84 
IN SHERWOOD FOREST. 
Apr., 1889. 
twenty seconds. In winter, Indian corn is supplied to the 
birds on the lake, and is eagerly shared by the tufties. 
Walking along the bank at the upper end of the water one 
morning, we witnessed a curious incident. A pair of Tufted 
Ducks, which were feeding, came up with a splash close to us, 
the duck with something hanging out of her bill, which we 
soon saw was a river lamprey, some four inches long. Twice 
did Fulvjula succeed, with difficulty, in entombing this lively 
mouthful, and twice did the latter wriggle up into the outer 
world again, and dangle wildly in the air ; the third attempt, 
however, was more successful, and the duck managed to keep 
down her slippery meal. No one who has ever had a lamprey 
fix on his hand with its powerful sucker can help wondering 
what that duck’s sensations were ! Lampreys are plentiful 
in this water. In spring they ascend the clear, rapid, trout 
stream to deposit their spawn on the gravel, and clusters of 
them can be seen at that season clinging on to some suitable 
pebble sufficiently large to maintain a firm position in the bed 
of the stream. Later on they drop back into the pond, and 
apparently pass the rest of the year in the sand at the bottom. 
But to return to the Tufted Ducks. After feeding, a period 
of repose is indulged in, when with necks lowered and heads 
resting on their snoulders, they float placidly on the water, 
the snow-white flanks of the male contrasting sharply with 
the glossy blue-black of his upper parts. The drake in spring 
has a curious habit of elevating his bill and uttering a 
succession of rather musical notes—a kind of love song ; 
During the few days I had a pair under pretty close observa¬ 
tion one year, the duck went on to her nest between ten and 
eleven in the forenoon. At Kainwortli the nest is usually 
placed on the island, under the shelter of the rhododendrons, 
and is formed of dead leaves of this shrub and of grass, with 
a warm lining of down added as the eggs are laid. These 
vary in number from eight to thirteen, and the clutch is 
seldom complete before the beginning of June, and often not 
until the middle of that month ; for although the Tufted Duck 
pairs in March, it does not go to nest until considerably later. 
The young, when hatched, are taken out upon the water by 
their parent; the former are proficient in diving and do not 
seek the shelter of the rushes when alarmed, as is the case 
with the common Wild Duck. The larger the pond the wilder 
the ducks, says my mentor, and certainly it is not very easy 
to approach even the paired birds in spring upon one of the 
more extensive sheets of water. But as five or six pairs may 
sometimes be seen there close together, it is worth while to 
stalk them. With Tufted Ducks at this season the female 
