Family ANATID^. Genus Fuligula. 



Subfamily Fuligulin^. 



POCHARD. 



FULIGULA FERINA— (Z/«««z/^). 



Geographical Distribution. — British: Common winter 

 visitor, but many remain in spring to breed in our islands. 

 Abundant in Scotland, including the Orkneys and Shetlands, 

 but rarer in the Outer Hebrides. Breeds very locally in South 

 Perthshire and in Fifeshire. Equally common in Ireland in 

 winter, and has been known to breed in the counties of Sligo, 

 Antrim, and Tipperary. Commonly distributed in England be- 

 tween autumn and spring, and breeds in Lancashire, the East 

 Riding of Yorkshire, Norfolk, some of the midland counties, 

 and Dorset. Foreign : West-Central Patearctic region ; parts of 

 Oriental region in winter. Accidental in the Faroes, Iceland, and 

 Scandinavia. Breeds across Europe and Asia from the British 

 Islands in the west to Lake Baikal in the east, as far north as 

 Lake Ladoga, and as far south as the Caucasus in Europe, but 

 in Asia not further north than Lake Baikal, southwards to North- 

 western Mongolia and the lakes and swamps of South-western 

 Siberia. Great numbers of the European birds winter in the 

 basin of the Mediterranean ; and it is said that a few used to 

 breed in Spain and Algeria. The Asiatic birds pass Turkestan 

 on migration, and winter in Asia Minor, Persia, Afghanistan, 

 India, and China. It was observed by Prjevalsky on migration 

 in South-eastern Mongolia, and occurs accidentally in Japan. 



Allied Forms. — Fuligula Americana, an inhabitant of the 

 Nearctic region, considered by some authorities to be of doubtful 

 distinctness, but by others to be worthy of specific rank. Dis- 

 tinguished from the Pochard by having the back grayer in colour, 



