508 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



We find, then, that the Tufted Ducks at— 



Ellesmere are winter visitors only. 

 Sandford „ summer ,, ,, 

 Weston „ residents. 



Wishing to observe these Ducks in their breeding haunts, I 

 this year paid two visits to Sandford Pool, by kind invitation of 

 Mrs. Sandford. The first visit was on May 10th, when all eight 

 birds — four drakes and four ducks — were swimming about on 

 the open water ; apparently not yet nesting, [Subsequent events 

 showed that the Ducks had already laid eggs, and they began to 

 sit within the following week.] 



On the pool was a Swan's nest, containing seven cygnets, and 

 two eggs just hatching — an unusually large clutch — all afterwards 

 reared successfully. I obtained several excellent photographs of 

 these cygnets in the nest. On the approach of the punt, the 

 mother Swan, who was sitting, got up and slipped into the water, 

 where, joining her mate, the pair swam round in circles, only be- 

 traying wrath at the intrusion by an occasional hiss. This rather 

 belies the reputed ferocity of the Swan in the breeding season. 



Three weeks later the keeper at Sandford reported that he 

 had found a Tufted Duck's nest with eggs, so on June 1st I paid 

 a second visit to the pool. This time there were no drakes to 

 be seen, but there was one duck swimming about. The eggs in 

 the nest found by the keeper had hatched out the day before my 

 visit, and both ducks and ducklings had disappeared. However, 

 after a long search, the keeper found another nest with eight eggs 

 in it. Of this I obtained a good photograph. Soon afterwards I 

 found another nest with eggs, and an empty nest which appeared 

 to have been vacated for some days. Close to this last was an 

 egg which had evidently rolled out of the nest, for, when blown, 

 it proved not to have been incubated. Thus all four nests be- 

 longing to the four pairs of ducks were accounted for — two with 

 eggs in, and two hatched out. 



The nests are hard to find, for they are placed on marshy 

 ground beneath, and entirely concealed by, dead reeds and 

 rushes. They are made of rushes in the form of a mound, with 

 a deep cup in the centre. The cup is lined with down, inter- 

 mixed with fragments of dead rushes. The down is very dark 

 brown, with a dirty whitejleck in the centre of each bit. It is 



