In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury. 



103 



habits, and is not found south so frequently as others of its class. 

 Hart tells me they occur occasionally in Christchurch Harbour, but 

 not so frequently u as they once did. I detected their presence on 

 the mud flats of Sturt Island, off Burnham, but I was not able to 

 obtain any specimens of them. They seem very hardy birds, and 

 able to stand any amount of cold. 



Fuligula Cridata. 11 The Tufted Duck." « Pie-currs/' as they 

 are locally called among us. These birds are to be seen in our 

 meadows every hard winter, and are very handsome lively little 

 fellows, with their bright yellow eye, and glossy head and neck. 

 They are shot frequently here. One winter morning my brother 

 and the keeper went down the river early, before breakfast, and 

 returned with a bag of nine Ducks in a short time. They had come 

 on a flight of these little Ducks, and had secured six of them. 

 Another day I marked down four of them on the river immediately 

 behind the vicarage, and calling a brother of mine who was staying 

 with me he turned out with his gun, and while I directed him from 

 a coin of vantage, he successfully stalked them, and bagged the 

 four — killing two on the water, a third as it rose, while the fourth 

 we picked up dead unexpectedly a little way down the bank. The 

 last two or three winters have been so mild that I have not noticed 

 them on the river. 



Harelda Glacialis. " The Long-tailed Duck." Meyer mentions 

 this bird as being very seldom seen south of the coast of North- 

 umberland, but they are not infrequently to be met with in the 

 Christchurch district, and a few years ago I saw some very good 

 specimens in Hart's museum that he had just set up. The male bird 

 is a very handsome fellow, with his plumage of rich brown and white, 

 while his long tail gives you an idea that he has borrowed it from 

 the Pheasant-cover ; for it seems to be out of place altogether on 

 the water. Hart was able to give me the following list of occurences, 

 that shows that of late some specimens have reached his hands most 

 years. Thus he had four specimens in 1875 ; three in 1876 ; one 

 in 1878; one on November 4th, 1879; one on November 2nd,, 

 1880 ; three in 1881 ; and several other specimens were procured 

 by Mr. T. M. Pyke in 1882 and 1883. 



