102 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



some notes which I took, with this theory in view, while the 

 birds were actually under observation through a telescope. 



" One hundred and thirty-five Pochards sleeping on the water 

 in a moderate breeze. About half of the number were resting, 

 probably deliberately, in a patch of pond-weed where they would 

 not easily drift, and did not seem to require to correct their position 

 in any way. The remainder were resting further out, and they 

 kept continually crossing and re-crossing the field of view of the 

 telescope, first drifting a few yards, and then moving up-wind 

 again. While doing so they always swam in a straight line, and 

 kept their heads lowered as if asleep, ivith their eyes closed. I 

 noticed one or two that seemed to be turning in the water, but 

 this appeared only due to a chance breeze, and the birds seemed 

 to gain nothing by the movement. Certainly there was no general 

 turning movement to suggest that the birds kept paddling with 

 one foot while sleeping. In fact, the Pochards did not seem to 

 sleep very continuously. I constantly saw them raise their heads 

 for a moment." 



The Pochards are amongst the tamest ducks on the lake. 

 They will swim quite boldly within twenty yards or so of people 

 on the shore. 



I regret that I did not take the relative numbers of males and 

 females. My recollection is that the males were greatly in the 

 majority, but little weight can be put on this after an interval of 

 a couple of years. It is a point that could be settled in half an 

 hour by any person who went to the lake. 



Tufted Duck. — A very few, perhaps six or eight, spend the 

 winter on the lake. The earliest record that I have is for 

 August 24th. None breed on the lake. 



Golden-eye. — These ducks are always to be seen during the 

 winter. About twelve is the usual number, perhaps three to 

 five of which are adult drakes, which seems to be an unusually 

 large proportion. I cannot say that I have seen more than four 

 drakes at one time. It is not uncommon to see a female feeding 

 at the very edge of the lake, even at the Palace grounds, where 

 people are continually walking about. Of course, nearly all of 

 the ducks are very tame here, except the Wigeon, and in a lesser 

 degree the Teal. The Shoveller, too, is hardly as tame as the 

 Pochard or Golden-eye. I took the following notes about one 



