THE SPECIES. 97 



drunken man. The female has the head and back ashy brown, the rump yellowish green, 

 and the breast yellowish grey. The nest is a beautiful, compact, structure of rootlets, moss, 

 and grass, lined with hair and feathers, and generally with some chips of decayed wood 

 outside. There are four or five eggs. 



The Erambling — Dimensions, Dp; Eggs, Cx — visits us in the winter. It has a rapid 

 undulating flight. Its note is a flute-like " chip-a-way." The female has a dark brown 

 head and shoulders, and has no black and chestnut. The nest is higher in the trees than a 

 Chaffinch's, and nearly always has birch bark in it, the other constituents being green moss, 

 lichens, cobwebs, and thistle down, forming a rather large accumulation. There are from 

 five to seven eggs. 



Fulica. PUte xxiv. RALLIDM. 



284. aira, 15 in, CoOT. Broad white shield on forehead ; plumage 



blackish grey, with narrow white wing bar ; remiges 

 25, third primary longest ; tail feathers, 14, 



The Coot — Dimensions, Mk ; Eggs, Nm — can swim, dive, walk, and run. It can fly 

 strongly, but prefers to skim along, touching the water every now and then with its feet. 

 The call vs "kew." The sexes are alike in plumage. The nest is a bulky structure of 

 rushes and flags, often two feet high, built up from the bed of the water to form an island, 

 and occasionally afloat or moored to a reed. It is lined with dry dead reeds ; and the eggs, 

 which number from 6 to 12, are of the colour of the reeds among which they are laid. 



Fuligula. Plate .xxi. ANA TID^. 



246. nyroca, 16 in. White-eykd Duck. Head ferruginous ; back 



brown ; lower breast white ; eye white ; 18 feathers 

 in tail. 



247. cristata, 17 in. Tufted Duck. Crest and head black ; back 



black. 



245, ferina, t8 in. POCHARD. Head chestnut ; back grey ; wing 



speculum grey. 



248. marila, ao in. ScAUP. Head, neck, and shoulders black ; back 



white or speckled. 



24^. rujina, 21 in. Red-crested Pochard. Crest and head chest- 



nut ; back brown ; eye brown ; 16 feathers in tail. 



The White-eyed Duck — Dimensions, Na ; Eggs, Ng — has not only a white eye but a 

 white wing bar or speculum. Its bill is dark blue with a black nail. It is almost as well 

 known as the Ferruginous Duck. It has been occasionally found here, generally in 

 Leadenhall Market. 



The Tufted Duck — Dimensions, Nq ; Eggs, Pf— is very common in Nottinghamshire. 

 Its bill is greyish blue with a black nail. The female is brown where the male is black, and 

 the white wing patch is smaller. They are capital divers. The flight is a strong, steady 

 one, close to the water for some distance and then with a considerable rise. The call is 

 a " kr-kr-kurra." There are from 8 to 12 eggs. The nest is in a tuft, generally on the 

 brink of a pond, and it is built of dry reeds and grass, lined with small down, which is 

 greyish black, with an obscure white centre. 



The Pochard— Dimensions, Od ; Eggs, Pi— is another of the Diving Ducks now increasing 

 in this country. Its bill is black, blue and black, the blue being a stripe in the middle. 

 The sexes are alike in plumage, except that the female has a dull brown head and neck, 

 and a white chin. Both sexes have a grey wing bar. The flight is straight, rapid, low, and 

 noisy, and the call is a ** kr, kr, kr," with a whistle. The nest is always near water, and is 

 made of dry grass and sedge, lined with brownish grey down, having obscure white centres. 



The Scaup- Dimensions, Pc ; Eggs, Qa— is so called from its call. It has a light blue 

 bill with a black nail, and its tail is not longer than its closed wings. Its wing bar is white. 

 The female, like the young male, has a white band round the base of the bill. The flight is 

 noisy and rapid. The cry is given with a peculiar tossing of the head and opening of the 

 bill. The nest is usually on a sloping: bank, and is made of dry grass and sedge, lined with 

 broken sedge and dark brown down without white tips, but with pale centres. 



The Red-crested Pochard— Dimensions, Pn; Eggs, Pc— has a red bill and red legs. 

 Its winij bar is white. The female is light grey on the cheeks and throat. It is well known 

 in Northern India, but is only a rare straggler to this country. 



