6o British Diving Ducks 
give details. A description of the down in the nest of the Tufted Duck is given in British 
Birds, vol. ii. p. 37 (pi. 2, figs. 4, 11). 
Mr. Heatley Noble, in a note to me, says : " The Tufted Duck is a very late breeder. 
On June 6th we saw upwards of 60 nests on an island in Loch Leven. The average 
number of eggs in a nest is about nine, the largest number seen was fourteen. Some nests 
were close to the water's edge, others in the middle of the island. In grass generally, and 
well lined with down. I hatched out one nest under a hen, incubation lasting twenty-three 
days. When first hatched the young shuffle about like toads, and seem unable to walk. 
They do not breed readily on ornamental waters as a rule, but in St. James's Park, where 
all the ducks are so tame, I have been shown many nests." 
Whilst the female Tufted Duck is laying her eggs she is joined by the male imme- 
diately she has left the nest and reaches the water. Pairing then takes place. But 
immediately the female commences to sit the males seem inclined to join together, 
and form in little parties. This flocking of the males becomes more marked as the month 
of June goes on until June 20th, when they show a disposition to leave the home lake for 
a night or two. After this date they often disappear altogether till the late autumn. It is 
very difficult to say where all the parties of old males go to after leaving the breeding 
haunts, but there is no doubt that many of them resort to other waters in the vicinity 
which are never frequented in the actual breeding season. We should imagine that on a 
large stretch of water like Loch Leven the old males would not leave, as sufficient quiet 
retreats would be found at a distance from the females and young ; but such is not the 
case, for in July and August it is very difficult to see a single old male on the whole lake. 
Where they go to in this district I do not know. In Nairn and Elgin I have found old 
males in August and September, singly or in small parties, on pools and lakes where the 
species do not breed, and on being disturbed or shot at, they pass away and do not return 
for many days. I fancy that from June to October (when the males reassemble at their 
usual winter resorts) the old males are wanderers from one small lake to another, and do 
not stop long in any one place, particularly so if they are disturbed. Mr. Gerald Legge 
states that the old males leave Patshull regularly about June 24th to 26th, and this seems 
to be about the date that they leave their breeding haunts in England. During the eclipse 
and moulting period the old males seem to like to hide themselves in dark backwaters and 
out-of-the-way places, where they may be little observed — a characteristic habit of all ducks 
at this period. Naumann thinks they retire to the sea, but this is certainly not the case in 
the British Isles. 
The incubation period is somewhat variable, lasting from 23 to 28 days (see also 
Field, July 3, 1909, and July 30, 1910 — 28, 24, 27, and 23 days — and Evans, Ibis, 1891, 
p. 73). Mr. Gerald Legge says 24 days is the usual period of incubation, and Mr. Heatley 
Noble (Field, July 10, 1909) 23 days. Mr. Hinton in 1910 kept notes of three nests 
which hatched out in 24, 27, and 25 days, whilst Major Trevelyan [Fields July 29, 191 1) 
says that eggs placed under a hen hatched in 1909 in 28 days, and in 1910 in 26 days. 
A female sits very close, and only deserts her nest in presence of urgent danger. She 
plucks her breast of the dark-grey down, and surrounds her eggs with it, as well as covering 
them with it when necessity compels her to obtain some food. When the young escape 
from the eggs, they follow the mother at once to the water, and crowd very closely round 
