TUFTED DUCK. 
235 
Fareham, where he saw a female and one young one on 
August 7th.i 
In 1896 Dr. Bowdler Sharpe wrote that he had noted 
it in pairs at Avington at the end of May, and believed 
that some remained to breed there, 2 and in the same 
month of the following year two birds were unfortunately 
shot at Alresford.3 
For years past this species has been a regular winter 
visitor to the lake at Laverstoke, generally from ten to 
twenty individuals, which arrived in October, and remained 
until April, and in 1899 a pair remained to nest, since 
which date they have bred regularly in that neighbour- 
hood. 
The first nest was discovered in May, 1899, on one of 
the islands, a yard from the water's edge, beneath the 
boughs of a box-bush, and was composed merely of the 
dark chocolate-coloured down from the bird, mixed with a 
few dead leaves and bents. On May 27th there were ten 
eggs in the nest, when the duck began to sit, but regularly 
at 3.15 p.m. every day she left them to feed with the drake, 
and returned to the nest again at four o'clock ; while the 
duck was sitting the drake was constantly in the vicinity 
of the nest ; in fact, from watching the movements of 
the birds, it was possible to determine nearly exactly 
the position of it. On the duck being disturbed from 
her nest the excitement and alarm of the drake were 
considerable. 
In August of the same year a female was seen with 
two fully-grown young at Laverstoke, and on September 
23rd a young male was shot at Overton. 
' "Zoologist." August, 1894. = "Lloyd's Natural History." 
3 "Zoologist." October, 1897. 
