554 



4 



perform the wonted northern migration of his kind, having induced a mate to stay in his 

 company ; but, from all I can gather, this had its rise in a mere supposition. A similar opinion 

 has been entertained with regard to the Norfolk colony : but that I believe to be equally ground- 

 less ; for the breeding of this species in that county is known to have occurred for some fifty 

 years or more. In both these localities it has lately been the practice of the owners to leave 

 this fowl unmolested after the first week of February ; and what has happened seems to be but 

 the natural consequence of this wise forbearance. If I am right in thinking thus, it is a strong 

 argument in favour of the principle of the Wild-Fowl-Preservation Act. 



"The readers of Mr. Hewitson's ornithological work will know that the Pochard has long 

 bred in some numbers on a mere in the East Riding of Yorkshire. First and last I have had a 

 good many eggs from this locality, and among them a set of fourteen taken there by a corre- 

 spondent of mine in 1873. I never heard of so many in any other nest of this species, and am 

 inclined to suppose that two birds must have laid together. I am told that the nests seldom 

 contain more than six or eight, but that others are not unfrequently found scattered about. 

 Mr. More mentions the Pochard as breeding in Craven. Beside these breeding-localities (West 

 Norfolk, East Dorset, and the East Riding of Yorkshire), the only other in the British Isles of 

 which I ever heard is in the county of Sligo. Colonel Whyte wrote in the ' Field ' of June 2nd, 

 1877, that a pair of Pochards was then nesting in his grounds, this being the first time that he 

 had known of such an occurrence. 



" I may perhaps add that my brother and I never succeeded in inducing this species to breed 

 in confinement, though we had a pair for some years at Elveden, which were almost the tamest 

 birds in our duckery. The courtship of the cock in spring was most entertaining. He would 

 extend himself at full length on the water and utter the softest of sounds ; but his mate was 

 indifferent to his advances. Perhaps she was too prudent, and thought that the pond on which 

 she lived would not supply sufficient or suitable food for any possible offspring. This might 

 have been the case ; but at any rate her ducklings would have run no risk of being swallowed 

 by ravenous fishes, which, as it appears to me, are the chief obstacle to the multiplication of the 

 Pochard on our waters." 



Mr. Robert Gray states (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 384): — "Over the whole of the west of 

 Scotland the Dunbird is a very familiar species. In some districts it appears in very large flocks, 

 and offers a temptation to sportsmen to try a raking shot. On Loch Lomond many hundreds 

 congregate together and feed in shallow water over the borders of some of the low-lying islands, 

 such as Inchmain, where half a dozen or more could easily be obtained by firing into their midst. 



" On many of the Inner Hebrides this species is also common, being found in the freshwater 

 lochs of Islay and Mull, where they are frequently shot. Unusual numbers were sent from the 

 west-coast shootings in the winter of 1866-67. I have not been able satisfactorily to make out 

 the proportion of Pochards among the vast flights of Wild Duck that frequent the lakes of the 

 outer islands, as I have not been there in the winter season. Limited numbers at least fly in 

 company with Wigeon and Tufted Ducks ; and those who practise shooting on these lochs for 

 the table readily distinguish it from the next species. 



" On the eastern shores of Scotland, where freshwater lochs are of less frequent occurrence 

 than on the west, I have seen great numbers of this bird frequenting estuaries after nightfall. 



