256 Wild Ducks, Water-Birds, Sea-Fowl. 



the tufted duck — a fine bird — the scaup, the smew, the 

 scoter, the surf-scoter, the velvet scoter, the pochard 

 with its red head, and the beautiful golden-eye, and the 

 interesting eider duck is frequently to be seen. 



The scaup is but a winter visitor, and has not been 

 known to breed here ; and of the pochard almost the 

 same may be said, only that it has been known in rare 

 cases to breed here. Of these, the most beautiful by 

 far is the last named. The golden-eye is remarkable 

 for its habit of nesting in holes in trees, sometimes a 

 good way distant from the water, and for transporting 

 its young from thence to the water, like the coots and 

 water-hens when building high, and it is said that the 

 young golden-eyes are held under the bill of the parent, 

 and supported by the neck. 



The family of the mergansers, all divers, may next 

 be noticed here. The sawbill, or jacksaw, derives its 

 name from its bill being serrated on both sides, exactly 

 like two saws meeting. It is a very expert diver, and 

 will remain at the bottom walking along in search of 

 food for a couple of minutes or more. If its nest has 

 been placed at a distance from the river or lake, it 

 conveys the young ones in the bill or on the back to 

 the water. Macgillivray says that once he watched a 

 flock of red mergansers pursuing sand-eels. The birds 

 moved under the water with almost as much velocity as 

 in the air, and often rose to breathe at a distance 01 

 200 yards from the spot where they had dived. One 01 

 these birds was caught in a net at a depth of thirty 

 fathoms. The swiftness of the divers in the water, and 

 the distances they traverse, are almost incredible. It has 

 been computed that a red-throated diver swims about 

 four and a half miles on the surface of the water, and 

 between six and seven beneath the surface, per hour. 



