﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  viz., 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  reed 
  bed. 
  It 
  has 
  also 
  bred 
  on 
  Loch 
  Flemington 
  

  

  (Millais). 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  Pochard 
  we 
  have, 
  curiously, 
  no 
  positive 
  record 
  from 
  

   the 
  Deveron 
  valley, 
  but, 
  as 
  is 
  well 
  known, 
  they 
  exist 
  in 
  hundreds 
  

   upon 
  Loch 
  Strathbeg 
  ('Dee'), 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  confines 
  of 
  our 
  area. 
  

  

  Farther 
  to 
  the 
  westward 
  it 
  is 
  considered 
  common, 
  mostly 
  

   arriving 
  in 
  October 
  and 
  leaving 
  in 
  March, 
  but 
  some 
  remaining 
  

   to 
  breed 
  all 
  summer 
  — 
  as, 
  for 
  instance, 
  those 
  mentioned 
  above 
  on 
  

   Loch 
  Spynie. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  interesting 
  to 
  students 
  of 
  distribution 
  and 
  migration 
  to 
  

   find 
  that 
  the 
  Pochard 
  dispersal 
  has 
  extended 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  coast, 
  as 
  

   recorded 
  under 
  the 
  species 
  in 
  our 
  last 
  volume 
  (v. 
  Argyll). 
  

  

  roca 
  ferruginea 
  (Gmel). 
  White-eyed 
  Duck. 
  

  

  In 
  Small's 
  1 
  List 
  of 
  Birds 
  sent 
  for 
  Preservation 
  ' 
  we 
  find 
  included, 
  

   under 
  Morayshire, 
  a 
  specimen 
  procured 
  previous 
  to 
  the 
  10th 
  

   February 
  1857 
  (this 
  being 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  its 
  reaching 
  his 
  hands). 
  

   Mr. 
  Small 
  informs 
  us 
  it 
  was 
  bought 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  Dassou- 
  

   ville, 
  out 
  of 
  Muirhead's 
  — 
  the 
  poulterer's 
  — 
  shop 
  in 
  Queen 
  Street, 
  

   Edinburgh, 
  as 
  having 
  come 
  from 
  the 
  punt-shooters 
  in 
  the 
  

   Moray 
  Firth, 
  and 
  was 
  noted 
  in 
  the 
  Koyal 
  Physical 
  Society's 
  

   Transactions. 
  

  

  igula 
  cristata 
  (Leach). 
  Tufted 
  Duck. 
  

  

  Not 
  a 
  particularly 
  abundant 
  species, 
  even 
  in 
  winter, 
  and 
  not 
  as 
  yet 
  

   found 
  breeding 
  in 
  our 
  area, 
  though 
  on 
  one 
  loch 
  in 
  the 
  extreme 
  

   north 
  these 
  birds 
  are 
  seen 
  in 
  considerable 
  numbers 
  all 
  through 
  

   the 
  summer. 
  Nor 
  are 
  they 
  known 
  to 
  breed, 
  as 
  yet, 
  in 
  Loch 
  

   Spynie, 
  though 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  them 
  there. 
  

  

  One 
  was 
  shot 
  at 
  Lochletter, 
  Glen 
  Urquhart, 
  in 
  November 
  1878. 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  remarks 
  that 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  wholly 
  a 
  winter 
  visitant, 
  

   and 
  not 
  very 
  common 
  even 
  then. 
  

  

  Edward 
  pronounced 
  the 
  Tufted 
  Duck 
  as 
  ' 
  very 
  rare,' 
  nor 
  did 
  

   Smith 
  include 
  it, 
  nor 
  are 
  there 
  specimens 
  in 
  the 
  Banff 
  Museum. 
  In 
  

   severe 
  weather 
  it 
  occurred 
  in 
  various 
  localities, 
  such 
  as 
  Loch 
  

   Spynie, 
  December 
  1860: 
  again 
  at 
  same 
  place 
  in 
  February 
  

   1880: 
  and 
  one 
  in 
  1878, 
  as 
  recorded 
  to 
  us 
  by 
  Captain 
  Dunbar- 
  

   Brander. 
  At 
  the 
  present 
  day, 
  the 
  Tufted 
  Duck 
  is 
  reported 
  as 
  1 
  not 
  

   rare 
  in 
  winter,' 
  by 
  many 
  of 
  our 
  informants, 
  keepers 
  and 
  others. 
  

  

  The 
  earlier 
  records 
  seem 
  to 
  emphasise 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  the 
  appear- 
  

  

  