TUFTED DUCK. 
45 
crest. The bill is of a peculiarly light clear blue-grey 
anil the eyes golden. 
The duck of this species may be at once identified by 
her short, small crest ; her eyes and bill are duller than 
the drake’s, and her plumage is dark brown where his 
is black, and shaded with brown on the Hanks. The 
drake in undress merely gets a shorter crest 
and black shading on the sides. The young 
birds are dirty light brown, much like young 
white-eyed Pochards, but their crests soon appear, 
and their yellow eyes also distinguish them early. 
The Tufted Pochard has a wide range in the Old World, 
wild bird known as “Paget’s Pochard’’ is believed to be 
a hybrid between this species and the next on my list. 
THE WHITE-EYED POCHARD. 
(Nyioca ajricctna.) 
This is the smallest of the Pochards, and a compara- 
tively neat-looking bird, with very tight, sleek plumage ; 
it is about sixteen inches long. The drake’s leading hue 
is a bright mahogany red, with black back and white 
belly and stern, only the latter showing when on the 
water, however. The eye is of a pearly whiteness in 
him, while in the duck it is dark grey. She is also 
much duller and darker in colour, with the white belly 
less clearly defined, and is a very dingy, ordinary- 
looking little duck altogether. The drake, however, 
makes some amends by never going “out of colour,” 
although Miss Hubbara’s experience appears 10 contra- 
dict mine in this particular ; the point is one well worth 
investigation, for it would be a remarkable thing if 
some drakes changed and some did not in this species. 
The young birds are dirty yellowish-brown, with dark- 
brown-and-white wings, as in adults. 
The White-eyed Pochard is found in Europe and 
Western Asia, migrating to Africa and India in winter, 
and also breeding in Kashmir and North Africa ; it is 
occasionally shot in England, but has never bred there, 
even in captivity. It is, however, a desirable bird, the 
drake’s colour being very handsome in a good light, and 
it will thrive even with a small pond, though I do not 
advise that it should be so treated. It is a remarkably 
fine diver, and fond of keeping to cover in a wild state, 
so that a pond provided with plenty of rushes, etc., will 
suit it well. It has been known to live fifteen years in 
confinement. 
THE TUFTED POCHARD OR TUFTED DUCK. 
(Fuligula fuligula , ) 
The last species I shall have occasion to notice is one 
of the most attractive of all ; round and tubby in form 
and of small size, being little bigger than the White- 
eye, the Tufted Drake at once attracts attention by his 
pied plumage, the belly and flanks being white and the 
rest of the plumage black, glossed with purple on the 
head, which is adorned with a long, narrow, drooping 
being of no more value alive than dead. I find the common shell- 
duck is still alive, also one male pochard and one male tufted, 
with a few females, all being about ten years old. They seldom 
live over twelve years. The Swans were a few weeks ago at Land- 
port. Why not establish a Waterfow 1 Company ? Birds have bred 
on these waters that have never bred in any other part of England. 
Valuable young have been hatched every year since 1872. There 
is always a large demand for tame-bred ornamental water-fowl, and 
by proper attention to this charming place it might be made alike a 
source of pleasure and profit." Unfortunately, at the time of pub- 
lishing this book, Mr. "Verrall is not well enough to give us any 
information on the matter referred to, but we hope he may be able 
to do so at a later date, which information can be included in the 
next edition.— E d.] 
breeding to the north and wintering in the south, like 
so many other ducks. It visits us regularly every 
winter, and a good number breed in our islands. It is 
one of the very best of ducks for a piece of ornamental 
water, as the plumage of the drake is very showy, and it 
is an admirable diver, and thus amusing to watch ; it is 
also the best breeder of all the Pochards, and becomes, 
according to Mr. J. H. Verrall, polygamous in domesti- 
cation, although so peaceable that several pairs may be 
kept together. The eggs are six or eight in number, 
large for the size of the bird, and hatch in three weeks. 
The ducklings dive at once, and I have watched their 
evolutions in St. James’s Park with much interest. 
They begin to go to nest in April, but Mr. Verrall states 
that they do not breed till two years old. In addition 
to the cross with the common Pochard above mentioned, 
the Tufted Pochard has crossed in the London Zoo with 
the White-eye fifty years ago, and for about a dozen 
years the hybrids continued to breed either with each 
other or with one of the parents — a nice lot of mongrels 
they must have been, but the fact is one of great 
scientific interest nevertheless. However, crosses of 
this kind are not likely to be encouraged by a fancier 
who likes a nice-looking collection. Pochards are 
not much for exhibition purposes, as they don’t look 
well out of water, and the tufted species especially is a 
very clumsy pedestrian ; but for pets they are parti- 
cularly suitable, and this little tasselled bird is, to my 
mind, the best of the lot. 
There are many other ducks of the diving section 
which may be occasionally obtained, but I liave not 
thought it worth while to mention them, although I 
hope sooner or later to see them more generally kept. 
Such are the Golden-eye (Clang ula glaurion), noticeable 
for its dark head, small bill, and pied body ; the Scaup 
(Fuligula marila), much like the Red headed Pochard, 
but with a dark green head instead of red in the 
drake ; the well-known Eider Duck (Soviateria mollis- 
sima), which bred for years in the London Zoo, though 
I have never seen it there ; and the narrow-billed fish- 
ing-ducks or Mergansers, whose feeding habits render 
them unsuitable for fanciers, though their plumage is 
very handsome, especially in the case of the smallest, 
the Smew (Mergus albellus), the drake of which is nearly 
all white, and which is fortunately about the easiest to 
keep. However, the duck Fancy will have to advance 
considerably before there is much chance of getting 
other ducks than those 1 have treated of in this brief 
series. Should it have been the means of awakening 
anyone’s interest in the ducks as fancy birds, I shall 
deem the trouble of writing it most amply repaid. 
