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THE BIRDS OF HAMPSHIRE. 
Considering the great increase of population along our 
coast, it is a matter of satisfaction that this handsome and 
interesting bird still nests at various points between Bourne- 
mouth and Portsmouth. 
Starting from the west side, Hengistbury Head is a 
favourite locality, and nests have been found between 
Mudeford and Keyhaven, and in the Salterns towards 
Lymington. 
On Beaulieu Manor one or two pairs nest every year, 
and are carefully protected. 
And even between Southampton and Portsmouth there 
is a spot where a nest with seven eggs was found " a few 
years back," where a working-man devoured a whole clutch 
in 1892, and where a pair of birds were seen in the nesting 
season of 1904. 
Mr. John Stares and Mr. C. Mason have kindly given 
us information concerning this last mentioned locality. 
None of the ornithologists of the Isle of Wight have 
hitherto claimed this bird as a breeding species ; but Mr. 
H. Damant, writing from Cowes in November, 1904, has 
informed us that he saw a pair with a brood of young ones 
on the Newtown River in the summer of 1904. When 
disturbed they forsook the water, and took refuge among 
the rushes and grass on the banks. 
This duck, as is well-known, lays its eggs in rabbit 
burrows, either in the sandy cliffs or among the fallen 
debris beneath them, as well as among sand-dunes and in 
marshes. 
Specimens have occurred inland at Fleet, Alresford, 
Whitchurch, and elsewhere. 
They are very easily kept in captivity, either in gardens 
or on ornamental waters, being perfectly hardy, and among 
the most conspicuous and ornamental of all our wild ducks. 
