 

 the Pochard and Velvet-Scoter, where drakes outnumber 

 ducks by at least fifty to one in the case of the former, and 

 about twenty to thirty to one in the latter. Indeed it is 

 most difficult to get a female of either species in Orkney. 

 One day I took the trouble to count the Velvet-Scoters seen, 

 and out of eight flocks containing in all one hundred and 

 seven birds there were only five females. The first lot of 

 three included one female, with the second flock ot twenty- 

 two were two females, the third flock of eighteen were all 

 males, the fourth flock of thirty-one contained one female, 

 the next three lots of seven, ten and eight respectively were 

 all drakes, and \^ith the last lot of eight was one female. 



This predominance of males is still more marked in the 

 case of the Pochard. One enormous pack of over five 

 hundred birds on Loch Stenness contained but two females, 

 and I think I am putting the predominance of males in 

 the case of the Pochard at a low figure when I give it as fifty 

 to one. 



Such being the scarcity of females among the migratory 

 diving ducks in Orkney, is it possible that most of the females 

 remain in their nesting-haunts, and that only the males 

 with a sprinkling of females migrate to our shores in any 



