GATES

GOMBRIDQE, BOMBAY

LOCKED
CASE

GIFT OF

B/OLOGY
LIBRARY

G

A MANUAL OF THE GAME
BIRDS OF INDIA.

A MANUAL

OF THE

GAME BIRDS OF INDIA.

part Il.-Water Birds.

BY

EUGENE W. GATES,

Author of

" A Handbook to the Birds of British Burmah ; "

Vols. I. and II. of" The Fauna of British India : Birds ; "

Editor of the Second Edition of Hume's

"Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds."

DATE OF PUBLICATION, MAY 18, 1899.

PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY

MESSRS. A. J. COMBRIDGE & CO.,

BOMBAY.

1899.

Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.

PREFACE.

IN this part of my Manual I have
attempted to deal with the species of
Ducks and Snipes which occur within the
limits of the Indian Empire, forty-four
in number.

The Game Birds which are now known
with certainty to occur in India number
altogether one hundred and thirty-four
species, of which two have been dis-
covered since the issue of the first part
of this Manual and are now brought to
notice in an Appendix to this volume.

The treatment of the Ducks has entailed
an amount of original investigation which
I little contemplated when I first proposed
to write about tff6m, and the issue of this

vi Preface.

Part has, in consequence, been some-
what delayed. My thanks are due to
my friend Mr. W. P. Pycraft for much
kind assistance.

EUGENE W. GATES.

i, CARLTON GARDENS, EALING,
LONDON.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION .... I

THE WATER FOWL . . . -13

THE SNIPES 424

APPENDIX 495

ERRATA.

At page 40, line 12, for "This latter" read
1 The Pink-footed Goose."

At page 121, line 16, for " Teal " read "Duck/'

A MANUAL

OF THE

GAME BIRDS OF INDIA.

Ipart IL-TOater

INTRODUCTION.

THE birds which form the subject of this,
the second, part of the GAME BIRDS OF
INDIA, are forty-four in number, and are
referable to two sections or orders, con-
taining the following number of species : —

Water Fowl . .37 species.
Snipes . . 7 „

It is hardly necessary to point out to
the sportsman how these two sections of
birds differ from each other, and from
all the game birds treated of in the first
part of this- work ; nevertheless it will

VOL ii i

^Manual oj the Com* Birds of India.

be convenient 10 nssign *o them certain
characters, in order that the sections may
be properly defined : —

WATER FOWL (p. 13). — The front toes
joined together by a web ; the hind toe
lobed ; the margins of the bill furnished
with lamellae, or serrations, or saw-like
teeth.

SNIPES (p. 424). — Bill long and slender,
straight, or curved at the tip; the nasal
furrow extending nearly to the tip of the
upper mandible ; no trace of web between
the toes ; hind toe small and elevated
above the level of the front toes ; the
tarsus equal to or shorter than the middle
toe and claw.

Of the forty-four species of Water Birds
included in my list, thirty-six are to be
found in Dr. Jerdon's work and forty-
three in that of Messrs. Hume and
Marshall. I have been able to add one
species, the Eastern White-eyed Pochard,
to the Indian list. The occurrence of
this Duck in India has been brought to
notice by Mr. F. Finn, and no doubt it
will prove to be a common bird in the
eastern portion of the Empire, where it
has hitherto been confounded with the
better-known western form.

I have omitted from my list three

Introduction.

species of Water Fowl which I am of
opinion were included in their work by
Messrs. Hume and Marshall on quite
insufficient evidence. These are the
Whooper or Hooper Swan, Bewick's
Swan, and the Bean-Goose.

In this Manual I have indicated many
species of Water Birds, both Ducks
and Snipes, which may not improbably
be found hereafter to occur within the
limits of the Indian Empire. To these
I have assigned characters by means of
which they can be easily identified, and
I trust that sportsmen in India may be
able, in the course of a few years, to add
at least half a dozen species to the present
list.

The Geese of the Bean-Goose type are
especially interesting, and the species
which occur in Eastern Asia may reason-
ably be expected to visit Upper Burma
and the Shan States in the winter. In
the course of studying the Geese in the
British Museum, I found a Goose of this
type from Japan which could not be
assigned to any known species, and I
have accordingly described it in my sum-
mary of these birds, (p. 77), under the
name of A user mentalis.

In dealing with the Water Fowl, I have

4 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

largely availed myself of the Catalogue of
the Ducks by Count Salvador!, forming
the twenty-seventh volume of the British
Museum Catalogue of Birds. I have in
a few instances ventured to differ from
this eminent authority. I have, for in-
stance, placed the Pink-headed Duck
near the Pochards, and I have placed
the Grey Ducks in a separate genus or
group, for reasons which are fully given
in their proper place.

In dealing with the Snipes, I have pro-
fited by Dr. Bowdler Sharpe's Catalogue
of the Waders in the British Museum
Collection (vol. xxiv.).

The birds treated of in this second part
of my Manual are of such wide distribu-
tion that the literature relating to them
is very extensive. So many of the Ducks
and Geese visit India only in the winter
that we have to go to European authors
for an account of their nesting and general
habits in summer. The books to which
I am chiefly indebted for information,
and from which I have frequently quoted
largely, are Dr. Sharpe's " British Birds "
in Allen's "Naturalist's Library"; Mr.
Dresser's splendid work " The Birds of
Europe "; and the late Mr. Seebohm's
" British Birds," In addition to these I

Introduction. 5

have often had occasion to quote from
various charming books of sport, too
numerous to be mentioned here, but
which are duly acknowledged in the
following pages.

Since the first part of this work was
published, Dr. Blanford has issued the
fourth and concluding volume of the
Birds in the " Fauna of British India."
This treats not only of the Game Birds,
but of many other birds which are of
special interest to the sportsman, but
which do not enter into the scope of this
smaller and more restricted Manual. The
sportsman who wishes to do more than
merely identify the species he meets with
will do well to study Dr. Blanford's volume
and acquaint himself with the many in-
teresting details of the anatomy and
classification of the Indian Game Birds
which would be out of place in this
Manual.

My obligations to Messrs. Hume and
Marshall cannot be overestimated. Their
descriptions of the habits of the Water
Birds, so far as these, in the case of so
many of the Ducks and Snipes, can be
observed in India, are so complete that
little can be added to them. I have laid
their work largely under contribution.

6- Manual of the Game Birds of India.

I cannot omit to notice here Colonel
le Messurier's useful little volume on
"The Game, Shore, and Water Birds of
India," and Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker's
series of most interesting articles on the
" Ducks of India " now appearing in the
Journal of the Bombay Natural History
Society. These articles, written by such
a practical naturalist and sportsman as
Mr. Baker, are most valuable, and they
have been of great use to me. I may
also mention that Mr. F. Finn is dealing
with the Indian Ducks in the " Asian "
newspaper.

I now append a table, similar to the
one in the first part of this Manual, in
which are shown in parallel columns the
names used by me in this volume for the
Water Birds, the corresponding names
used by Dr. Jerdon, and similarly the
corresponding names used by Messrs.
Hume and Marshall, with a reference to
the volume and page where these names
may be found.*

* In order that it may not be overlooked,
I wish to draw my readers' attention to a new
Pheasant described in the Appendix at the end
of this volume.

Introduction.

NAMES USED BY

NAMES USED BY

MESSRS. HUME

NAMES USED IN

DR. JERDON IN

AND MARSHALL

THIS WORK.

THE " BIRDS OF

IN THE *' GAME

INDIA," VOL. II.

BIRDS OF INDIA,"

VOL. III.

89. The Mute

The Mute Swan,

Swan, p. 26.

p. 41.

90. The Grey

The Grey Goose,

The Grey Lag

Lag-Goose, p.

P. 779-

Goose, p. 55.

42

91. The Large

The White-

The White-front-

White-fronted

fronted Goose,

ed or Laughing

Goose, p. 48.
92. The Small

p. 780.
The Dwarf

Goose, p. 73.
The Dwarf

White - fronted

Goose, p. 781.

Goose, p. 77.

Goose, p. 53.

93. The Barred-

The Barred-

The Barred-

headed Goose,

headed Goose,

headed Goose,

P- 59-
94. The Pink-

p. 782.
The Pink-footed

p. 81.
The Pink-footed

footed Goose,

Goose, p. 780.

Goose, p. 71.

p. 65.

95. The Common

The Shieldrake,

The Shelldrake

Sheld-Duck.p.

P- 794-

or Burrow

81.

Duck, p. 135.

96. The Ruddy

The Ruddy

TheRuddyShell-

Sheld-Duck, p.

Shieldrake, p.

drake or Brah-

92.

791.

miny Duck, p.

122.

97. The Comb-

The Black-

The Nukhta or

Duck, p. 103.

backed Goose,

Comb Duck,

98. The Small

P- 785-
The Whistling-

p. 91.

The Whistling

Whistling

Teal, p. 789.

Teal, p. no.

Duck, p. 112.

99. The Large

The Large

The Larger

Whistling

Whistling-

W h i s 1 1 i n g

Duck, p. 1 20.

Teal, p. 790.

Teal, p. 119.

8 Manual of the Game Birds of India,

NAMES USED IN
THIS WORK.

NAMES USED BY
DR. JERDON IN
THE " BIRDS OF
INDIA," VOL. II.

NAMES USED BY
MESSRS. HUME
AND MARSHALL
IN THE "GAME
BIRDS OF INDIA,"

VOL. III.

ioo. The Indian

The White-

The Cot ton Teal,

Cot ton -Teal,

bodied Goose-

p. 101.

p. 127.

Teal, p. 786.

101. The Indian

The White-

The White-

Wood-Duck

winged Shiel-

winged Wood-

P. 139.
102. The Grey

drake, p. 793.
The Spotted-

Duck, p. 147.
The Grey or

Duck, p. 150.

billed Duck, p.

Spot-bill Duck,

799-

p. 165.

103. The Anda-

The Oceanic

man Duck, p.

Teal, p. 243.

158.

104. The Com-

The Common

The Common

mon Teal, p.

Teal, p. 806.

Teal, p. 205.

172.

105. The Baikal

The Clucking

The Clucking or

Teal, p. 182.

Teal, p. 808.

Baikal Teal,

p. 225.

106. The Gar-

The Blue-winged

The Garganey

ganey, p. 190.

Teal, p. 807.

or Blue-wing-

ed Teal, p.

215.

107. The Fal-

The Crested or

cated Duck, p.

Bronze-capped

202.

Teal, p. 231.

1 08. ^he Wige-

The Wigeon, p.

The Wigeon, p.

on, p. 210.

804.

197.

109. The Pin-

The Pintail

The Pintail, p.

tail, p 223.

Duck, p. 803.

189.

no. The Gad-

The Gadwall, p.

The Gadwall, p.

wall, p. 234.

802.

181.

in. The Shov-

The Shoveller, p.

The Shoveller,

eller, p. 246.

796.

p. 141.

Introduction.

NAMES USED BY

NAMES USED BY

MESSRS. HUME

NAMES USED IN

DR. JERDON IN

AND MARSHALL

THIS WORK.

THE "BIRDS OF

IN THE "GAME

INDIA," VOL. II.

BIRDS OF INDIA,"

VOL. III.

112. The Wild

The Mallard, p.

The Mallard, p.

Duck, p. 257.

798.

151-

113. TheMarbled

The Marbled

Duck, p. 273.

Teal, p. 237.

114. The Pink-

The Pink-headed

The Pink-headed

headed Duck,

Duck, p. 800.

Duck, p. 173.

p. 284.

115. The Red-

The Red-crested

The Red-crested

crested Po-

Pochard, p.

Pochard, p.

chard, p. 299.

811.

253-

116. Ttte Po-

The Red-headed

The Pochard or

chard, p. 309.

Pochard, p.

Dun-bird, p.

812.

247.

117. The West-

The White-eyed

The White-

er n White-

Duck, p. 813.

eyed Pochard,

eyed Pochard,

p. 263.

p. 318.

118. The East- 1
ern White-
eyed Pochard,
p. 328.

119. The Scaup The Scaup
Duck, p. 337. ! Pochard, p.

I 814.

1 20. The Tufted JThe Tufted

Scaup Duck,
p. 348.

121. The Golden -
eye, p. 358-

122. The Stiff-
tailed Duck, p.
375-

Duck, p. 815.

The Scaup, p.
271.

The Tufted Po-
chard, p. 277.

The Golden-Eye

or Garrot, p.

285.
The White-faced

Stiff- tail Duck,

p. 289.

io Manual of the Game Birds of India.

NAMES USED BY

NAMES USED BY

MESSRS. HUME

NAMES USED IN

DR. JERDON IN

AND MARSHALL

THIS WORK.

THE " BIRDS OF

IN THE "GAME

INDIA," VOL. II.

BIRDS OF INDIA,"

VOL. III.

123. The Goos-

The Merganser,

The Goosander

ander, p. 390.

p. 817.

or Merganser,

p. 299.

124. The Red-

TheRed-breasted

breasted Mer-

Merganser, p.

ganser, p. 402.

305.

125. The Smew,

The Smew, p.

The Smew, p.

P- 4*3-

818.

293-

126. The Wood-

TheWood-Cock,

The Woodcock,

Cock, p. 428.

p. 670.

P- 3°9-

127. The Wood- TheWood Snipe,

The .Wood-

Snipe, p. 439.

p. 672.

Snipe, p. 325.

128. The Solitary
Snipe, p. 446.

The Himalayan
Solitary Snipe,

The Eastern
Solitary Snipe,

P- 673-

P- 334-

129. The Com-

The C o ra m o n

The Common or

mon Snipe, p.

Snipe, p. 674.

Fantail Snipe,

455-

P- 359-

130. The Pin-

The Pin-tailed

The Pintail

tail Snipe, p.

Snipe, p. 674.

Snipe, p. 339.

468.

131. The Jack-

The Jack Snipe,

The Jack Snipe,

Snipe, p. 477.
132. The Painted

p. 676.
The Painted

P- 373-
The Painted

Snipe, p. 488.

Snipe, p. 677.

Snipe, p. 381.

In the first part of this Manual I tried
to avoid the use of what might be styled
technical terms. In writing of the Water
Birds I have been compelled, for the
sake of clearness and brevity, to make

Introduction.

use of a few such terms. These are,
however, so often employed by Messrs.
Hume and Marshall and other writers
on birds that few sportsmen can plead
ignorance of their meaning ; but to avoid
any possible misunderstanding on this
point it will, perhaps, be desirable to
explain them briefly. The " primaries "
are the first ten or eleven quills of the
wing, counting from the tip inwards.
Many birds have ten primaries, but the
Ducks have eleven. The first, however,
is so minute and so difficult to discover
that it may be ignored ; and for all prac-
tical purposes Ducks may be considered
to have ten primaries only, all of full size.
The " secondaries " are the remaining
quills of the wing. About half of these
are usually short and of much the same
length, and are termed the outer second-
aries. The remaining secondaries are
usually long and pointed, and are termed
the inner secondaries.

The "speculum," a term used in
connection with Ducks, is the colour
exhibited by the outer secondaries. It
is often very brilliant and metallic ; some-
times dull or of a brownish colour ; at
times pure white or grey.

The "scapulars" are the feathers

T2 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

springing from the shoulder, generally
very long, pointed, and of a distinctive
colour. When the wing is closed, the
scapulars completely cover the junction
of the wing with the body, and lie partly
over the feathers of the back and partly
over the inner secondaries.

The " axillaries " are a bunch of long
narrow feathers, springing from the arm-
pit, or the junction of the wing with the
body. They lie concealed under the
closed wing.

The " coverts " of the upper surface of
the wing are divided into three series :
the lesser, which ranges along the margin
of the wing ; the middle ; and the lower
series, or greater coverts, covering the
base of the quills. The primary coverts
are those small, stiff, pointed feathers
which lie at the base of the primaries, and
are not only quite distinct from the greater
coverts, but are generally of quite a differ-
ent colour, most usually black or brown.
The coverts of the lower surface of the
wing are almost invariably of one pattern
of colour, and for purposes of description
do not require to be divided into series.

I again remind my readers that all the
measurements in this Manual are in inches.

THE WATER FOWL.

THE Water-Fowl comprise the Swans, the
Geese, and the Ducks.

The Swans are perhaps best separated
by reason of their long necks and bare
cheeks, but there is no line of demarcation
between the Geese and the Ducks. The
typical Goose and the typical Duck of
our farmyards are sufficiently distinct, it
is true; but when treating of a large
number of species of Water Fowl, we
find a perfect chain of links between the
Geese and Ducks, just as in treating of
the Gallinaceous Birds we found the
Pheasant and the Partridge linked to-
gether by numerous groups possessing
some of the characters of both species.

I have, therefore, not attempted to
divide the Water Fowl into three large
sections — Swans, Geese, and Ducks — but
have preferred to form these birds into
small natural groups, to which I have
assigned names which are partly sanc-
tioned by usage and partly suggested

14 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

by considerations of structure, habits, and
plumage.

The Water Fowl do not vary in form
to such an extent as the Gallinaceous
Birds, and it is consequently much more
difficult in the case of the former to
discover characters by which they may
be grouped together or separated from
each other. The primary character of
importance among the Water Fowl is un-
doubtedly the pattern of colour presented
by the primaries.

All adult Swans have the primaries
pure white. I am aware that the
South American Coscoroba Candida^ is
by many authors looked upon as a
Swan, and that it has the primaries
white tipped with black ; but I believe
that this bird is not a Swan, but a
Goose. The neck is very short, the
cheeks are feathered, and it bears little
resemblance to a Swan in form or external
structure.

The True Geese have a pattern of
the primaries all their own. The outer
primaries are grey tipped with blackish ;
the inner are uniformly black or blackish*

All the resident Ducks, and those
Ducks the migrations of which are very
limited or partial, have the primaries

The Water Fowl. 15

uniform, without a pattern : black or
dark brown in the case of the Sheld-
Ducks, the Comb-Ducks, the Whistling
Ducks, the Wood-Ducks and the Grey
Ducks ; and grey or brown in the case
of the Marbled and Stiff-tailed Ducks.

All the highly-migratory and rapid-flying
Ducks have the primaries with the outer
web of a very dark colour, and the inner
web of a drab colour with a dark tip.
The Ducks which have the primaries of
this peculiar pattern are the True Ducks,
the Golden-eyes, and the Mergansers.

Another pattern is presented by the
Pink-headed Ducks and the Pochards.
These have the outer primaries similar
to those of the True Ducks, above de-
scribed; but the inner primaries are
of the same white or pale colour as the
speculum, but tipped with dusky.

The Scaup Ducks have the primaries
very similar to those of the Pink-headed
Ducks and Pochards, but the inner
primaries, instead of being white or of
a pale colour on both webs, have only
the outer web white or of a pale colour,
the inner web being dark.

The Cotton-Teal is one of the very few
Ducks, in fact the only Indian one, in
which the pattern of the primaries varies

1 6 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

in the two sexes. It is in other ways a
very anomalous Duck, one remarkable
feature of its economy being that it has
both a spring and an autumn moult.

It will be seen how important this
pattern of the primaries is in determining
Water Fowl. I have not restricted my
examination of the colour-pattern of the
primaries to the Indian Ducks alone. I
have examined a large number of species
of Ducks from all parts of the world, and
it seems to me a character of the first
importance for the classification and
grouping of the Water Fowl.

The colour of the axillaries and of the
speculum are also characters of much use
in discriminating the Ducks. The shape
and size of the bill, the shape of the tail
and the number of feathers of which it
is composed, the extent to which the
hindtoe is lobed, and the size of the feet,
are characters liable to great variation,
and little reliance can be placed on them.
They are generally of little use, and I
have seldom referred to them.

The resident Ducks, and a few others
which have nearly abandoned the migra-
tory instinct, such as the Sheld-Ducks,
have the usual autumn change and no
othur. The Cotton-Teal, but probably only

The Water Fowl. 17

the male of this, has two moults a year,
as before remarked. The True Ducks,
the Diving Ducks, the Golden-eyes and
the Mergansers differ from all the above
mentioned in respect to the way the moult
is accomplished. The females have only
the one autumn moult, but the males
pass through a lengthened operation last-
ing probably four months. As soon as
the female has commenced incubation,
the drakes retire and flock together in the
quietest spots they can find. They there
commence a moult of the feathers of the
head, neck, and body, and emerge from
this operation in a plumage which very
closely resembles that of the female.
As soon as this has been accomplished,
the drakes moult their quills. They
then cast the plumage of the head,
neck, and body again, and resume their
ordinary brilliant male plumage. Drakes
in the plumage of the female, or in
post-nuptial plumage as I have termed it
in the following pages, are very seldom
seen or shot, and consequently specimens
are very rare in museums. There is
much doubt, even at the present time,
regarding the post-nuptial plumage of the
drakes of some of the commoner Euro-
pean species.

VOL II. 2

1 8 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Young Ducks change from the downy
stage into the plumage of the adult
female. The males, almost immediately
after this, commence to assume the
plumage of the drake, and resemble him
closely by the end of the first winter ; but
they do not acquire the mature, brilliant
plumage of the perfectly adult drake till
about the end of the third year.

I now append a synopsis of the sixteen
groups of Water Fowl found in India.
As in the case of the other Game birds,
the characters given apply to both sexes,
and also to the young bird, after the
change from down to feather.

SYNOPSIS OF THE GROUPS OF
WATER FOWL TREATED
OF IN THIS WORK.

SWANS. — Primaries white in adults, pale
brown in young birds ; the neck as long as,
or longer than, the body ; the skin in front
of the eye bare of feathers, except in very
young birds ; the inner secondaries reach-
ing to the tip of the longest primary ;
the tarsus much shorter than the middle
toe. Of wide distribution. P. 24.

TRUE GEESE. — Varying in size up to
that of a domestic Goose ; the outer
primaries grey tipped with blackish, the
inner primaries and the outer secondaries
uniformly blackish ; all with white shafts ;
the upper tail-coverts white ; the axillaries
bluish grey or ashy. Of wide distribution.
P. 38.

SHELD-DUCKS. — About the size of a

small Goose ; primaries uniformly black ;

axillaries white ; wing-coverts white ;

speculum green or bronze ; the outer web

19

2o Manual of the Game Birds of India.

of the secondaries next the inner side of
the speculum, chestnut. Of wide distri-
bution. P. 79.

COMB-DUCKS. — About the size of a
small Goose ; primaries uniformly black ;
axillaries black; head and neck white,
spotted with black. Of wide distribution.
P. 101.

WHISTLING DUCKS. — About the size of
a small Duck ; primaries, axillaries, and
under wing-coverts uniformly black ;
feathers of the back broadly margined
with rufous. Of wide distribution. P. no.

COTTON-TEAL. — Much smaller than a
Common Teal ; primaries uniform brown,
with or without a large white patch ;
axillaries black, or else brown margined
with grey ; nearly all the secondaries
broadly tipped with white. Of wide
distribution. P. 125.

WOOD-DUCKS. — About the size of a
small Goose ; primaries uniformly black ;
axillaries white ; upper wing-coverts white,
with a broad black band separating them
from the slaty-blue speculum. The
eastern part of the Empire. P. 136.

GREY DUCKS. — Varying in size from
that of a common Teal to that of a

The Water Fowl. 2 1

domestic Duck ; primaries uniformly
black, or with the inner web of a slightly
paler black than the outer ; axillaries
white ; under tail-coverts never plain
white nor barred across ; in the closed
wing, the first secondary reaching to about
the tip of the longest primary coverts.
Confined to the Indian Empire. P. 147.

TRUE DUCKS. — Varying in size from
that of a common Teal to that of a
domestic Duck ; the outer web of the
primaries blackish, the inner web drab,
with a blackish tip ; axillaries white, or
white mottled with brown ; under tail-
coverts never plain white nor barred
across ; in the closed wing, the first
secondary falling short of the tip of the
longest primary coverts by more than half
an inch. Of wide distribution. P. 168.

MARBLED DUCKS. — Rather larger than
a common Teal ; primaries grey on both
webs, with dusky tips, the first five or six
with a silver-grey tinge on the outer web ;
axillaries white, barred with brown near
the tips ; upper plumage marked with
large, roundish, pale buff spots ; under
tail-coverts barred across. Of wide dis*
tribution, P. 272.

PINK-HEADED DUCKS. — About the siae

22 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

of a domestic Duck ; outer primaries with
the outer web much darker than the inner ;
inner primaries with both webs of the
same pale vinous drab as the speculum,
and all tipped with dusky ; axillaries
brown, mottled with white ; the whole
lower plumage, together with the sides
of the body, of one uniform dark colour.
Confined to the Empire. P. 282.

POCHARDS. — Varying in size from that
of a small Wigeon to that of a domestic
Duck ; outer primaries with the outer
web much darker than the inner ; inner
primaries with both webs of the same
white or grey colour as the speculum, and
all tipped with dusky ; axillaries white, or
white mottled with brown at the tip ; the
lower plumage and the sides of the body
never of one uniform colour throughout.
Of wide distribution. P. 296.

SCAUP DUCKS. — About the size of a
Wigeon ; outer primaries with the outer
web much darker than the inner ; inner
primaries with the outer web white or
much paler than the inner, and all tipped
with dusky ; axillaries white, or white
mottled with brown at the tips. Of wide
distribution. P. 334.

GOLDEN-EYES. — About the size of a

The Water Fowl. 23

Wigeon ; the outer web of the primaries
blackish, the inner web drab, with a
blackish tip ; axillaries uniformly blackish
or brown ; the middle secondaries en-
tirely white. Of wide distribution. P. 357.

STIFF-TAILED DUCKS. — Rather larger
than a common Teal ; primaries uni-
form drab brown, with darker tips ;
axillaries white ; under tail-coverts cross-
barred \ base of the upper mandible much
swollen ; tail composed of narrow, stiff
feathers, projecting fully three inches
beyond the coverts. Of wide distribution.
P. 373-

MERGANSERS. — Varying in size from
that of a common Teal to that of a
domestic Duck ; the outer web of the
primaries blackish, the inner web drab,
with a blackish tip ; axillaries white \
under tail-coverts plain white ; margins
of the bill furnished with close-set saw-
like teeth. Of wide distribution. P. 386.

THE SWANS.

THE Swans are the largest of the Water
Fowl, and adults of those species which
inhabit the northern hemisphere can be
recognised at a glance by their pure white
plumage and long necks. They differ
from both the Geese and Ducks in having
the space in front of the eyes quite bare
of feathers, and from the former also by
their short tarsus, which is never so long
as the middle toe.

Young Swans, on changing from the
downy stage, have a plumage which is
uniformly brown, but white feathers make
their appearance almost at once, and by
the time they are about fifteen months
of age the whole plumage is white.
Swans shot in India are for the most
part immature, the plumage consisting
of a mixture of white and brown feathers.
In very young birds the skin in front of
the eyes is covered by some stiff bristle-like
feathers, but these are soon lost.

Swans moult once a year, in the autumn,
and the sexes are alike.
24

The Swans. 25

Swans swim very gracefully, often with
partially opened wings, and they fly well.
They walk clumsily, and seldom leave
the water, except to rest on the bank.

Both the Whooper and Bewick's Swan
are included by Messrs. Hume and
Marshall among the game birds of India,
but on very insufficient evidence. An
illustration of a Swan which was killed
in Nepal is among the paintings of
Nepalese birds made by Hodgson, and
now deposited in the library of the
Zoological Society of London. The feet
and the skull of, probably, the same
bird are to be seen in the British
Museum. There has been considerable
difference of opinion regarding the species
of Swan which these relics and the draw-
ing refer to. The latter is on a very
small scale, but the colouring of the
head, in my opinion, represents a young
Whooper. It is difficult to identify the
skull, but the feet are small enough for
a Bewick's Swan. On the whole, I am
inclined to think that Hodgson procured
a young Whooper, but the matter is so
uncertain that it is better to wait for
further evidence before admitting either
of the above species to the list of the
birds of India.

89. THE MUTE SWAN.

Cygnus olor, (GMELIN).

Primaries wholly white or pale brown.

Neck as long as, or longer than, the
body.

Skin in front of the eye bare of feathers,
except in very young birds.

Tarsus much shorter than the middle
toe.

Upper mandible orange-yellow, except
the knob at base, the nail, the nostrils,
and the skin between the base of the
bill and the eye, which are black.
Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAME \~Penr, Punjab.

THE occurrence of the Mute Swan in
India has been noted on many occasions,
and this bird appears to be a somewhat
regular visitor, in small numbers, to the
north-west part of the Empire. It has
been procured in the Peshawar and
Hazara districts of the Punjab, and near
Sehwan in Sind, in the cold weather.
Stoliczka stated, many years ago, that he

26

The Swans. 27

observed Swans, probably of this species,
in the Runn of Cutch. Major Water-
field shot this species near Peshawar on
the 3rd of June, and Mr. D. B. Sinclair
shot a specimen on the ist of June and
observed another on the yth of July. This
Swan thus appears to visit India regard-
less of season, or it may, not improbably,
be a resident in certain favourable
localities.

The Mute Swan is a bird of temperate
climates, and does not go to the far north.
In fact, I cannot discover that it has ever
been observed north of the 6oth degree
of north latitude. Laterally, the range
of this Swan extends from Western Europe
to Eastern Siberia. In winter it visits
Northern Africa, Asia Minor, Persia, and,
as we know, North-Western India. It
breeds in portions of Central Europe, on
the shores of the Caspian Sea, in Turkes-
tan, and in Mongolia.

The Mute Swan appears to be a resident
species in the central portion of its range,
and to be migratory only in the northern
and southern portions. It is the Swan
which is most commonly kept in confine-
ment throughout Europe, and it seems
to be able to live in all climates.

As a rule, the Mute Swan is found on

28 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

inland pieces of water or slow-flowing
rivers, where there is a good deal of
vegetation on the banks. In the winter
it may be seen on the sea-shore, at the
mouth of some river, or in some quiet
bay, and it seldom goes far from the
shore. It lives, and also migrates, in
flocks or small parties, and is particularly
shy. It flies like a Goose or a Duck,
with the neck stretched out at full length ;
and the noise made by its wings, when
flying, is very loud, and can be heard for
a long distance.

The Mute Swan is not entirely a silent
bird. When angry it hisses like a Goose,
and at the pairing season it is said to
have a soft, low voice, not at all un-
musical. At times it is also said to have
a trumpet-like call, like that of a Crane.

The Mute Swan, like others of its tribe,
feeds chiefly on vegetable matter growing
in the water, and also on insects, snails,
and worms. It never dives, but it sub-
merges the front half of its body when
searching with its bill for food at the
bottom of ponds, etc.

I shall now proceed to quote Mr.
Stevenson, who in his " Birds of Nor-
folk " gives us a very full and interesting
account of the habits and the breed-

The Swans. 29

ing of the Mute Swan in a state of
domestication. He says : — " The old
Swans usually commence their nests in
March, but in cold backward seasons are
a week or two later, and for a fortnight
or three weeks before the eggs are laid
may be seen busily pulling and carrying
the stuff. I cannot ascertain, however,
that the hen birds, as stated by Mr.
Boyes, of Beverley, in a recent letter to
Mr. J. H. Gurney, junr., ever lay their
first eggs on the ground, except in cases
where the nest has been destroyed or
the birds driven from their first site just
as the female was ready to lay. The
foundation of the nest is, in most cases,
composed of dried fodder from the
'rands,' provided for their use, but sup-
plemented by reeds, rushes, and other
coarse herbage of their own collecting,
and added to more or less throughout
the time of incubation. The interior is
composed of somewhat finer materials,
mixed with their own down and feathers.
Though generally high enough to escape
the effects of any ordinary flood, they
have been known to raise them suddenly,
— either collecting materials of their own
accord, or using such as the forethought
of the marshmen may have supplied, —

30 Manual of the Gamf Birds of India.

and thus, by a marvellous instinct, as
in the case recorded by Yarrell, anticipate
an extraordinarily high tide. At such
times both birds are employed in the
work, the male collecting materials and
its mate arranging them and shifting her
eggs. The process, as observed by Rich
on more than one occasion, appears to
be as follows : — The fresh stuff is piled
up on one side of the nest, and having
been roughly laid with the bill, is flattened
down with the crown of the head; the
eggs are then carefully rolled on to the
higher surface by means of the head and
beak, the under part of the lower man-
dible being inserted under each, and the
same course is then adopted on the other
side ; and lastly, having raised the centre
in proportion, the eggs are returned to
their proper position. The eggs are not,
however, exposed during all this time,
but are covered at intervals by the female
to keep them warm, and this even when
the waters are rising rapidly.

"The Swan's nest, from its ample di-
mensions, is always a conspicuous object,
whether placed amongst the rank herbage
on the river's bank, at the mouth of a
marsh drain, or on the little islands and
reedy margins of the broads themselves ;

The Swans. 31

and from the summit of that littered
mass the sitting bird commands all
approaches, whilst her mate keeps guard
below. To my mind an old male Swan
never looks more beautiful than when,
thus ' on duty,' he sails forth from the
margin of the stream to meet intru-
ders ; with his head and neck thrown
back between his snowy pinions, and
every feather quivering with excitement,
he drives through the rippling water,
contenting himself, if unmolested, with
a quiet assertion of his rights, but with
loud hisses and threatening actions re-
senting an attack. When the young, too,
under the joint convoy of their parents,
have taken to the water, the action of
both birds is full of grace and vigour,
and the deep call-notes of the old pair
mingle with the soft whistlings of their
downy nestlings. What prettier sight
presents itself upon our inland waters
than such a group disporting themselves
in the bright sunshine of a summer's
day, when the pure whiteness of the old
birds' feathers contrasts with the green
background of reeds and rushes, and the
little grey cygnets on their mother's back
are peeping with bright bead-like eyes
from the shelter of her spotless plumes ?

32 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

This habit of taking the young on her
back is not, as some have supposed,
adopted only as a means of safety when
crossing a strong current, but is a method
of brooding her young on the water, very
commonly practised by the female Swan
whilst her cygnets are young, and she
will sink herself low in the water that
they may mount more easily. Whether
at the same time she gives them a ' leg-
up ' by raising them on the broad webs
of her own feet, I cannot say positively ;
but this is not improbable, since a
favourite action in Swans is that of swim-
ming with one foot resting upon the
lower part of the back, the sole of the
foot being uppermost. . . . Swans pair
for life, build a fresh nest each season,
and, if left unmolested, will keep pretty
close to the same locality. . . . Young
hen birds do not lay till their second
year, some not until the third or fourth,
and commence by laying from three to
five eggs. . . . Commencing with five eggs,
the same bird will lay from seven to
nine the next season, and in the following
year from ten to eleven, being then at
her prime at four years old. . . . Incuba-
tion usually occupies five weeks, or about
a week longer should the weather be very

The Swans. 33

cold ; but if the eggs prove addled, the
hen will continue sitting for seven or
eight weeks, or till driven from her nest
by the marsh men. . . . Whilst the female
is laying her full complement of eggs —
which she does at the rate of about ten
eggs in fourteen days — the cock takes
charge of and broods them in her absence,
often most reluctantly resigning his post
on her return."

Except that the wild Swan nests later
than the tame bird, the breeding habits of
the former do not seem to vary from
those of the latter. The number of eggs
laid varies from five to eight. In shape,
the eggs are rather pointed at both ends ;
the shell is rather rough, but has a fair
amount of gloss. They differ from the
eggs of the Whooper and Bewick's Swan
in being of a greenish grey colour. They
measure about 4*6 in length and about
2'95 in breadth.

The adult bird has the whole plumage
pure white. Young birds are pale brown.
They complete the change into pure
white plumage when they are about fifteen
months old.

The bill measures about 4*2 from the
forehead to the tip of the nail of the
upper mandible, but the edge of the fore-

VOL. II. ^

34 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

head is not always clearly defined ; from
the eye to the tip of the nail about 47 ;
from the gape to the tip of the nail
about 3*8. The wing measures about
23. The tail is between 9 and 10 in
length, and much pointed, the distance
between the tip of the outermost feather
and the tip of the middle pair of feathers
being nearly 4. The tarsus is about 3*8
and the middle toe, with claw, about 6.

The adult male has a knob at the base
of the upper mandible. The adult female
has a similar, but smaller, one. Young
birds have no indication of a knob.

Adult birds have the bill orange-red,
except the knob, the skin between the
eye and the bill, an elongated patch on
the nostril, the nail and margins of both
mandibles, and the base of the lower
mandible, which are black ; the irides are
brown ; legs and feet black.

In young birds, the orange colour of
the bill is replaced by fleshy grey or pale
buff, which frequently turns to a blackish
colour in dry skins.

The total length of an adult bird is
about five feet. The weight of Indian-
killed birds has varied from 13 to 19 Ib. ;
but tame birds in Europe are said to
reach a weight of 30 Ib.

The Swans. 35

I now give a brief, but sufficient, de-
scription of the Whooper and Bewick's
Swan. Both these Swans have the bare
skin in front of the eye yellow, and they
ought not to be confounded with the Mute
Swan, in which this part is black.

THE WHOOPER (Cygnus musicus), when
adult, is entirely white. The bill is partly
yellow and partly black. If a point be
taken on the bill about an inch from
the forehead, and another on the margin
of the upper mandible about half-way
between the gape and the tip, and these
two points be joined by a line which will
be found to pass through the posterior
angle of the nostril, then this line will
represent the junction of the yellow of
the base of the bill and the black of
the front half. The length of the upper
mandible from the forehead to the tip
is about 4*i ; from the eye to the tip,
about 5*2 ; and from the gape to the
tip, about 4*1. There is no knob or
swelling at the base of the upper man-
dible. The wing measures from 23 to
25! ; the tarsus about 4*3 ; and the middle
toe and claw about 67. The tail is
rounded, the distance between the tip
of the outermost feather and the tip of

36 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

the middle pair of feathers being about
two inches.

The young bird is of a pale brown
colour ; but white feathers soon begin
to show themselves. According to Count
Salvadori, the bill is first of a dull flesh-
colour, the tip and the lateral margins
black ; later, black with a reddish orange
band across the nostrils, and with the base
pale greenish white.

BEWICK'S SWAN (Cygnus bewicki\ when
adult is entirely white. The bill is partly
yellow and partly black, but the two
colours are not distributed in quite the
same manner as in the Whooper. The
yellow is of much smaller extent, and
is confined to a patch on either side of
the base of the upper mandible, reaching
back to the eye, but failing to reach the
nostrils. The two patches sometimes
meet on the ridge of the mandible, and
that part is often yellow, or mixed yellow
and black, for a distance of about three-
quarters of an inch from the forehead.
The length of the upper mandible, from
the forehead to the tip is about 37 ; from
the eye to the tip, about 4/3 ; and
from the gape to the tip, about 3*6.
There is no knob or swelling at the base
of the upper mandible. The wing

The Swam. 37

measures about 2 1 ; the tarsus about 4 ;
and the middle toe and claw, about 5*8.
The tail is rounded, the distance between
the tip of the outermost feather and the
tip of the middle pair of feathers being
less than two inches.

The young bird is pale brown, and it
becomes white in the second autumn.
Intermediate specimens have a mixture
of white and brown feathers. The base
of the bill is paler yellow than in the
adult.

About thirty years ago, Swinhoe de-
scribed a Swan from China under the
name of Cygnus davidi. His description
of the bird is very imperfect, but the
colour of the legs and feet is stated to be
orange-yellow — a remarkable character.

THE TRUE GEESE.

ALL the species of Geese which are
known with certainty to occur within
Indian limits belong to the group of
which the Grey Lag-Goose is the oldest
representative, and consequently they
are termed True Geese.

The Geese are hardly separable by any
characters from the larger Ducks. Of
the Geese, however, it may be said that
they have longer legs than the Ducks
and they are placed in a more forward
position. As a consequence, Geese are
able to walk and run with considerable
ease and comparative grace. They feed
more on the ground, and less on the
water, than Ducks. Their bills are
furnished with strong serrations, more
adapted for cropping herbage than for
sifting water and mud. Geese have only
an autumn moult, and the sexes are alike.

The True Geese, together with the
Swan-bill Goose (which is described
38

The True Geese. 39

further on and only differs from the True
Geese in the shape of the bill), may
always be recognised by the pattern of
the primaries, the uniformly dark axil-
laries and the white upper tail-coverts.
These characters apply equally to the
old and young birds, and are very con-
stant.

The True Geese may be divided into
three sections. In the first, which con-
tains the Grey Lag-Goose and the two
White-fronted Geese, the whole bill, in-
cluding the nails, is of one uniform colour
throughout. In the second, which con-
tains only the Barred-headed Goose, the
bill itself is entirely of a pale colour,
but the nail is black. In the third,
containing the Bean-Goose and its allies,
the bill is black, with a broad, pale band
across it, between the nostrils and the
nails. These characters will be found
very constant and of great use in sepa-
rating young birds.

The Geese of the first two sections
have always been well understood, and
there is no reason to think that sportsmen
have failed to identify them properly.
The Geese of the third section, how-
ever, have always been difficult to deter-
mine. Count Salvadori, when writing

40 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

his " Catalogue " of these birds, not very
long ago, was unable to arrive at any
satisfactory conclusion with regard to
one or two of the species. The British
Museum has received several additional
specimens of Geese of this section within
the last year or two, and after a careful
examination of all the material available,
I have come to the conclusion that there
are six recognisable species of Geese
of the third section, or of the type of
the Bean-Goose. This latter is known
to occur in the Indian Empire, and it
is not improbable that the other five
may, at some time or other, be found
to occur within our limits. I have,
therefore, in the proper place, given the
characters by which these Geese may
be known. Their identification, however,
cannot always be made a matter of ab-
solute certainty, without specimens of
the different species for comparison,
but I have striven to give characters
for each species that cannot well be
misunderstood. It will always be ad-
visable, when possible, to preserve
any specimens of Geese of this type
that the sportsman may be fortunate
enough to meet with, for subsequent
inquiry and examination. The differences

The True Geese. 41

between the various species lie almost
entirely in the colour and size of the
bill, and, failing facilities for preserving
the whole bird, the head and neck alone
will suffice, together with a brief note
on the colour of the bill in life, and the
length of the wing.

90. THE GREY LAG-GOOSE.

Anser anser, (LINNAEUS).*

Outer primaries grey, tipped with black-
ish ; inner primaries and outer second-
aries uniformly blackish ; all with
white shafts.

Upper tail-coverts white.

Axillaries bluish grey.

Bill of a pale colour, without any black,
and measuring about 2*6 from the
forehead straight to the tip of the
nail of the upper mandible.

Rump grey.

Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Sona, Hans, Raj-
hans, Kurria-sona, Upper India ; Budt-
bay, Doab ; Kar-hans> Bhagulpur ;
Mogala, Mogala-buttuk, Nepal Terai ;
Kangnai, Manipur; Tau-ngan, Burmese.

I FIND it difficult to separate the Grey
Lag-Goose of India from the Grey Lag-
Goose of Europe, as Count Salvadori has
done, and I prefer to treat them as one

* Anser rubrirostris of the British Museum
Catalogue.

42

The True Geese. 43

species for the present. The series of
the Indian bird in the British Museum
is very large, whereas the series of the
European bird is very small. Materials
for instituting a proper comparison be-
tween the two are therefore wanting, but
so far as I can judge, the differences
between the two races are very trifling,
and apparently not constant.

The Grey Lag-Goose is found in India
as a winter visitor, arriving at the end of
October, and leaving at the end of March
or the beginning of April ; these dates
being varied according to locality and
surrounding circumstances. This Goose
is not confined to the plains, but occurs
in all suitable places in the Himalayas
up to 6000 feet. It ranges from the
extreme west of Sind and of the Punjab
to the extreme east of Assam. In India,
the ordinary southern limit of this species
appears to be a rough line drawn from
the mouth of the Nerbudda river to the
southern edge of the Chilka lake, but a
correspondent of the " Asian " informs
us that he has observed this Goose as
far south as the i8th degree of latitude,
and far into the Vizagapatam District. On
the east, it ranges from Assam to Manipur,
where Mr. Hume obtained it on the Logtak

44 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

lake. It occurs on the Chindwin and
Irrawaddy rivers, and in the latter river
it is abundant down to Myingyan at least.

Outside our limits the Grey Lag-Goose
has an immense range from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, extending far north in
Europe and Western Asia, but apparently
not above the 55th degree of latitude in
Eastern Asia. In winter it is found as far
south as the Mediterranean, the Caucasus,
Northern Persia, India and Southern
China. Our Indian visitors probably mi-
grate to Turkestan and Central Asia, where
this Goose is known to nest abundantly.

The Grey Lag-Goose is a gregarious
bird, being found in parties which number
from half a dozen to several hundreds or
even thousands, but it does not associate
much, if at all, with other water fowl.
The food of the Goose is almost entirely
vegetable, and it spends most of its time
on land, feeding on crops in the mornings
and evenings, and resting during the day
on the shelving banks of some river or
lake. It is partial to tender grass, young
corn, beans and other vegetables, and in
a smaller degree to the shoots of water
plants. Both when feeding and when
resting during the day, Geese are par-
ticularly vigilant and difficult of approach.

The True Geese. 45

When once started, they fly well, but they
are slow in taking wing, either from land
or water. They run along the ground
several paces before they can rise, and,
if on the water, they beat the surface with
their wings, at the same time cackling
and stretching out their necks. They
swim with great ease, but they do not
dive much, unless wounded. On migra-
tion, they fly at a great height, and the
flock forms itself into two oblique lines
meeting at an angle in front.

Regarding the cries of the Grey Lag-
Goose, the late Mr. Seebohm wrote : —
"The note of the Grey Goose closely
resembles that of its congeners ; it is not
so musical as the trumpeting of the Swan,
nor quite so harsh as the quack of the
Duck. It is impossible to represent it
exactly on paper : one of its notes, sup-
posed to be associated with love and war,
is a loud trumpet-like sound ; but as one
bird calls to another on migration, or on
their feeding-grounds, it sounds something
like gag, gag. When the goose and the
gander are chattering together, it is lower
and softer, and might be represented as
tat) tat^ tat ; but when a flock of Geese
is suddenly surprised it becomes an
alarm-note — loud, shrill, harsh, long-drawn-

46 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

out at intervals, kak, kak, kike, sometimes
even ki-ike"

The Grey Lag-Goose is an early
breeder, and no time is apparently lost
in courtship. They choose the wildest
moors and swamps for their breeding-
grounds. The nest is a clumsy struc-
ture of grass and reeds on the ground,
and when the eggs are laid, the Goose
lines it with down from her body. The
number of eggs varies from six to
twelve or even fourteen. The eggs
are rough in texture and of a creamy
white colour. They measure about 3*5
by 2*3. The gander watches near the
nest while the goose is sitting, and,
when the young are hatched, assists his
mate to look after them.

The adult bird has the whole head
and neck brown, with a very narrow
fringe of white round the base of the
upper mandible, the brown darker on
the crown, the feathers of the neck soft
and pointed. The mantle, back, scapulars
and the longer inner secondaries are ashy
brown, each feather margined with greyish
white. The rump is grey and the upper
tail-coverts white. The two middle tail-
feathers are ashy brown, broadly tipped
with white. The others are basally

The True Geese. 47

brown, terminally white. The breast is
ashy grey, each feather edged paler.
The sides of the body are brown, with
grey margins to the feathers. The whole
abdomen and the under tail-coverts are
white, the former with broad, irregular,
broken-up black bars or patches. The
lesser upper wing-coverts and those on
the margin of the wing are pale bluish
grey, edged paler. The other upper wing-
coverts are brown with grey margins. The
outer primaries are grey, with blackish
tips ; the remainder are wholly blackish.
The outer secondaries are blackish, very
finely and narrowly margined with whitish.
The shafts of all the primaries and outer
secondaries are white. The axillaries and
under wing-coverts are bluish grey.

Young birds have no black marks on
the abdomen, and no white round the
base of the upper mandible.

Males are not invariably larger than
females. Both sexes vary much in size
and weight. Length about 32 ; wing
about 18; tail about 6. The bill is said
to vary from whitish to dull reddish brown.
The irides are brown. The legs and feet
are of the same colour as the bill. Weight
nearly up to 9 lb., but much heavier birds
appear to be found in Europe.

91. THE LARGE WHITE-FRONTED
GOOSE.

Anser albifrons, (ScoPOLi).

Outer primaries grey, tipped with
blackish ; inner primaries and outer
secondaries uniformly blackish ; all
with white shafts.

Upper tail-coverts white.

Axillaries dark ashy.

Bill of a pale colour, without any
black, and measuring about r8 from
the forehead straight to the tip of
the nail of the upper mandible.

Rump dark brown or blackish.

Sexes alike.
VERNACULAR NAME:— Rhai-hans, Oudh.

THE Large White-fronted Goose is, no
doubt, commoner in India, during the
winter, than is generally supposed. It
appears to be overlooked, or perhaps
mistaken for other Geese.

This Goose has occurred in various
localities in the Punjab, and Sind.
Lieut. C. D. Lester obtained it in Cutch.

The True Geese. 49

Messrs. Hume and Marshall inform us that
it has been found in the Ganges and
Jumna in the Saharanpur and Moozuffer-
nugger districts. Mr. G. Reid records
it from Lucknow, and Mr. Hume had a
specimen which was killed a few miles
south of that place. Colonel Graham
is our authority for the statement that
this Goose occurs right up the valley
of Assam. Capt. F. T. Williams very
kindly sent me a photograph of a speci-
men of this Goose, which he shot on the
Chindwin river on the 2yth November,
1896. Lastly, Major G. Rippon writes
to me that he was informed that some
officers of the 4th Burma Battalion had
shot this species on the lake at Fort
Stedman, in the Southern Shan States.

In the summer, this Goose is found in
high northern latitudes from Greenland
to Eastern Siberia. In the winter, it
migrates as far south as the Mediterranean,
North-East Africa, the Caspian Sea, India
and China.

Very little has been written on the
habits of this Goose. The late Mr.
Seebohm, who did not however separate
this species from its relative, the Small
White-fronted Goose, says : — " The notes
of the White-fronted Goose are somewhat

VOL. II. 4

50 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

similar to those of the Grey Goose, but
are more trumpet-like in tone and more
rapidly repeated, so that it has sometimes
been called the Laughing Goose. In
other respects the habits of the White-
fronted, Bean-, and Grey Geese are so
similar that the description of one might
almost pass for that of the others."

Captain Shelley remarks : — " This is
the most abundant Goose in Egypt,
where it may usually be met with in
flocks, but does not remain in the country
later than March. When on the wing
they fly in a wedge-shaped flock, and
frequently utter a loud harsh cry, which
may be heard at a considerable distance.
They are generally on the move just
before sunrise and sunset, and as they
are very regular, taking the same line of
flight and feeding at the same spot each
day, they may be most readily obtained
by lying in wait for them. If once fired
at, the flock generally leaves the neigh-
bourhood altogether."

Middendorff found this species breed-
ing on the Taimur peninsula in July.
On the loth of that month he found a
nest containing two eggs in a depression
in the top of a cone-shaped tussock, the
eggs being well bedded in down. About

The True Geese. 51

this time, the birds were beginning to
moult.

In the British Museum there are four
eggs of this Goose, taken in Greenland.
Three are much stained, and are of a
dirty yellow colour. One is of a dull
white colour. They average 3*1 in length
and 2*05 in breadth. In shape they are
broad ovals, and the shell is fairly smooth.

In the adult bird the forehead, for a
distance of about three-quarters of an
inch from the bill, a broad band on either
side the base of the upper mandible,
and the whole chin are white, edged
everywhere by an ill-defined blackish
band. The remainder of the head and
the whole neck are brown, paler on the
sides of the face arid on the throat,
mottled darker on the crown. The
mantle, back, scapulars, and the longer
inner secondaries are ashy brown, each
feather margined with greyish white.
The rump is dark brown or blackish, and
the upper tail-coverts white. The two
middle tail-feathers are ashy brown,
broadly tipped with white. The others
are basally brown, terminally white. The
upper part of the breast is pale ashy grey,
each feather edged paler. The remainder
of the lower plumage is more or less

52 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

white, with broad, interrupted, black bars
and patches, except on the lowermost
portion of the abdomen and the under
tail-coverts, which are plain white. The
sides of the body are brown, each feather
with a broad pale margin. The upper
wing-coverts are dark ashy, the lower
series with broad whitish tips. The outer
primaries are grey with blackish tips ; the
inner primaries and the outer secondaries
are wholly blackish, the latter very nar-
rowly margined with grey. The axillaries
and under wing-coverts are dark ashy.

Younger birds have the chin brown,
like the throat ; but the lower plumage is
as fully marked with black as in the adult.

Still younger birds have a very small
amount of white on the forehead and
sides of the base of the upper mandible,
but a considerable amount of black on
the abdomen. Birds in first plumage
have no white on the face, and the lower
plumage is unmarked with black.

Length about 27 ; wing about 15^ ;
tail 5. The female is a little smaller
than the male. The bill appears to vary
from pale livid fleshy to orange-yellow, the
nail being whitish in all cases ; the irides
are brown ; the legs and feet are orange.
Weight up to rather more than 5 Ib.

92. THE SMALL WHITE-
FRONTED GOOSE.

Anser erythropus^ LINNAEUS.

Outer primaries grey, tipped with black-
ish ; inner primaries and outer
secondaries uniformly blackish ; all
with white shafts.

Upper tail-coverts white.

Axillaries dark ashy.

Bill of a pale colour, without any black,
and measuring about i'3 from the
forehead straight to the tip of the
nail of the upper mandible.

Rump dark brown or blackish.

Sexes alike.
VERNACULAR NAMES :— None known.

THERE are few authenticated instances of
the occurrence of the Small White-
fronted, or Dwarf, Goose in India.
Colonel Irby, Dr. Bonavia, and Mr. A.
Anderson met with this species in the
province of Oudh, and a specimen now
in the British Museum, from the Hume
Collection, marked " Oudh," is probably

53

54 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

a bird obtained by Dr. Bonavia. Three
specimens shot by Mr. W. N. Chill in
March, near Sultanpur, thirty miles south
of Delhi, are also in the same collection.
These four Indian-killed specimens are
all very fine adult birds. Quite recently
Mr. F. Finn received three live birds of
this species from some part of Upper
India.

The distribution of this Goose is very
similar to that of the Large White-fronted
Goose, except that it does not appear to
occur to the west of Lapland. It extends
from that country right across Asia to
Japan, being found in summer in very
high latitudes. In the winter it migrates
to Southern Europe, the Caspian Sea,
Central Asia, India, and China.

The habits of this Goose are seldom
referred to at any length by European
writers. I shall first quote what Dr. Bree
says of this species.

He writes : — " Their manners and
habits of flight are very similar to those
of Geese in general. In their long migra-
tions they form an oblique line, one after
the other ; and M. Dubois states that
they will sometimes follow flocks of
Harvest Geese, at the same time keeping
at a distance from them. If these last

The Trite Geese. 55

fly down on a field or piece of water, they
also stop, but they do not then approach
nearer their companions of the voyage
than while travelling. They are very
fond of swimming about, which they do
with great agility. They feed upon roots,
grain, and water lentils. They are not
very wild, but at the same time cautious,
and keep at a long range from the sports-
man's gun."

Mr. Dresser says : — " In habits the
present species is said to assimilate
closely to the White-fronted Goose. It
breeds, like many of the Geese, in the
extreme north of the European and
Asiatic continents. Dr. Sundstrom in-
forms me that, according to Lieutenant
Widmark, this Goose breeds in Lapland
in places near where there is ice all the
season, and nests in considerable numbers ;
but I have no detailed information re-
specting its nesting habits. Lieutenant
Widmark says that it moults about the
ist of July, and he saw a flock in full
moult early in August. When in moult,
they collect in vast flocks, and frequent
localities where the ice always remains ;
and though unable to fly, they are swift
enough on the foot to escape capture."

In the British Museum there are eggs

56 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

of this species collected in Finmark and
Lapland by Messrs. Wolley, Wheelwright
and Meves. The largest clutch in the
collection consists of four eggs, hut pro-
bably more than this number are usually
laid ; in fact, Prof. Collett states that five
or six eggs form the normal number.
The shell is rather smooth, and has a
small amount of gloss. The colour is pale
yellowish. They measure from 2*7 to 3*27
in length and from 1*8 to 1*93 in breadth.
The only dated eggs record the fact that
they were taken in June.

This species differs from the Large
White-fronted Goose in size, and, in a
smaller degree, in plumage.

In the Small White-fronted Goose,
the white on the forehead extends back
about one inch and a quarter, in fact
to beyond the eyes. Only the extreme
tip of the chin is white, not the entire
chin. The dark band bordering the
white of the face is much blacker. The
colour of the head varies from brown,
with a reddish or fulvous tinge, to dark
brown, with a chocolate tinge. The breast
and abdomen are pale brown with grey
margins to the feathers and with broad
black bars and patches as in the larger
species. The lowermost portion of the

The True Geese. 57

abdomen and the under tail-coverts are
pure white.

Young birds have no white whatever
on the face, and the lower plumage is
pale smoky brown, the feathers margined
with dull fulvous, but the lower part of
the abdomen and the under tail-coverts
are pure white.

Birds acquiring the adult plumage
have the forehead and sides of the base
of the upper mandible white, streaked
with black, and surrounded by a black
band. It would appear that the black
band recedes as the amount of white on
the face increases. The black band is
apparently always of the same width and
always in immediate contact with the
white, no matter what the extent of the
latter may be.

Length about 22; wing about 14^;
tail about 4. According to Mr. Dresser
the bill is dull white, with a fleshy tinge ;
nail pale horn-colour ; iris brown ; legs
and edge of eyelids orange-yellow. A
young bird shot by Dr. Finsch in Western
Siberia, and now in the British Museum,
has the bill deep red. The colours of
this specimen, however, when first killed,
are recorded on the label in German,
and may be translated thus : Bill dirty

58 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

flesh-colour, and also the eyelid; legs
pale dirty ochre, the webs brownish.

Mr. Finn, writing of the three live
birds of this species already mentioned,
states that the bill is of a beautiful rose-
pink and the eyelids lemon-yellow ; the
iris dark and the feet orange.

The weight of this Goose does not
appear to have been recorded.

93. THE BARRED-HEADED GOOSE.

Anser indicus, (LATHAM).

Outer primaries grey, tipped with
blackish ; inner primaries and outer
secondaries uniformly blackish ; all
with white shafts.

Upper tail-coverts white.

Axillaries bluish grey.

Bill entirely of a pale colour, with the
nail of both mandibles black.

Rump bluish grey.

Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Hans, Kiireyee-
hans, Raj-hans, Birwa, Hind. ; Paria,
Nepal Terai ; Nangfia, Ladak ; Neer-
bathoo, Coimbatore ; Bonooria - hans,
Assam ; Badi-hans, Chittagong ; Kang-
naiy Manipur ; Tait-ngan, Burmese.

THE Barred-headed Goose visits the
plains of India in the cold weather,
arriving in October and leaving in March,
or even April, but these periods vary,
of course, according to locality and
climate.
This species may be considered a

59

60 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

common bird in Northern India from
the Punjab to Assam. On the western
side, it appears to occur as far south
as Sind and but rarely in the Bombay
Presidency ; it is common in the Central
Provinces; and on the east coast it
extends down to the Chilka lake.

In Southern India, this Goose is by
no means so rare as it is generally deemed.
Major Mclnroy, as recorded by Messrs.
Hume and Marshall, found it in large
numbers in Mysore. Mr. W. N. Fleming
tells us that it is a regular cold-weather
visitor to the Tinnevelly District, that
he once saw a flock of about fifty, and
that in 1897 it stayed from November
to the end of February. Jerdon, on
one occasion, observed this species in the
extreme south of India. It is not known
in Ceylon.

South of Assam, this Goose has been
observed by Mr. Eden in Sylhet, and
by Mr. Hume in Manipur. It occurs,
as I am informed by Captain F. T.
Williams, in the Chindwin river, and I
know from personal knowledge that it is
common enough in the Irrawaddy river
and adjacent tanks and backwaters,
down to Myingyan at the least.

Messrs. Hume and Marshall inform

The True Geese. 61

us that this species is found in the
Himalayas up to 7000 feet, and also in
the lakes of Kashmir. From the fact
that the late Mr. Mandelli procured this
species in the interior of Native Sikhim
in May, it may be inferred that some
of these Geese breed in the Himalayas.
We know that they breed in Ladak in
very large numbers. It is therefore not
improbable that many Barred-headed
Geese are constant residents in portions
of Kashmir and the Himalayas. The
bulk of the Indian visitors probably come
to us from Central Asia.

The summer range of this Goose' ex-
tends up to about the 5oth or 55th degree
of north latitude. Laterally it seems to be
confined to the area which lies due north
of India and Burma. It is not known to
occur in China.

Messrs. Hume and Marshall say of
this Goose : — " Their habits are similar
to those of the Grey-Lags. Where fre-
quently disturbed, they feed inland only
at night; where rarely molested, they
will be found feeding up to eight or nine
in the morning, and again long before
sunset. The day, or at all events the
warmer hours of this, they pass by the
water's side. They feed in fields, pre-

62 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

ferentially in those in the immediate
neighbourhood of the larger rivers, brows-
ing on the young wheat or waddling
awkwardly amongst the heavy clods,
amidst which the grain grows, to devour
the young shoots, or later, the ripening
pods of this vetch. All vetches, lentils,
grain, tender grasses and herbs, seem
equally to suit their taste, and so long as
these are available they eat nothing else ;
and by the end of December (thin and poor
as they usually are when they first arrive),
they are generally in fine condition."

As before remarked, these Geese breed
on the lakes of Ladak and the numerous
lakes of Tibet, indifferently whether the
water be fresh or salt. They appear to
select islands in these lakes for nesting
purposes. The nest is described as being
a slight hollow in the ground, lined first
of all with a few bits of a soft herb, then
with feathers. The eggs are laid in April
and May. In the British Museum there
are three eggs of this Goose, taken on
the Tsomourari lake in Ladak. They
are nearly elliptical in shape, slightly
rough and glossless. In colour they are
a pale yellowish white. They measure
from 3'T to 3*3 in length, and from 2 to
2*2 in breadth.

The True Geese. 63

In the adult bird, the whole head and
a broad band down each side of the neck
are white ; a black curved band across
the crown, and a shorter band behind it.
The foreneck, immediately below the
white throat, is brownish ashy, becoming
paler and merging into the grey of the
breast, the feathers of which are indis-
tinctly barred with whitish. The whole
abdomen and the under tail-coverts are
white. The feathers of the sides of the
body are brown, passing into rufous and
tipped with whitish. The under wing-
coverts and axillaries are bluish-grey.
The hindneck is brownish ashy, paling
on the mantle. The sides of the breast,
the lower part of the mantle, the back
and the scapulars are grey, each feather
passing into ashy brown and tipped paler.
The rump is bluish-grey, and the upper
tail-coverts are white. The tail-feathers
are grey with white margins and broad
white tips. The upper wing-coverts are
pale, clear, bluish grey. The outer pri-
maries are grey with blackish tips ; the
inner primaries and the outer secondaries
are entirely blackish, the latter with fine,
narrow, pale margins. The inner second-
aries are ashy brown.

A young bird has the forehead, the

64 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

sides of the head and of the neck, the
chin, the throat, and the upper part of
the foreneck white. The crown of the
head and the hindneck are dark brown.
The lower part of the foreneck is ashy.
The sides of the body are plain grey.
In all other respects this bird resembles
the adult, but the upper and lower
plumages are more uniform with few or
no traces of bars or paler tips to the
feathers.

The sexes vary in size according to age.
Length about 30; wing 17 to 18 ; tail
about 6. The bill varies between yellow
and orange, the nail black at all ages ;
the legs and feet also vary from yellow-
to orange, the claws black ; the irides are
deep brown. Weight up to about 7 Ib.

9*. THE PINK-FOOTED GOOSE.

Anser brachyrhynchus^ BAILLON.

Outer primaries grey, tipped with
blackish ; inner primaries and outer
secondaries uniformly blackish; all
with white shafts.

Upper tail-coverts white.

Axillaries dark ashy.

Bill black, with a pale band across
both mandibles, between the nail and
the nostrils, and measuring about 17
from the forehead straight to the tip
of the nail of the upper mandible.

Sexes alike.
VERNACULAR NAMES : — None known.

THE occurrence of the Pink-footed Goose
in India, up to recently, rested on evi-
dence which could not altogether be
looked upon as perfectly satisfactory, in
view of the fact that there are so many
Geese of the same type as the Bean-
Goose, and all equally likely to visit
India, as stragglers from the north.

VOL. n. 65 5

66 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Blyth first identified this species as
Indian from a drawing of a specimen
shot in the Punjab. Colonel Irby shot
this Goose near Lucknow. Then Mr.
Hume secured two Geese of this species
in the Jumna river. Colonel Graham
stated to him that this species was not
uncommon on the Bhramaputra river in
Assam. Again, Major-General J. H.
McLeod informs us that he shot one of
these Geese out of a flock of about twenty
on the Kunawany/z/7, near Gurdaspur in the
Punjab. Lastly, there are two specimens,
identified with this Goose, in the Lucknow
Museum, which are Indian-killed.

Much doubt must be attached to the
identification of a Goose of this type by
Indian naturalists who do not have an
opportunity of comparing their Indian
specimens with others from Europe. Even
English authors have confounded the
Pink-footed Goose with allied species,
and one of our most recent writers, the
late Mr. Seebohm, says that this Goose
" is so nearly related to the Bean-Goose
that its specific distinction from that
bird is doubtful." Of course there is no
doubt in the minds of most persons, who
have studied the subject, that the Bean-
and Pink-footed Geese are quite distinct,

The True Geese. 67

but I merely wish to show that these
Geese are not quite the birds to be iden
tified hastily by sportsmen, or even by
good naturalists, without great care.

Fortunately, we have now excellent
authority for admitting the Pink-footed
Goose into the Indian list. Mr. E. C.
Stuart Baker, in his admirable series of
papers on the Indian Ducks in the
Journal of the Bombay Natural History
Society, informs us that he procured a
specimen of this Goose in Cachar, and his
remarks and measurements fully sustain
his identification of the species. The
only question which now remains to be
cleared up is whether the Pink-footed
Goose which visits India is quite the
same bird that inhabits Western Europe,
or whether it may not be a race which
differs from it in a somewhat similar
manner that the Chinese Bean-Goose
differs from the European Bean-Goose,
namely, in the size of the bill or in the
colour of the bill and legs,

To the list of the occurrences of a Pink-
footed Goose within the limits of the
Indian Empire must be added its occur-
rence at Fort Stedman, in the Southern
Shan States, where my friend Colonel
E. S. Hastings informs me he procured

68 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

a specimen on November i2th, 1896.
This place is so remote from the ordinary
winter quarters of the Pink-footed Goose,
that it serves to strengthen the suspicion
that the Indian visitors of this type of
Goose niay well be some separate race
from Central Asia or China.

The summer quarters of the Pink-footed
Goose are Spitsbergen, Iceland, and prob-
ably Franz Josef Land. In winter it
migrates to Western Europe, and is found
in Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany,
Holland, and France. Its occurrence,
therefore, in India must be looked upon
as most extraordinary.

Writing of the habits of this Goose in
England, Seebohm says : — " During their
stay in this country in winter, the flocks
of Pink-footed Geese spend most of
the day feeding on the stubbles and in
the winter corn. They are of course
much persecuted, and have become very
wary ; as soon as it begins to get dark
they leave their feeding-grounds and retire
to the nearest sandbank on the coast;
but as soon as the moon rises, they seem
to think themselves safe again, and return
to the fields, where they remain until the
moon sets, and the darkness warns them
to seek safety again on their favourite

The True Geese. 69

sandbank, perhaps a mile or two from
shore. They seldom, if ever, frequent the
mud-flats or the salt-marshes to feed on
the marine vegetation, of which the Brent
and the Bernacle Goose are so fond."

Mr. Cordeaux, in his "Birds of the
Humber District," says, it " occurs occa-
sionally, but never in such large flocks
as the Bean-Goose. It is not unfrequently
found singly, or two or three together,
in our marshes and lowlands, and is more
easily approached than either the Grey
Lag- or Bean-Goose. In its habits it
prefers low-lying districts, and wet carr
or marsh land near the coast, as a rule,
not resorting to the higher wolds to the
same extent as its congener, the Bean-
Goose."

Referring to a Goose they found on
Spitsbergen, and which must undoubtedly
have been the Pink-footed Goose, Messrs.
Evans and Sturge state that they found
it " breeding mostly on low rocks near
the coast ; but some seemed to have
their nests in the high cliffs a mile or
two from the sea." Mr. Trevor-Battye
has given us a very good account of this
Goose at its summer quarters in Spits-
bergen. He says : — " The Pink-footed
Goose is distributed thinly, but generally,

70 Manual of the Game Birds of India,

over a great part, at any rate, of Spits-
bergen. Its breeding-habits do not differ,
so far as my observation goes, from those
of A. erythropus or A. segetum. Like
these birds, it seldom, on the mainland,
nests by the sea, but retires inland, and
chooses for its nest some elevated point
overlooking a stream or lake. Occasion-
ally it nests upon small islands, and a
female bird, with its nest, eggs, and the
surrounding turf, now in the National
Collection, was obtained by me on a
small island off Cape Boheman, in Ice
Fjord, on June 26th ; the three eggs
being then slightly incubated. This was
the only pair of Geese upon the island.
I shot the female as she flew off the nest,
and the male for some time displayed
great solicitude, swimming round and
round and calling incessantly, but never
came within shot. . . . On July 24th two
broods of young were running with their
parents near the Splendid Glacier. Both
these broods were in an advanced state
of grey — not yellow — down. ... I have
elsewhere described the way in which a
Bean-Goose will run along and then
squat with its neck stretched straight out
along the ground, exactly in the attitude
assumed by the Thick-knee or Norfolk

The True Geese, 71

Plover. The Pink-footed Geese of Spits-
bergen behave in the same way, if they
have their young with them. Provided
the ground is not too steep, they run for
long distances, sometimes even along the
edge of the water without entering it.
Pink-footed Geese are remarkably quick
upon their legs, and the young birds,
when half-grown, can run as fast as the
old ones ; the latter, if hurried, run with
outstretched wings, which hinder them
against the wind ; but if too closely pressed,
the goose, which leads (the gander brings
up the rear) will suddenly drop, and the
whole party follow her example. You
can then walk up and look at them lying
there, all in precisely the same attitude,
with bodies flattened down and necks
outstretched on the ground, so that you
must stir them up in order to start them
off again. The nest is well guarded by
the gander, who will leave his sentry-post
and walk round and round the sitting
goose on a little track made by his steps,
resenting your intrusion by a continued
series of short sharp notes, not unlike
those of the Brent."

In the British Museum there are three
eggs of this Goose, taken in Spitsbergen.
They are rather smooth and have a little

72 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

gloss. In shape they are regular ovals
with one end rather sharper than the
other. They are of a yellowish white
colour, and measure from 3*1 to 3*4 in
length and 2*15 in breadth.

The adult has the whole head and neck
very dark brown, with a chocolate tinge,
and often with a few white feathers at the
base of the bill. The upper part of the
mantle is brown, with a rufous tinge.
The lower part of the mantle, the back,
and the scapulars are brown, turning to
rufous near the end of the feather and
tipped with pale fulvous. The rump is
dark ashy, the upper tail-coverts white.
The tail is blackish, the feathers edged
and tipped with white. The upper wing-
coverts are greyish brown, margined more
or less with fulvous, according to age, the
lower series tipped with fulvous white.
The outer primaries are grey tipped with
black ; the inner primaries and the outer
secondaries uniformly blackish, the latter
very narrowly margined with whitish.
The inner secondaries are dark brown,
more broadly edged with whitish. The
whole breast is fulvous brown with pale
margins, causing a barred appearance.
The sides of the body are ashy brown,
each feather turning to rufous and tipped

The True Geese. 73

paler. The remaining lower plumage
is dull white, the upper part of the
abdomen more or less distinctly barred
with grey. The under wing:coverts and
the axillaries are dark ashy.

Younger birds do not appear to differ
in any important respect from the adult.

The male is a little larger than the
female. The male measures : length
about 28; wing about 16 ; tail about 5^.
The bill measures closely on 17 from the
edge of the forehead straight to the tip
of the nail of the upper mandible. The
greatest depth of the visible portion of
the lower mandible when the bill is closed
is '2 only. The bill is black, with the
pale band between the nostrils and the
nail pink. This pink colour extends
back as far as the hinder corner of the
nostril, between the nostril and the
margin of the mandible, and sometimes
almost to the base of the upper mandible.
The irides are brown. The legs and
feet vary from flesh colour to pink and
purplish pink. Little use can be made
of the colour of the pale part of the bill
and legs for the identification of this
Goose, and the dimensions of the bill
and wing are safer guides.

The other five Geese of the same type

7 4 Manu al of the Ga me Birds of India .

as the Bean-Goose are closely alike in
plumage, and differ chiefly in size, in
the length of the bill, and in the depth
of the lower mandible. In the following
measurements the length of the bill
is always taken in a direct line from
the edge of the forehead to the tip of
the nail of the upper mandible. By the
depth of the lower mandible is meant
the greatest depth of its visible portion,
when the bill is closed, below the edge
of the upper mandible. The bill closes
naturally and firmly if the two mandibles
are brought together by the pressure of
the fingers, even in a dry skin. It is only
by a measurement of this kind that the
massive or slender character of the lower
mandible can be accurately indicated. I
am not prepared to give trivial names to
these Geese at present, but shall denote
them by their systematic names.

Anser fabalis, (Latham). This is the
common Bean-Goose of Europe, admitted
into the list of Indian birds by Messrs.
Hume and Marshall on the strength of
a statement made by Blyth that Gould
had a specimen from the Deccan in his
collection of birds. This specimen is no
longer in the Gould Collection, which is
now in the British Museum, and some

The True Geese. 75

mistake may have been made about it.
The bill is slender, measuring from 2'i
to 2'6 in length, and '3 to '35 in the
depth of the lower mandible. The wing
measures from 17 to rather more than 18.
The band across the bill is orange, and
so are the feet. It extends east to the
Yenesei river.

Anser neglectus, Sushkin. This recently
described species can hardly be distin-
guished from A. fabalis, except by the
colour of the bill and legs, and such char-
acters require to be recorded immediately
the bird is shot, if they are to be of any
service, for in dry skins the bill and feet
of the two species are quite alike. In A.
neglectitS) the band across the bill is of a
bright rosy pink and the legs and feet
are flesh-coloured. It is a slender-billed
species, the depth of the lower mandible
being but "25 in the only specimen I have
been able to examine, an adult male. The
length of the bill is 2*4, and of the wing
18*5. This Goose was first discovered in
the Ufa Government, in Eastern Russia.
It will be noticed that the colour of the
bill and legs in this species corresponds
closely with the colour of the same parts
in the Pink-footed Goose, but the two
species differ greatly in size.

76 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Anser serrirostris, Gould. This is the
eastern form of the common Bean-Goose,
characterised by an extremely massive
bill. It occurs in Eastern Asia, wintering
in China and Japan. This is the form
which will probably be found to occur in
Burma and the Shan States. The legs
and bill are coloured as in the common
Bean-Goose of Europe. The bill measures
from 2 '4 to 27 in length. The depth
of the lower mandible is just half an inch,
and the wing measures from 18 to 19.

Anser middendorffi^ Severtzoff. No
possible mistake can be made about this
Goose. It differs from the other five
Geese of this type in having the head
and neck a fine golden buff, not chocolate-
brown. In addition to this, the bill is of
great size, measuring 3*2 in length, and
•45 in the depth of the lower mandible.
The wing measures i8'5 in a fine male
in the British Museum, obtained by
Radde in Amurland in May. Both
Radde and Shrenck agree in stating that
the legs and the band across the bill arc
orange- gold, and Middendorff figures the
bill as such. This fine species appears
to be found in a great part of Eastern
and Northern Siberia, and very little is
known about it,

The True Geese. 77

Anser mentalis, sp. nov. On looking
over the Geese in the British Museum,
I was struck by the large size of one of
the specimens, its massive bill and white
chin. It came from Yokohama, and was
once in the Seebohm Collection. I can
only regard this Goose as a species
which has not before been noticed, and I
accordingly give it a distinguishing name.
In plumage this species resembles the
common Bean-Goose, except that the
whole chin is white. The wing measures
19*6, but the sex of the bird is not known.
The length of the bill is 2*85, and the
depth of the lower mandible "55. There
is nothing on the label of the specimen to
show what the colour of the bill and legs
was in life. This species, which occurs
in Japan and probably in China, is as
likely to be found in the eastern parts
of Burma as any other species of this
section.

Allied to the True Geese, but differing
markedly from them in the shape of the
bill, is the Swan-bill or Chinese Goose
(Cygnopsis cygnoides). This species occurs
commonly in China in the winter, and
may consequently be found in the North-
ern Shan States. It has the primaries

78 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

axillaries, and upper tail-coverts of the
same colour as the True Geese, and the
general colour of the plumage is the same.
It has the hindneck and the crown of
the head a pale chocolate-brown, and the
remainder of the head and neck more
or less white. The bill is very large,
measuring 375 from the edge of the fore-
head straight to the tip of the upper
mandible.

Quite different from the True Geese is
the Red-breasted Goose (Branta rufi-
collis\ which has very probably occurred
in India, as suggested by Blyth. It has
the primaries and axillaries black ; the
upper tail-coverts white. It is a small
Goose, measuring about 21 inches in
length, and the bill is not more than i
inch in length. The above characters are
alone sufficient to enable any one to
separate this Goose from all the other
Geese and Ducks of India. Both sexes,
when adult, have the head and neck
beautifully variegated with white, black,
and chestnut, and the breast of the last
colour. It occurs in Siberia, in Turkestan
and on the Caspian Sea.

THE SHELD-DUCKS.

THE Sheld-Ducks, Sheldrakes, Shiel-ducks
or Shieldrakes, as they are variously
termed, are birds of considerable size.
The sexes are closely alike in colour, and
they have only the ordinary autumn moult.
They have rather long legs, and are able
to walk fairly well, The feathers of
the crown of the head are somewhat
lengthened.

Of the six species of Sheld-Ducks
known, four are restricted to areas within
which they are resident. The other two
are seasonal visitors to India, but are
resident in many parts of their wide range.
The Sheld-Ducks may therefore be con-
sidered a family of Ducks in which the
migratory instinct is disappearing. The
primaries of all the species of this group
are black.

The two Indian Sheld-Ducks differ
from each other in several respects. In
the Common Sheld-Duck (Tadorna\ the
upper outline of the bill is very concave \

79

8o Manual of the Game Birds of India.

the bill is broader near the tip than at
the base, and is furnished, in the male,
with a fleshy knob which increases in
size with age, but is always much larger
at the nesting season than at other times ;
the legs ate flesh-coloured. In the Ruddy
Sheld-Duck (Casarca\ the upper outline
of the bill is nearly straight ; the bill is
of equal width throughout, and is not
furnished with a knob at any age; the
legs are dark in colour.

The term Sheldrake, according to John
Ray, who published a small book in 1674,
entitled " A Collection of English words
not generally used," as quoted by Mr.
Stevenson, is derived from the Suffolk
word sheld, which means flecked or
parti-coloured. In Suffolk, a cat of the
colour usually called " tortoise-shell " is
spoken of as a " sheld-cat."

95, THE COMMON SHELD DUCK.

Tadorna tadorna (LINN/EUS).*

Primaries uniformly black.

Axillaries and under wing-coverts white.

Speculum metallic green, or bronze,

with the outer web of the adjoining

secondaries chestnut.
Tail white, tipped with black or brown.

MALE : Breast and mantle rich chestnut.
FEMALE : Breast and mantle dull chest-
nut, undulated with black.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Rararia, Shah-
chakwa, Sufaid-surkhab, Hind. ;
Sind.

THE Common Sheld-Duck or Burrow-
Duck is a winter visitor to the northern
parts of the Empire, but is nowhere
common. It has been met with in the
Punjab, Sind, Kathiawar, Cutch, the
North-west Provinces, Oudh and Bengal.
It is said to be rare in Oudh, and it has
been observed in the Calcutta market in
March and April only. Mr. Eden shot

* Tadorna cormita of the British Museum
Catalogue.

VOL. II. 81 6

82 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

this Duck near the Mirzapur Tea Estate
in Sylhet. Mr. Forsyth recorded it from
the Bhramaputra river, near Dhubri.
Mr. H. Fasson obtained it in Ghittagong.
Captain A. W. Newbold sent me a
specimen which he shot at Myitkyina,
on the upper portion of the Irrawaddy
river, in December. It also appears to
have occurred at Meiktila, which is per-
haps as far south as this species is ever
likely to reach in Burma.

The Common Sheld-Duck is a per-
manent resident in many portions of its
extensive range ; migratory, but to no great
extent, in others. This species ranges
from Western Europe eastwards to Japan
and China. It is seldom found north of
the 6oth degree of latitude, but it has
been observed farther north in Europe
than in Asia, which is due perhaps to
there being more frequent observers in
the former continent than in the latter.
In winter there seems to be a partial
movement of these Ducks, and they are
then observed on the southern shores of
the Mediterranean, South-western Asia,
India, and Southern China. In India
these Ducks arrive about the middle of
November, and some remain till the
middle of April.

The Sheld-Ducks. 83

The Common Sheld-Duck is usually a
sea-coast bird, but in India, where suitable
sea-coast is restricted, it is found chiefly
on the larger lakes and rivers. It is
altogether so uncommon in many parts of
its Indian range that its habits have not
been closely studied by Indian naturalists,
and therefore with respect to their habits
I shall quote extensively from English
authors who have had better opportunities.
But first I shall record a few remarks
by Mr. Hume. He says: — "Like the
Brahminy Ducks, they are essentially shore
birds ; until disturbed, I never saw one
swimming about in the open water. They
are either prowling about on the land
near to the water's edge, or else paddling
in the shallows close to this latter. With
us they are always seen in pairs, or in
small parties of three to five in number —
never in considerable-sized flocks. They
walk with more ease than the Mallard,
more like the Barred headed Goose, but less
pompously and with quicker steps. They
rise and fly more like other Ducks, with
less noise and more rapid beats of the wing
than either the Bar-head or Brahminy."

Seebohm, whose accounts of the habits
of birds are always so complete, remarks : —
" The breeding-grounds of the Sheldrake

84 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

are for the most part mild enough in'
temperature for it to be a resident, but
in the northern portion of its range it is a
migratory bird arriving in March and
leaving in October. It is almost exclu-
sively a marine species, breeding in
Europe on sandy coasts ; but in Asia
east of the Caspian, in Turkestan and
Mongolia, it frequents inland salt lakes,
and in Eastern Siberia it is confined to
the salt steppes. In its winter quarters
in India, though it sometimes visits the
broads and large sheets of fresh water,
it always seems to prefer the coast. In
England ft is rarely if ever seen inland,
always preferring the sandy coasts,
especially where the sand is blown into
hills, locally called ' links ' or * dunes.'
Nowhere is the Sheldrake more abundant
than on the west coast of Denmark, where
it may almost be said to live in a state of
semi-domestication, the peasants making
artificial burrows in the sand-hills and
robbing the nests systematically until the
middle of June, when they allow the
birds to begin to sit. Under these circum-
stances it may almost be said to breed in
colonies, but in a truly wild state it is
never known to do so.

" The Sheldrake is a somewhat shy

The Sheld-Ducks. 85

bird, and is more or less gregarious even
in the midst of the breeding season. I
found it extremely abundant on the shores
of the Black Sea, and small parties of
them, most consisting of last year's birds
which were probably not breeding, were
the most conspicuous objects on the
lagoons which are so numerous between
the Danube and the coast. The call-note
of the Sheldrake, which is common to
both sexes, is a harsh quack. During
the pairing season the male utters a clear,
rapidly repeated whistle or trill ; and when
the young are hatched, his anxious
alarm-note to his mate on the approach
of danger may constantly be heard, and
resembles the syllables kor, kor, uttered
in a deep tone. The flight of the Sheldrake
is performed by slow and laboured beats
of the wings, very unlike the rapid motion
of smaller Ducks, and much more resem-
bling that of the Swan. Although the
Sheldrake seldom or never dives, it obtains
most of its food in shallow water, aquatic
plants, mollusks, and various water-insects
being obtained in the fresh-water lagoons,
whilst seaweeds and marine animals of
various kinds are sought for on the shore.
In searching for food they continually
immerse the head and upper half of the

86 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

body, only the tail and rump being visible.
On the land they walk with ease, like
a Goose. The Sheldrake resembles the
Geese in some of its habits, and frequents
the pastures, especially in early morning,
but not so much to feed upon grass as to
search for worms and slugs.

"So far as is known the Sheldrake
never breeds in the open, but always in
a burrow, generally in that of a rabbit,
but less frequently in that of a fox or a
badger ; and there are reliable instances
on record of their having hatched out
their young whilst the original owner
of the burrow was still in occupation.
Sometimes the birds excavate a burrow
for themselves, which is generally more
or less winding, and extends from six
to twelve feet, ending in a chamber, in
which the eggs are laid upon a handful
of dead grass and scraps of moss. Where
it is protected, the Sheldrake is an early
breeder, eggs being frequently laid before
the end of April ; but in localities where
it is disturbed, fresh ones may be found
as late as the end of May or the beginning
of June. Seven to twelve is the ordinary
number, but occasionally as many as six-
teen are laid ; and where the nests are
regularly robbed, as many as thirty have

The Sheld-Ducks. 87

been obtained from a single burrow in
one season."

Mr. Stevenson in his " Birds of Norfolk "
thus summarises the habits of this Duck :
" Mr. Selby, from his own observations
of the habits of this species upon the
Northumbrian coast, states that the males
do not pair until their plumage is perfected
in the second year, but, once paired,
remain constant to the same mate. In
the male, also, at the commencement of
the breeding season, the fleshy knob at
the base of the upper mandible, scarcely
perceptible in autumn and winter, * begins
to swell and acquires a beautiful crimson
hue, and when at its full development, is
nearly as large as a marble.' The nests
are formed of ' bent grass and other dry
vegetable materials,' lined with soft down
from the old birds' breasts ; and the eggs,
from twelve to sixteen in number, * of a
pure white or slightly tinged with green,'
are incubated in thirty days, and are
sometimes ten or twelve feet from the
entrance to the burrow. The male sits
on the eggs when the female is off feeding,
and both birds, like the partridge and
wild duck, will feign lameness and adopt
other stratagems to decoy intruders from
the vicinity of their young when able to

Manual of the Game Birds df India.

quit their nesting holes, hence probably
the name of * sly goose ' applied to this
species in some localities. The young
are sometimes carried in the bills of their
parents down to the sea. St. John, in
his ' Natural History and Sport in Moray '
(p. 293), refers to the strange instinct
which enables the female, sitting on her
eggs many feet under ground, and more
or less distant from the sea, to know to a
moment when the tide begins to ebb, and
then and then only to betake herself to
the freshly exposed feeding grounds.
The males of this species vary much in
size, as may also the females, but the
latter are always smaller than the males
as well as less brilliant in colour ; but,
unlike the true Ducks, both sexes in the
genus Tadorna are alike in plumage, and
retain it when once fully acquired. The
flesh of the Sheldrake is coarse and
unpalatable, and its food consists, accord-
ing to Selby, of ' marine vegetables,
molluscous shell-fish, insects, etc. ; ' but so
minute are some of the forms of mollusca
which afford them a meal, and so great
their consumption, that Thompson, in
his ' Birds of Ireland ' (vol. iii. p. 69),
describes the crop and stomach of one of
these birds as containing by a careful

The Sheld-Ducks. 89

computation not less than twenty thousand
minute mollusca."

The Common Sheld-Duck lays from
April to the beginning of June. The eggs
number from seven to twelve, and
occasionally as many as sixteen. They
are smooth and have little gloss. In
colour they are creamy white or very pale
yellowish white. They measure from
2*5 to 275 in length and from 1*9 to 2 in
breadth. The down, taken from the nest,
is of a beautiful lavender-grey colour.

The adult male has the whole head
and neck glossy black. The upper part
of the mantle and breast is white, form-
ing a broad collar. The lower part of
the mantle and breast is rich chestnut,
forming a broad band below the white
collar. A black band occupies the middle
of the chestnut breast, and widens into
a broad patch which covers the central
portion of the abdomen. The under tail-
coverts are pale chestnut. The remainder
of the lower plumage, the auxiliaries and
the under wing-coverts, are white. The
whole of the upper wing-coverts, the
inner scapulars, the back, the rump, and
the upper tail-coverts are white, frequently
tinged with pale buff. The outer scapu-
lars are deep black. The tail is white,

go Manual of the Game Birds of India.

tipped with black. The primaries and
their coverts are black. The outer
secondaries are metallic green or coppery
bronze on the outer, largely white on the
inner, web. A few of the secondaries
next the inner side of the speculum, are
chestnut on the outer web, with an inner
black margin, and white on the inner
web. The inner secondaries are entirely
white. Immediately after 'the moult, the
chestnut feathers of the plumage are all
margined paler. These margins get worn
away after some time.

The adult female resembles the adult
male, but has the chestnut parts of the
body-plumage of a dull tint, each feather
mottled or undulated with black, and
narrowly edged with white. The dark
portion of the lower plumage is brown
instead of black; and the inner secondaries
are ashy.

The duckling, on moulting into first
plumage, about November, has the head
and upper neck dark brown, with the
cheeks, and a space all round the bill,
white. The remaining body-plumage is
pure white, except a broad band covering
the lower portion of the mantle and
the sides of the breast, which is pale
chestnut, the feathers undulated with

The Sheld-Ducks. 91

black, and narrowly tipped with white.
The white tail is tipped with brown.
The inner scapulars are white, and the
outer brown, narrowly margined with
white. The upper wing-coverts are white,
but the lower series is tinged with ashy.
All the quills of the wing, except the first
four primaries, are tipped with white, and
the first two primaries are largely white
at the base. The speculum is much
duller than in the adult. The secondaries
next the inner side of the speculum are
dull chestnut on the outer webs, and the
remaining inner secondaries are dark
ashy. The knob on the bill of the male
does not make its appearance till the
breeding season of the second year.

The young bird attains the complete
plumage of the adult female in the course
of the first winter.

Male: length about 24; wing 13; tail
4|. Female : length about 21 ; wing n| ;
tail 4. In the adults the bill is red, the
nail dusky ; the irides brown ; the legs
and feet flesh-coloured. Weight up to
nearly 3 lb., as recorded by Messrs.
Hume and Marshall, but probably heavier
birds are to be met with.

96. THE RUDDY SHELD-DUCK.

Casarca casarca, (Li

Primaries uniformly black.

Axillaries and under wing-coverts white.

Speculum metallic green or bronze,

with the outer web of the adjoining

secondaries chestnut.
Tail wholly black.

Sexes alike, except that the male assumes
a black collar in the breeding season.

VERNACULAR NAMES \-Surchab, Lai,
Chakzva, Hind. ; Mungh, Sind ; Bugri,
Beng. ; Sarza, Chakrawak, Mahr. ;
Neer-bathoo, Neer-kolee, South India ;
Bassana, Cktlluwa, Tel. ; Kesar-fian-
dia, Panda-hansa, Uriya ; Hintha,
Burm.

THE Ruddy Sheld-Duck, or Brahminy
Duck, is a winter visitor to every portion
of the Indian Empire except the southern
portions of Tenasserim, and even there
it is by no means certain that it does
not occur, for the late Mr. Davidson, a

* Casavca rutila of the British Museum
Catalogue.

92

The She Id-Ducks. 93

most practised observer, believed that he
saw a straggler of this species on one of
the islands of the Mergui Archipelago.
I did not myself observe this Duck in
the Shan States, but Major G. Rippon
informs me that it does occur there,
although it is not common. It has been
observed in Ceylon, but it appears to be
rare in that island.

The Ruddy Sheld-Duck is a bird of a
very limited range of migration. In the
Himalayas, it is probable that many of
these Ducks do not migrate at all in the
ordinary sense, but merely move from one
altitude to another according to season.
It is also most probable that the numerous
Ducks of this species that visit the plains
of India retire to breed no further north
than the Himalayas, and the adjacent
parts of Tibet. Indeed, it is a matter
for surprise that some of these Ducks do
not breed in the plains of India, for they
breed in Algeria and Palestine, apparently
at no great elevation.

The Ruddy Sheld-Duck is a permanent
resident in Southern and Eastern Europe
and in Northern Africa. It extends
throughout Asia, ranging in summer up
to about the 55th degree of north latitude,
and wintering in India and Southern China.

94 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

This well-known Duck arrives in the
northern portions of the Empire in
October, but it does not generally reach
the southern parts of India till November.
It leaves again in April, but many birds
appear to delay their departure till May.

Although these Ducks migrate into and
from India in flocks, they are, during
their residence in the plains, almost in-
variably found in pairs or in a collection
of pairs, each couple seeming to act
independently of the other couples. They
frequent the sandbanks of the larger
rivers by preference, but they are often
found on the clean banks of lakes, and
even on the margins of extensive swamps.
By choice they seem to prefer sweet water,
but they are sometimes seen on brackish
pieces of water. They swim very little,
and they obtain their food almost entirely
on land. When on the water, however,
they swim well, and can dive when driven
to it. They walk about with ease, and
are strong flyers.

Brahminy Ducks avoid cover of any
sort, and seldom rest except on bare
spots where they can see a long distance
round them. They are remarkably wary,
and difficult to approach as a rule, and
they not only exercise caution on their

The She Id-Ducks. 95

own behalf, but they give warning to all
the other wild fowl in their vicinity by
loud and persistent calls. The ordinary
cry of this Duck consists of a loud double
note.

The Ruddy Sheld-Dtick feeds chiefly
at or near the water's edge, and does not
apparently go inland to any distance. Its
food is very varied, consisting of young
grass and corn, water-plants, shells, worms
and spawn. It has been accused of
eating carrion, but probably does so only
on rare occasions. Its flesh has a rank,
fishy taste, and is hardly worth eating.
When properly skinned, however, before
cooking, Mr. Hume tells us that it forms
a very tolerable addition to a stew.

Seebohm thus describes the habits of
' this Sheld-Duck :— « It is difficult to
imagine a more beautiful sight than a pair
of Ruddy Sheldrakes with their young,
the duck enticing them to follow her in
order to hide amongst the reeds, whilst
the drake swims about backwards and
forwards in an agitated manner, uttering
a rather loud and monotonous cry, inter-
mediate in sound between that of the
syllables kark and kerk. I once surprised
a brood of half-grown Ruddy Sheldrakes,
at some little distance from the water's

96 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

edge, on the banks of Lake Tuzla, a salt
lagoon connected with the Black Sea.
I tried to catch them before they reached
the water, but they were too quick for me ;
meanwhile the old birds flew round and
round within easy shot, uttering their
peculiar cry, and trying to draw off our
attention from their brood, Like the
Common Sheldrake, the Ruddy Sheldrake
differs in its habits from the more
typical Ducks, one of its peculiarities
being, that when the young are hatched,
the drake takes his share in looking after
them. He does not moult into summer
dress, and consequently is not obliged to
desert his mate at the most critical period
of her annual duties, to hide himself in
the thick morasses."

The Ruddy Sheld-Duck breeds abund-
antly in the high central portion of the
interior of the Himalayas, in Ladak,
Turkestan and Tibet, at elevations vary-
ing from 12,000 to 16,000 feet. Although
ducklings have frequently been observed
in these countries in June, the eggs do
not appear to have been taken by any
European. The nests are said to be
placed in holes of cliffs.

Eggs of this species are decidedly
rare. In the British Museum there are

The Sheld-Ducks. 97

some that were laid in captivity in the
Zoological Gardens of London, but only
three taken from the nests of wild
birds. One of these was taken by the
late Mr. Salvin in Algeria, and he thus
described the manner in which the nest
was discovered : — " Though this bird is
numerous in all the salt lakes of the
elevated plains, its egg is one of the most
difficult to obtain. One nest only re-
warded our labours. The rarity of the
eggs is hardly so surprising, when the
situation chosen by this bird for its nest
is considered. It selects a hole or crevice
of a cliff for its breeding place, and
associates with the Raven, the Black
Kite, and Egyptian Vulture during the
period of the reproduction of its young.
Almost immediately on encamping at
Ain Djendeli we used daily to see a pair
of Ruddy Shieldrakes pass over our
tents, their direction always being back-
wards and forwards between the cliffs to
the south of us and the small marsh
between us and the lake. After careful
investigation, the nest was discovered to
be in a hole in the face of a rock, which
required all the skill of Mohamed and
all our appliances of ropes, etc., to reach.
The result was four hard-set eggs, which

VOL. it. 7

<)8 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

are now in the collections of Messrs.
Tristram, Simpson, J. Wolley and myself.
Though the Arabs were aware of the
habits of this bird, we did not succeed in
obtaining any more eggs."

Canon Tristram, also writing of
Northern Africa, says : — " At Bou Guizoun
I captured some half-dozen nestlings of
various ages in the downy state, some of
them scarcely more than a day old ; and
yet the only place where they could possibly
have bred, and where we had procured a
nest three days previously, was a range of
cliffs more than twelve miles distant."

Messrs. Elwes and Buckley found this
Duck common in the Dobrudscha, and
write: — " In its habits it resembles the
Common Shell-drake, but is more fond of
fresh water and of inland ranges of rocks,
whither it resorts in the breeding-season.
The nest is very difficult to find, as it is
always in a hole, sometimes in the middle
of a corn-field, and the male bird keeps
watch near by to call the female off her
eggs when any one approaches/'

Lastly Colonel Prjevalsky tells us how
these birds nest in Mongolia. He re-
marks : — " During migration these Ducks
assemble in large flocks of over a hundred,
but never mix with any other kind. Each

The Sheld-Ducks. 99

pair keep very strictly to themselves ;
and probably such a bond is formed for
life. During the breeding-season the
males very often fight, and attack even
Drakes of other species of Ducks. They
build in holes or clefts in the ground,
and sometimes even in the fireplaces of
villages deserted by the Mongols ; and in
the latter places the female birds, while
hatching, get almost quite black with soot.
The male apparently does not assist the
female in hatching \ but as soon as the
young are hatched, it most vigilantly
watches them."

The eggs are creamy white, very smooth,
and with a considerable amount of gloss.
.They are almost a perfect ellipse in shape.
They measure 2*7 by 1*9.

The adult male has the head buff, the
front portion paler and frequently whitish.
The whole neck, the mantle, the back,
the sides of the breast and the whole
lower plumage are chestnut, the abdomen
tinged with vinous. The axillaries and
the under wing-coverts are white. The
uppermost scapulars are chestnut, the
concealed lower feathers white or ashy.
The lower back is buff, vermiculated with
black. The rump, the upper tail-coverts,
and the tail are black. The wing-coverts

TOO Manual of the Game Birds of India.

are white, frequently with a buff tinge.
The primaries and their coverts are black.
The outer secondaries are metallic green
or coppery bronze on the outer, largely
white on the inner, web. The remaining
longer secondaries are chestnut on the
outer, more or less ashy on the inner, web.

The adult male has a narrow black ring
round the neck during the breeding season,
and this ring is often present on birds
when they first arrive in India in October,
but is soon lost. It is resumed again
before leaving in March.

The adult female resembles the adult
male, but never assumes the black ring
round the neck. The front part of the
head often, but not always, is paler than
in the male. The feathers of the chestnut
parts of the plumage usually have pale tips.

Ducklings, after changing from the
down plumage, resemble the adult female ;
but the scapulars, the upper back and
the inner secondaries are brown, vermicu-
lated with rufous. The tail is indistinctly
barred with rufous and tipped with buff.

Male : length about 26 ; wing 15 ; tail
6. Female : length about 23 ; wing 14 ;
tail 5|. The bill is black ; irides dark
brown ; legs and feet very dark brown.
Weight up to about 4^ Ib.

THE COMB-DUCKS.

THE Comb-Duck or Nukta is the only
representative of the group within our
limits. It is a resident species, and is
widely distributed.

The two sexes of the Comb-Duck differ
slightly in plumage, and the drake is very
much larger than the duck. The bill is
large and of equal width throughout ; that
of the male being furnished with a fleshy
knob, which is about two inches in
diameter at the breeding season, but con-
siderably reduced in size at other periods.
The legs and feet are very massive, and
these Ducks are able to walk well. The
wing is large, but not very strong, the
outer secondaries reaching to about the
tips of the primary coverts when the wing-
is closed. There is no distinct speculum,
but there is a large amount of lustre on
the wing. The primaries are uniformly
black. The spur which, in almost all
Ducks, is to be found at the bend of

162 Ma n u a I of t/u Ga me Birds of India <

the wing, is, in this species, strongly
developed.

Although the Comb-Duck resembles
the Indian Wood-Duck in having the
head and neck white, spotted with black,
these two species differ in so many im-
portant respects, notably in the shape of
the wing, the relative strength of the legs
and feet, and the colour of the axillaries
and under wing-coverts, that they do not
appear to me to be in any way closely
related.

97. THE COMB-DUCK.

Sarcidiornis melanonota, (PENNANT).

Primaries uniformly black.
Axillaries black.

Head and neck white, mottled with
black.

MALE: Lower back grey; rump black;

wing about 15.
FEMALE : Lower back and rump grey;

wing under 12.

VERNACULAR NAMES \-Nukta, Hind. ;
Nakwa, Chutia Nagpur ; Naki hansa,
Uriya ; Jutu chilluwa, Telugu ; Dod
sarle haki, Canarese ; Neer koli, Coim-
batore ; Tau-bay, Burmese. ; Bowkbang,
Karen.

THE Comb-Duck, Nukta, or the Black-
backed goose of Dr. Jerdon, is found
as a permanent resident over almost the
entire Indian Empire.

On the north-west, its limits are the
Ravi and Indus rivers. On the north, it
is found to* the foot of the Himalayas,
but it does not appear to enter the valleys.
From the Himalayas, this species extends
103

Manual of the Game Birds of India.

down to Ceylon, being rare or absent
from some of the tracks of country which
are very dry and naturally unsuited to
its habits.

This Duck extends throughout Assam
and thence southwards to the southern
limits of Pegu. To the east its range
spreads out to the Southern Shan States,
where, as Major G. Rippon informs me,
it is common as far as Mone at least.
It has not been procured in Tenasserim.

It is not a common bird in Upper Burma,
and none of my friends appear to have
met with it, except Captain F. T. Williams,
who informs me that this Duck occurs on
the Chindwin river, and Major J. H.
Sewell, who tells us in the pages of the
Journal of the Bombay Natural History
Society that he shot it near Kyoukse, and
that it is common at Yamethin, where it
also breeds.

The Comb-Duck of India is identical
with the Comb-Duck which is found over
a considerable portion of Africa and in
Madagascar.

The Comb-Duck occurs chiefly in the
plains, but in suitable localities it may
be found up to an elevation of 2000 feet
or upwards. It affects tanks and swamps
which are covered with weeds and are

The Comb-Ducks. 105

surrounded by jungle, and it is com-
paratively seldom seen on large streams.
It does not, however, avoid the smaller
streams if these have a sluggish current
and run through jungle. These Ducks
may be generally observed in pairs, but
when at rest during the day I have seen
as many as twenty or thirty together.
They are heavy, clumsy birds, but, when
once on the wing, they fly well. They are
not particularly wary, and I have seldom
found any difficulty in approaching a flock.
They seem to feed mostly in the morn-
ings and evenings, and they spend the
hotter part of the day resting on banks
or perched on some big bough of a tree.
This Duck feeds almost entirely on the
water, eating water-plants and the various
small forms of animal life found in water.
At times it appears to be partial to young
rice and grass. As an article of food,
the flesh of the Comb-Duck is not com-
parable with the flesh of many of the
migratory Ducks, but it is very palatable
when fairly young, and not to be despised
even in the case of the older birds. The
note of this Duck is seldom heard, and
has been variously described as a low
guttural quack-like sound, and as a loud
cry more like that of a goose than of a

io6 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

duck. According to Mr. Stuart Baker
it also utters loud trumpet-calls. When
wounded this species dives well and is
very difficult to catch.

The Comb-Duck breeds in the rainy
season from the end of June to September,
according to locality and rainfall, but in
Ceylon it appears to breed in February
and March.

The nest is almost invariably built in
a natural hollow of a large tree, or on
a fork formed by three or four large
branches. It is sometimes, however,
placed i in holes of old ruined forts, and
sometimes the Comb-Duck appropriates
the deserted nest of some large bird of
prey. Mr. Hume once found a nest in
a regular swamp at one end of zjhil, in
amongst a thick growth of sedge and rush.
Mr. E. H. Aitken once found the nest
in a hole in a bank of a stream, as
recorded in the Journal of the Bombay
Natural History Society. I reproduce a
portion of Mr. Aitken's note. He says : —

" On the 3oth of August, eighteen years
ago, I was wandering about with my
gun on the banks of a small brackish
stream, near Kharagora, when a female
Comb-Duck got up and went off. I fired
and missed her. She flew on for some

The Comb- Ducks. 107

distance, then turned and came back
straight for me, and I killed her. She
was handed over to the cook, and in the
course of the day he came to say that
he had found an egg in her. It was
ready to be laid, and there was no appear-
ance of any more, so I concluded that
the bird had made its nest and laid all
its eggs but one when it had the mis-
fortune to fall in my way. Next day I
took two men with me to the place, and
began a systematic search for the nest.
There were scarcely any trees in the
neighbourhood, but many patches of rank
rushes, and among these I hunted long
without success. At last one of my men,
who was on the other side of the stream,
signalled to me and pointed to a hole
in the bank, which at that part was quite
perpendicular. I crossed, and, looking
into the hole, found sixteen eggs which
exactly matched the one taken out of the
body of the bird. They were lying on
a bed of twigs and quill feathers of some
large bird, with a little lining of down
and some fragments of a snake's skin.
The hole was about five feet from the
ground and two feet deep, the entrance
being about nine inches wide by six deep.
The hole went into the bank quite

]o8 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

horizontally, and there was nothing in the
way of a ledge to alight on at the
entrance, so the bird must have popped
in as a pigeon does."

The nest is generally composed of
dead leaves and grass on a foundation
of a few sticks. The eggs vary in number
from eight to fifteen or twenty, and, in
one remarkable instance mentioned by
the late Mr. A. Anderson, they numbered
forty. In shape many of the eggs are
regular ellipses, others are slightly more
pointed at one end than at the other.
They are remarkably smooth, and they
have a large amount of gloss when first
laid. In colour they are creamy white.
They measure from 2*2 to 2*6 in length,
and from 1*65 to r8 in breadth.

The male has the head and neck white,
mottled with black, but more thickly on
the crown than elsewhere. The mantle
and the whole lower plumage are white,
each feather, for some time after the
autumn moult, having a narrow black
margin. The sides of the body are pale
grey ; the axillaries black ; the under
wing-coverts black, with some of the
central feathers margined with white. The
upper back, the scapulars, the lesser
coverts, and the inner secondaries are

The Comb-Ducks. 109

glossy blue-black. The primaries are
plain black; the secondaries are dark
brown on the inner web, metallic bronze-
green on the outer. The greater wing-
coverts are entirely bronze-green. The
lower part of the back is grey ; the rump,
upper tail-coverts and tail black. The
black of the upper part of the back is
produced as a broad crescentic band on
either side of the upper breast.

The female bears a close general re-
semblance to the male, but is much
smaller, and differs also in having the
metallic black portions of the plumage
less glossy; the rump of the same grey
colour as the lower back; the mantle
brown with whitish margins ; the under
wing-coverts entirely black ; and the sides
of the body brown.

Many birds have the white lower
plumage suffused with ferruginous.

Young birds, after the first moult, are
brownish above and dingy white below.

Male : length about 30 ; wing 15 ; tail
nearly 6. Female: length about 27;
wing about n| ; tail rather more than 4.
In both sexes, the bill is black ; the irides
dark brown; the legs and feet dark
plumbeous. The comb of the male is
black. Weight up to 5! Ib.

THE WHISTLING DUCKS.

THE Whistling Ducks comprise a number
of species which are confined to the
tropical parts of the world. Two of
these are found within the limits of the
Indian Empire, where they are resident.

In this group the sexes are quite alike
in plumage, and they do not differ much
in size. The Whistling Ducks have an
autumn moult only. They have rather
long, but slender legs ; the wing is some-
what weak, the outer secondaries reaching
considerably beyond the tips of the
primary coverts, when the wing is closed ;
the bill is of equal width throughout ;
the plumage is rufous ; the primaries,
axillaries and under wing-coverts are all
black. Consequently the Whistling Ducks
can hardly be confounded with any other
Indian Duck.

The species of this group nest almost
entirely on trees, and they habitually
perch, or rather stand, on the larger

The Whistling Ducks. in

branches of these ; their feet are not well
adapted for grasping the small branches.

I am quite unable to follow previous
writers in terming these birds " Teal."
They have no resemblance whatever to
the Water Fowl to which the name
"Teal" is properly applied.

98. THE SMALL WHISTLING
DUCK.

Dendrocycna javanica, (HORSFIELD).

Primaries uniformly black.

Axillaries and under wing-coverts black.

Upper wing-coverts largely maroon.

Upper tail-coverts chestnut.

No black band down the hindneck.

Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAMES \-Silli, Silhali,
Chihee, Hind. ; Sara/, Shareil,Harrali-
Hans, Beng. ; Hansrali, Uriya ; Ade,
Ad la, Mahrathi ; Yerra Chilluwa,
Telugu ; Yerrundi, Malayalum ; Chemba
Tara, Tamil in Ceylon ; Saaru, Tatta
Saaru, Ceylon ; Horali, Assam ; Tingi,
Manipur ; Sissalee, Burma.

WITH the exception of the Himalayas,
Kashmir and the Punjab, the Small
Whistling Duck is to be found in all
suitable localities throughout the Indian
Empire, from the base of the Himalayas
to Ceylon on the one hand, and from
Assam to Tenasserim on the other. It
occurs also in the Andamans and Nicobars.

The Whistling Ducks. 1 1 3

Eastwards, Lieut. J. H. Whitehead
informs me that he has observed this
species at Kengtung, so we may presume
that it is found all over the Shan
States.

This species is commoner in Bengal
and the eastern part of the Empire than
in any part of the peninsula of India.

This Duck has a considerable range,
being found in China, Siam, Cochin
China, the Malay peninsula, Sumatra,
Borneo and Java.

The Small Whistling Duck is a per-
manent resident in all parts of the Empire
where it is found, but like all other Ducks
it moves about to find suitable conditions.
In many of the drier parts of India it is
only found in the rainy season ; in others
it is rare, chiefly owing to the want of
tree-jungle. In Burma, and apparently
also in Bengal, these Ducks remain about
the larger swamps in much the same
numbers throughout the year, but of
course in the breeding season they be-
come scattered and attract less notice.
By preference this bird frequents weedy
ponds and marshes, but it is occasionally
met with on rivers. It is not uncommon
on small village tanks and ponds, and it
may be seen on roadside drains and

VOL. II. 8

1 14 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

paddy-fields. It goes about in pairs
during the breeding season, but at other
times in flocks of all sizes, from half a
dozen to many hundreds. It is tame
and familiar unless very much harassed,
and is very easily shot; When disturbed
they often wheel several times round the
intruder and quickly settle down again.

This Duck is very often observed
perching on some large bough of a tree,
especially during the nesting season, when
the male sits for hours near his mate, who
has her eggs in the vicinity. They are at
all times fond of resting on trees, and
many roost on them at night.

They are excellent swimmers and divers.
They feed, however, on the surface chiefly,
and they are quite as omnivorous as the
domestic Duck. Their cry is a double
whistle, and it is uttered both when rising
and during flight, especially when wheel-
ing round and round.

The nest of the Small Whistling Duck
is placed in a variety of situations. In
Lower Burma, although there were many
suitable trees about, I found the nests
invariably built on the thick, matted cane-
brakes and bushes which are often allowed
to grow between paddy-fields which have
only recently come under cultivation.

The Whistling Ducks. 115

Mr. Stuart Baker has, however, had
a more varied experience than myself in
connection with the nesting of this bird,
and I shall therefore quote his remarks
from the Journal of the Bombay Natural
History Society. He says : —

" Normally and typically both our
Indian Dendrocycna build nests on trees
or lay their eggs in their hollows ; often,
however, they make use of the deserted
nests of other birds, and sometimes they
build nests on or near the ground in reeds,
grass, or even bushes. The recorded and
authenticated instances of the common
' Whistling Teal ' laying its eggs in nests
placed on the ground are not numer-
ous. . . .

" Personally I have never seen a nest
actually on the ground, but have taken
one or two from situations very close to
it. In Cachar, at the foot of the hills,
there is much broken ground, often inter-
sected by nullahs, which widen out here
and there into swamps and bheels. Here
the ' Whistling Teal ' is in its element and
has an enormous variety of sites to choose
from. The one I have found most often
selected is some clump of trees, generally
babool or a stunted species of large-leaved,
densely-foliaged tree which grows often

n6 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

actually in the water. When the rains
are on, these small clumps form oases in
the centre of a watery desert, and, when
the floods are at their height, show merely
a few feet of their crests above water, on
one of which the ducks build their nest ;
a rough and ready construction of weeds,
sun-grass and rushes, rarely lined with
a few feathers. Sometimes a good many
twigs are used, more especially when the
nests are placed in babool trees, where,
owing to the support being less compact,
the nest itself is bound to be stronger and
better put together. The situation next
most often chosen as a site for the nest
is up one of the arms of these bheels,
which seldom, if ever, have deep water
in them, but at the same time, from
collecting moisture drained off the sur-
rounding hills, are always wet and moist.
In these places the canes, reeds and
other vegetation grow to a great height,
often twelve feet or more, and are so rank
and tangled that their tops will bear no
inconsiderable weight. When building
the nest in one of these tangles the birds
place it some two or three feet from the
top, the' density of which protects it greatly
from rain, etc. The nest itself is of the
roughest description, a mere thick, coarse

The Whistling Ducks. uy

pad of grass, reeds and perhaps a few
creepers, measuring some 18" to 24" in
diameter, and with no more depression
in the centre than is caused by the birds
constantly sitting in them.

"Now and then the nest is found on
trees close by villages and near some tank
or piece of water. When on this kind
of tree the nest may be placed either on
one of the bigger forks or in a large
hollow; and when in the former place
are quite well-built nests of twigs lined
with grass and a few feathers. If, on the
contrary, they are in the hollows, the nest
is scanty and sometimes merely consists
of the fragments naturally contained in
the hole.

" In Rungpur, I found nearly all my
nests on trees, though very often they
were not built by the birds themselves,
but they used old crows' nests sometimes,
old kites' nests frequently."

The eggs of this Duck at times number
as many as fourteen, but eight or ten is
perhaps the most usual number. In
shape they are either elliptical or broad
oval, short and somewhat rounded. They
are not quite so smooth as the eggs of
many other species of Ducks, and they
are but very slightly glossy. The colour

1 1 8 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

is white or very pale cream. They measure
from 1:7 to 2 in length and from 1*4 to
1*6 in breadth.

This bird seems to breed everywhere
during June, July and August, but eggs
have been taken sometimes during Sep-
tember and October.

The adult male and female have the
forehead and crown fulvous brown, darker
behind. The sides and back of the head
are fulvous grey ; the chin and throat
paler. The neck is grey. The breast is
pale orange-brown passing gradually into
the chestnut of the abdomen and the
sides of the body. The under tail-coverts
are whitish. The mantle is light brown,
the feathers edged with pale fulvous.
The back and scapulars are dark brown,
the feathers margined with bright rufous.
The rump is black ; the upper tail-coverts
chestnut ; the tail brown. The lesser and
middle series of wing-coverts are maroon ;
the lower series or greater coverts, to-
gether with the long inner secondaries,
are dark ashy. The other quills of the
wing are all black. The axillaries and
the under wing-coverts are black.

The young bird in first plumage is
similar to the adult bird, but paler.

The sexes are of much the same size.

The Whistling Ducks. 119

Length 16 ; wing 7^; tail 2\. The bill,
legs and feet are brownish blue, the nail
of the bill nearly black: the irides are
brown ; the eyelids bright yellow. Weight
up to ii Ib.

99. THE LARGE WHISTLING
DUCK.

Dendrocycna fulva, (GMELIN).

Primaries uniformly black.
Axillaries and under wing-coverts black.
Upper wing-coverts largely maroon.
Upper tail-coverts yellowish white.
A black band down the hindneck.

Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — The same pro-
bably as those given to the Small
Whistling Teal.

THE Large Whistling Duck is altogether a
less common bird than its ally, the Small
Whistling Duck, but, like it, is found over
nearly the whole of the Indian Empire.

On the north-west it extends to Sind,
where it has been found breeding, and to
Bhawulpur in the Punjab. Its northern
limit appears to be the Himalayas.
Thence it ranges south throughout the
peninsula in a somewhat irregular manner,
fairly common in some parts, absent in
others, to the extreme southern point of

The Whistling Ducks.

India, and Mr. H. Parker many years
ago recorded this species from Ceylon.

This Duck is perhaps more frequently
met with, and in larger numbers, in
Bengal than elsewhere. It extends
through Assam. Mr. Eden procured it
in Sylhet. Captain T. S. Johnson ob-
tained it near Mandalay. I observed this
Duck in many parts of Lower Burma,
notably on the Engrnah swamp, south of
Prome. Colonel Wardlaw Ramsay got it
at Toungoo. Finally, Major G. Rippon
informs me that it occurs on the large
lake at Fort Stedman, in the Southern
Shan States. It may be concluded that
this large Whistling Duck occurs over the
whole tract of country extending from
Assam to the sea-coast line of Pegu. It
has not yet been observed in Tenasserim.

Outside our limits this species is found
over a large portion of Africa, in Mada-
gascar, and in Central and South America.

When I used to meet with this bird,
many years ago, I could not detect any
point of difference between its habits and
those of its smaller relative. The larger
bird was perhaps a trifle less easy to shoot,
being more wary and getting away quicker.
Mr. Stuart Baker is better acquainted,
however, with these Ducks than I am,

122 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

and I will therefore quote what he says
about them : — " They are wilder birds
than their smaller cousins, and also
stronger and quicker on the wing; in-
deed, when once well started they are
no mean fliers, and require a straight gun
to knock them over. One cannot well
describe the difference in the voice of
the two ' Whistling Teals ' ; but it is recog-
nisable, and I think consists in the bigger
bird having a shriller whistle than the
other, though it is not such a noisy bird.
I doubt if they perch as much as D. javanica
does ; the latter bird often takes to trees
in the day-time without any apparent
purpose except to rest, but D. fulva does
not seem to do this. Of course both
birds, when perching, choose large boughs
and branches, as they have no great grasp-
ing power and could not retain their hold
on small ones, especially if there was any
wind to sway them about. As Hume
remarks, this ' Whistling Teal ' is far more
often seen on land than is the smaller
species, and he also notes their goose-like
gait. Their legs are, as we all know, set
forward -much as are those of geese, and
in consequence they naturally walk freely
and well as do those birds. I . have
noticed them resting during the heat of

The Whistling Ducks. 123

the day on the spits of grass-covered land
which run far out into the larger bheels.
One or two observers have said they are
more river and clear-water frequenters
than are others .of the genus, but this I
have not myself confirmed. Every large
bheel and expanse of water which had
cover on it contained more' or less of these
birds, and many a tiny tank or rush- and
weed-covered backwater held its flock ;
but I have never yet met with them on
the open rivers of the Ganges and
Brahmapootra, though I have visited
them often, and though these run through
their favourite haunts."

The Large Whistling Duck apparently
always constructs its nest on trees, most
frequently on a branch, but sometimes
in a hollow. The nest is described by
Mr. Stuart Baker as being about eighteen
inches across and constructed of twigs,
sticks, and grass, and sometimes lined
with weeds. He tells us : — " The normal
shape of the egg is a very broad regular
oval, but little smaller at one end than
the other. Abnormal eggs are generally
longer in shape, but I have seen none at
all pointed. They are fine and smooth
in texture, but inclined to be chalky and
not very close grained,"

124 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

The eggs measure from r85 to 2*4 in
length, and from r6 to 2 in breadth.

The adult male and female have the
forehead and the crown of the head
ferruginous brown. The sides of the head
and neck and the throat are fulvous,
streaked with pale brown. The chin is
plain fulvous. A broad black band occu-
pies the hindneck. A portion of the
foreneck is covered with short pointed
black feathers with white tips. The back
and scapulars are black, each feather with
a broad rufous margin. The rump is
black ; the upper tail-coverts yellowish
white ; the tail dark brown. The quills
of the wing and the coverts are black,
except the lesser and the middle series
of coverts, which are dull maroon. The
breast, the abdomen, and sides of the
body are pale chestnut. The under tail-
coverts are yellowish white. The under
wing-coverts and the axillaries are black.
The longer feathers of the flanks are a
mixture of pale buff, chestnut and black,
disposed longitudinally.

The sexes are of much the same size.
Length about 20; wing 9; tail 2^. The
bill, legs and feet are more or less dark
plumbeous ; the irides are brown. Weight
up to about 2 Ib.

THE COTTON-TEAL.

THE Indian Cotton-Teal is the smallest
of all the Indian Ducks, and is a widely
distributed and well known bird. The
drake has two regular moults in the
year, one in spring, and one in autumn.
In summer plumage the sexes are con-
spicuously different, but in the winter
they resemble each other closely, the
male, however, retaining the large white
patch on the primaries, by which he may
be known when flying. These Ducks
have no brightly-coloured speculum, but
the conspicuous broad white tips to the
secondaries form a feature in their
plumage.

The bill in these small Ducks is very
short, and narrows gradually from the
base to the tip. The legs are short and
the toes long, characters denoting great
diving powers. The Indian Cotton-Teal
is the only small Duck found within our
limits with dark axillaries, and it conse-

126 Ma mm I of the Ga me Birds of India .

quently cannot ever be mistaken for any
other Teal occurring in India.

There are several Cotton-Teal, but it
is highly improbable that any other
species will ever be found to occur within
our limits, even as a straggler.

100. THE INDIAN COTTON-TEAL.

Nettopus coromandelianus, (GMELIN).

Axillaries entirely black or else brown

margined with grey.
Nearly all the secondaries broadly tipped

with white.
Crown with a dark cap.

MALE : With a large white patch on
the primaries.

FEMALE : With the primaries entirely
blackish.

VERNACULAR NAMES:— Girri, Girria,
Girja, Gur-gurra, Hind. ; Ghangariel,
Ghangani, Beng. ; Bullia-hans, Dacca,
Faridpur, Sylhet ; Dandana, Uriya ;
Lerreget-perreget, Merom-derebet, Kol. ;
Ade, Adla, Ratnagiri ; Kalagat, Burm.

THE Indian Cotton-Teal occurs in greater
or less abundance over almost the whole
Indian Empire, from the base of the
Himalayas to the extreme south of the
peninsula, and in Ceylon ; and from
Assam down to Tenasserim, including
the Andaman Islands. This small Duck
127

128 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

has not yet been observed in Kashmir,
in Sind, or in Cutch, and probably these
tracts lie outside its range. It appears to
be more abundant in Bengal and the
eastern portion of the Empire than in
the peninsula of India itself. With regard
to its southern and eastern limits, this
Teal will no doubt be found to occur to
the extreme confines of the Empire, but
up to the present it has not been recorded
from any point in Tenasserim farther
south than Tavoy; nor from any point
further east in the Shan States than
Kengtung, where my friend Lieutenant
J. H. Whitehead recently procured it.

For a resident species of Duck the
Indian Cotton-Teal has rather a wide
range, being found in China, Siam,
Cochin China, the Malay Peninsula and.
the islands, to the Philippines and Celebes.

The Cotton-Teal affects every descrip-
tion of water, from the tiny ditch or pool
to the large swamp, but they are not
partial to clear water; they almost in-
variably choose water covered with weeds.
In many places they are remarkably tame
and confiding, and they can often be
approached within a few yards, They
are found in twos or threes, and some-
times in small scattered flocks, but never

The Cotton-Teal. 129

in very large numbers. Their flight,
when once up, is remarkably swift, and
they twist round corners in a wonderful
manner. They do not, as a rule, fly far,
but quickly settle down again. Although
these Teal are surface-feeding birds, they
dive with great facility, and wounded
birds are generally lost. The Cotton-Teal
is chiefly a day-feeder. It frequently
perches on the larger branches of trees,
and generally roosts on them at night.
The cry of this little bird is a rather
loud, chuckling cackle, uttered when
flying.

Mr. Stuart Baker thus explains how
such vast numbers of this Teal come to
be caught near Calcutta, and to be brought
to the market, throughout the cold
weather : —

" In certain of the drier portions of
its habitat this bird is semi-migratory in
its habits, only visiting them in the rains,
and leaving again for some more suitable
place as the haunts in the former begin
to dry up. Hume, talking of the vast
numbers seen every day during the cold
weather in the Calcutta market, says that
it is a mystery to him where they come
from. Having myself shot over some of
the vast bhils and backwaters of the

VOL. II. Q

130 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Ganges and Brahmapootra, I think it would
take a very large number indeed to
surprise me. In the places mentioned
they simply swarm in thousands, and
are only outnumbered by the ' Whistling
Teals/ I suppose every one knows how
the fishermen of the Sunderbunds and
other parts net the vast numbers of Duck
that are daily sent in to the Calcutta
market, but in case there are some who
do not, the following may explain. Over
a great stretch of shallow bhil they erect
nets some fifteen or twenty feet high,
usually selecting the end of a large patch
of water where it narrows off either into
dry land or again widens out into yet
another bhil. Then, by night, they pole
silently up the lake towards the nets,
driving the flock of duck and teal silently
before them, nor is any noise made until
an approach has been made to within
some two hundred yards, or even less of
the nets. Thus, when the shouts are
raised, many of the flocks have not time
to rise high enough to evade the nets,
into which they fly and are entangled.
Cotton Teal, of course, fly low along the
surface of the water, and hence fall victims
to the nets more easily than such Ducks
as get quickly into the air and fly high."

The Cotton-Teal. 131

The Cotton-Teal breeds throughout
the rains, and nests may be found at
any time from June to September, the
month varying, no doubt, according to
locality. In Burma I found a nest in
September, and probably, in this particular
case, the birds had had an earlier brood.
In Ceylon they are said to breed in the
early part of the year.

The nest seldom consists of anything
more than a few twigs and feathers, and
very frequently the eggs are laid in a
hollow without any preparation. The
site selected is a hole in the trunk of
a tree or in a big branch ; sometimes
a hole in an old ruin, or even in a
chimney, but seldom at any great height
from the ground ; although the only nest
of this species that I ever found in
Burma was about thirty feet from the
ground.

Mr. F. R. Blewitt tells us that this
Teal makes a semi-floating nest on the
water, among the rushes or lotus-leaves,
of weeds, grass, etc., filled up several
inches above the water-level. This was
on a lake near Jhansi. I have heard
of no other instance of this bird making
a nest on the water.

Ten is perhaps the most usual number

132 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

of eggs laid in one nest, but fewer are
frequently found, and in two instances
quoted by Mr. Stuart Baker, the large
number of twenty-two was taken from one
nest.

The eggs are elliptical or nearly so,
very smooth, and with a considerable
amount of gloss. They are of a cream
colour, and measure from 1*5 to 1*8 in
length, and from 1*15 to 1*4 in breadth.

The adult male in summer plumage
has the forehead blackish and the crown
brown, this latter part more or less
surrounded by a blackish band. The
remainder of the head, the whole neck,
the upper part of the mantle and the
lower plumage are pure white. The sides
of the body are beautifully vermiculated
with brown. The under tail-coverts are
black, with white bases. The axillaries
and the under wing-coverts are black.
A broad black collar surrounds the lower
part of the neck. The back, the scapulars,
all the upper wing-coverts, and the inner
long secondaries are black glossed with
purple and green. The primaries are
black at the base and tip, white in the
middle, the latter forming a conspicuous
white patch. All the secondaries, except
the long inner ones, are black with broad

The Cotton-Teal. 133

white tips, the outer webs glossed with
green. The rump is black, and the upper
tail-coverts white, closely vermiculated
with brown, like the sides of the body.
The tail is dark brown.

The adult female, at all seasons, has
the forehead, and a band over the eye,
dull white mottled with brown. The
crown of the head and a band through
the eye are dark brown. The sides of
the head, the chin and the throat, are
greyish white, slightly mottled with brown.
The neck and the upper part of the
breast are dull white, barred with brown.
The mantle is dark brown, freckled with
grey. The back, the rump, the scapulars,
and the whole of the upper wing-coverts
are dark brown, the coverts slightly glossy.
The primaries are blackish, the inner ones
tipped with whitish. The short secondaries
are black, broadly tipped with white ; the
long inner secondaries are entirely brown.
The upper tail-coverts are light brown
more or less tipped with grey ; the tail
dark brown. The entire lower plumage is
dull white, the dark bases of the feathers
more or less visible. The axillaries are
brown margined with grey, and the under
wing-coverts are brown tipped with dull
white. The sides of the body are brown.

134 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

The male in winter plumage resembles
the female in general appearance, but
retains the white patch on the primaries
and the brilliant gloss on the outer webs
of the secondaries and on the wing-coverts.
The axillaries and the under wing-coverts
are black as in summer. The black collar
is wanting.

The first plumage of the young birds
of both sexes resembles that of the adult
female ; and the young male completes
the change into adult male plumage in
the first spring. In a young January bird
the white on the primaries is only half
developed, but the wing-coverts are as
glossy as in the adult male.

The female is slightly smaller than the
male. Length about 13 ; wing 6| ; tail 2^.
The male in summer has the bill black ;
the irides bright red ; the legs black.
In winter, the upper mandible becomes
brownish and the lower yellowish. The
female has the bill brown above, yellowish
below ; the irides brown and the legs
yellowish. The male weighs up to nearly

II OZ.

Near the Cotton-Teal should be

The Cotton-Teal. 135

placed the Mandarin Duck, sEx galeri-
culata, from Southern China. This beau-
tiful Duck is not unlikely to be met with
on the borders of the Northern Shan
States. It is rather larger than a common
Teal, and may be recognised at all ages,
and, in the case of both the sexes, by
the brown axillaries, the broad and con-
spicuous silvery grey margins of all the
primaries, and by the bright, but ill-defined,
metallic purple speculum, this colour ex-
tending over three or four secondaries.
The male, in full plumage, is a gorgeous
creature with a long crest, a number of
long, narrow, chestnut feathers on the
neck, and with a very remarkably-formed
inner secondary. This feather is fan-
shaped and quite three inches wide at the
end. The inner web is chestnut, and the
outer purple. The female, which is of
plain plumage, may be separated from
similarly plumaged young males, and from
males, indeed, of all ages and in all phases
of plumage, by the oblique white stripe
which may always be found on the outer
web of the first purple feather of the
speculum. This stripe is just below the
tips of the wing-coverts, and is always
absent in the male.

THE WOOD-DUCKS.

FEW Ducks are so little known as the
Indian Wood-Duck. The Hume Collec-
tion contains but one specimen, and notes
on the habits of this species are very im-
perfect.

After a careful investigation, I agree
with Messrs. Hume and Marshall that the
Indian Wood-Duck is distinct from the
Wood-Duck of Java. The former has
the head and neck white, spotted with
black ; the latter has these parts pure
white, in addition to having a good deal
of white on other parts of the body.
These facts appear to me to be well
established, both by the evidence of actual
specimens and also by the descriptions of
the older writers.

The changes of plumage of these Ducks,
and the distinctive garb of the sexes,
cannot yet be satisfactorily worked out,
owing to the paucity of specimens. With
regard to the Indian species, I have
described the plumage of a fine mounted
136

The Wood- Ducks. 137

specimen in the galleries of the British
Museum, from Mergui, as that of the
adult male. A specimen in the Hume
Collection from Assam is sexed as a
female. It is, however, in a transitional
stage of plumage, with the feathers of the
breast undergoing a change from chestnut-
brown to black. This is evidently a young
bird, but I cannot but regard it as a young
male, changing from its first plumage, that
of the adult female, into that of the adult
male. On this assumption — and it is diffi-
cult to arrive at any other conclusion —
it may be inferred that the female bird
has the breast of the same dull chestnut-
brown as the abdomen, whereas the
adult male has the breast black and the
abdomen chestnut-brown. The acquisi-
tion of further specimens, properly sexed,
is necessary before the matter can be
finally settled.

The Wood-Ducks are large, heavy birds.
The legs are short, but rather slender.
The feet are large, the middle toe being
much longer than the tarsus. The wings
are large, but not well adapted for rapid
flight, the secondaries being extremely
long and soft. These Ducks are resident
in the localities they frequent, and pro-
bably they use their wings with reluctance.

138 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

The bill is large and of much the same
shape as that of the domestic Duck.

When swimming, the Indian Wood-
Duck should be easily recognisable by
its white head, white upper wing-coverts
and dark body-plumage. These Ducks
may not be so rare as is generally imagined,
but they appear to frequent forests, where
few sportsmen would expect to find
Ducks.

101. THE INDIAN WOOD-DUCK.

Asarcornis leucoptera, (BLYTH).*

Primaries uniformly black.

Axillaries white.

Speculum slaty-blue ; wing-coverts

white; separated from each other by

a broad black band.
Head and neck white, spotted with

black.

MALE : Breast black, lower plumage

chestnut-brown.
FEMALE : Both breast and lower plumage

chestnut-brown.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Deo-hans, Assam.

THE Indian Wood-Duck is probably
found throughout the whole eastern
portion of the Empire, from Assam to
Tenasserim, but the localities where it
has been actually obtained are few in
number.

First, I may quote Colonel Godwin-

* Asarcornis scutulata (part.) of the British
Museum Catalogue.

139

140 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Austen. He says : — " I got this bird at
Dimapur on the Dunsiri river ; it appears
to prefer sluggish streams like this flowing
through forest, for I once flushed this bird
in such a haunt in the interior of the
Garo Hills. I am informed by Mr.
James, of the Police at Samaguting, that
it breeds on the Dunsiri, and that he had
shot the young birds. It is called the
' Deo-hans ' in Assam. Mr. J. Burt, of
Tezpur, informs me that the white-winged
Sheldrake perches on trees, and that one
was killed thus sitting by Mr. J. Martin
of Paniputa tea plantation, near Tezpur."

In the " Birds of India," Jerdon
wrote : — " This fine Duck has hitherto
been only procured in Burmah, but I
have received information of a so-called
' Black Goose ' occurring in Dacca and
other parts of Eastern Bengal, which,
from the description, can be no other
bird." Subsequently, he wrote to Mr.
Hume a note on this bird, of which I
here reproduce a portion. He said : — " I
have seen several flocks of Casarca leuco-
ptera in the lower part of the Brahma-
putra, where it joins the Ganges, not far
above Dacca, where, indeed, Simson had
seen it."

Mr. F. B. Simson, however, in an

The Wood-Ducks. 141

interesting paper on the birds found in
Eastern Bengal, referring to this statement
of Jerdon's, says (Ibis^ 1882, p. 92) : —
" Jerdon informed Hume that I had
observed Anas leucoptera to the east of
Dacca; but I never saw it, nor have I
ever seen a skin of it yet. I told Jerdon
that I had heard of a large flock of dark
Ducks in these waters, but had never met
them myself. Jerdon himself only ob-
served it from the deck of a steamer."

Mr. Hume's collectors obtained a
specimen of this Duck at Dollah, at the
extreme east of the Assam valley.

Colonel Graham, as quoted by Messrs.
Hume and Marshall, informs us that this
Duck is rare in Darrang, but common
in the vast pathless tree jungles of Lak-
himpur.

Mr. J. R. Cripps writes :— " This,
hitherto rare, Wood-Duck is commoner
in the Dibrugarh district than is supposed,
but, from its retiring habits and the
nature of the country it affects, is seldom
seen. It is a permanent resident, fre-
quenting lonely, weedy pathars in dense
forest, and far away from villages. Food,
principally vegetable matter with a few
small pieces of pebble."

Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker tells us that

142 Ma nual of the Game Birds of India .

Mr, W. Moylan shot this bird in Sing-
bhoom, Eastern Bengal. He writes : —
" Mr. Moylan, in narrating to me how he
met with this Duck in Sini, in Singbhoom,
said that they were shooting in grass-
covered swamps at the edge of heavy
forest. They were standing at the edge of
this forest when he saw four birds, which
he took to be geese, coming down towards
him and his companions. They were
at a great height, but a charge of S. K. G.
shot took effect on the foremost, and he
came crash to the ground, turning out to
be a fine drake. It is possible that Mr.
Moylan may have been wrong in his
identification, but I failed to discover
any reason to make me think so, though
I questioned him closely on the matter.
This was the only occasion on which he
ever saw the Duck."

Mr. Stuart Baker himself found these
Ducks in the Barpeta part of the Kamroop
district. He observes: — "When I saw
the pair in Barpeta, I was shooting Kya
Partridge in the ekra-covered patches of
swamp in the forests, and a pair got up
some forty or fifty yards from me from
some swamp just as I emerged from the
forest. Two barrels of No. 7 pattered on
their backs at once, but seemed not to

The Wood-Ducks. 143

have the smallest effect on them. These
two birds flew just like geese, one bird
(the male, I suppose, for he looked much
the heavier) about ten yards in front of
the other, their necks fully outstretched
and squawking loudly as they flew for
the first few hundred yards. Whilst in
the open they flew within a few feet of
the ground, but, on regaining the forest,
mounted higher until they disappeared
altogether in the distance."

Mr. Baker also met with these Ducks
in Cachar. He remarks : — " The only
experience I have had personally with
them in this district was on a rainy day
in June : when out shooting I heard two
birds calling to one another in loud goose-
like calls. The forest was very dense,
and consisted almost entirely of trees,
but through it there wandered a sluggish,
dirty stream, which here and there dis-
appeared into small morasses dotted with
tiny pools of clear water. Thinking the
safest way to get a shot would be to drive
them, I sent my Cachari tracker to beat
down the stream towards me from a point
some two hundred yards or so above
where we heard them calling. The drive
proved a total failure, as though the birds
flew within thirty or forty yards of me

144 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

they kept inside the forest on the same
side of the stream as that on which I was
seated, and I hardly caught a glimpse of
them, much less obtained a shot. The
Cachari told me that when he came on
the first one it was in a tree, from which
it did not fly until he was underneath,
and that then it made off to its mate,
which was some two hundred yards higher
up the stream. They then both settled
in a small pool, and did not again take
to wing until he had sneaked to within
twenty yards, when they got up and flew
straight away, passing, as I have already
said, just out of sight of me. We heard
them calling two or three days after this,
but when I attempted to stalk them they
made off long before I got within sight
or shot of them."

I have never been able to meet with,
or even hear of, this Duck in any part
of Upper Burma or Pegu. It has been
obtained, however, at Tavoy and Mergui,
in Tenasserim, and lower down in the
Malay Peninsula, at Poonga, Kussoom
and Kopah.

The mounted specimen of this Duck
in the British Museum, from Mergui,
which from its large size is probably an
adult male, has the head and neck white,

The Wood-Ducks. 145

much spotted and mottled with black.
The lower neck, the sides of the breast,
and the breast itself, are glossy black.
The abdomen and the sides of the body
are dull chestnut-brown, the under tail-
coverts dusky rufous. The mantle, the
upper scapulars, the back, rump and the
upper tail-coverts are dark olive-brown,
each feather margined with metallic black.
The lower scapulars are plain olive-brown.
The upper wing-coverts are white except
the lower series, the feathers of which are
slaty-blue at base, and black at the tip,
the slaty-blue portions being concealed
by the white coverts, and the black tips
forming a broad band across the wing.
The primaries are blackish. The outer
secondaries are brown on the inner web,
slaty-blue on the outer. The secondary
next to these has a portion of the outer
web white with a black margin. The
inner and longer secondaries are olive-
brown. The tail is dark brown. The
axillaries are pure white, and the under
wing-coverts almost entirely white.

The female apparently differs from the
male in having the breast of the same
chestnut-brown as the abdomen.

Male : length about 32 ; wing nearly
15 ; tail about 6£. The female is smaller

VOL. II. 10

146 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

than the male. Mr. Cripps records one
as measuring rather more than 29 in
length, with a wing of about 13^. The
bill is orange-yellow, blotched with black
in part ; irides crimson ; legs and feet
orange-yellow. Weight up to about 6| Ib.

THE GREY DUCKS.

THE group of Grey Ducks comprises
two species of Indian Ducks which are
usually united to the True Ducks; the
Grey Duck being associated with the Wild
Duck, and the Andaman Duck with the
Common Teal.

The Grey Ducks differ from the True
Ducks in so many important respects that
I am obliged to regard them as a very
distinct group. They have given up
their migratory habits and have become
localised. As a consequence, they re-
quire to fly less, and the wing is therefore
more blunt than in the True Ducks, as
indicated by the greater length of the
outer secondaries, the tips of which, in
the closed wing, reach to the tips of the
longest primary coverts. The lengthening
of the outer secondaries in the Grey
Ducks causes the speculum to be very
large. The primaries, instead of present-
ing the peculiar pattern observable in the
primaries of the True Ducks, are blackish

147

148 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

throughout. The sexes are quite alike,
and rhe male is clothed in the sombre
plumage of the female, although both
sexes exhibit the brilliant speculum so
characteristic of both sexes of many
species of True Ducks. Inasmuch as the
drake resembles the duck, there is no
necessity for a post-nuptial moult, and
there is no evidence to show that the
drakes of the Grey Ducks have any but
the ordinary autumnal moult.

The plumage of the Grey Ducks is
more or less spotted. The bill resembles
that of the domestic Duck, and is of equal
width throughout its length.

In this group should be placed the
Chinese Grey Duck (P. zonorhyncha)^ which
may probably be found in the eastern
parts of the Shan States.* It resembles
the Indian Grey Duck, but may be
distinguished by the following characters.
The bill is black, with the tip of the
upper mandible alone yellow. The
speculum is brilliant metallic blue, and
there is a double band of black and

* As this is passing through the press I see
in the "Asian" (January loth, 1899), that a
correspondent states that he has shot Spotbill
Ducks, which he terms zonorhyncha, at Kengtung,
in the Shan States.

The Grey Ducks. 149

white below it. Above the speculum,
however, instead of a similar double band,
as in the Indian Grey Duck, there is but
a single band, of a black colour. Instead
of the outer webs of the two long
secondaries next the speculum being
entirely white, these webs exhibit hardly
any white. The Chinese Grey Duck has
a wide range, extending from Japan down
to China. It is a resident species, but
its southern limits are not definitely
known. There is no other Grey Duck
likely to occur within the limits of the
Indian Empire.*

* There is no genus in which the Grey Ducks
can be placed, and I therefore propose the name
Polionetta for them, with Poliomtta pcecilorhyncha
as the type of the genus.

102. THE GREY DUCK.

Polionetta padlorhyncha, (FORSTER).*

Primaries nearly uniformly blackish, the
inner webs being slightly paler than
the outer.

Under wing-coverts and axillaries white.

Speculum metallic green or greenish
blue, between two double bands of
black and white ; the outer web of
the two long secondaries next the
speculum white.

Tip and base of the upper mandible
yellow or orange.

Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAMES,:— Hunjur, Sind. ;
Garam-pai, Bata, Gugral, Hind. ;
Naddun, Nepal Terai ; Neer-bathoo,
Tamil ; Neer-kolee, Canarese ; Dod-
sarle-haki, Mysore ; Kara, Manipur ;
Tau-bay, Burmese.

THE Grey, or Spotted-billed, Duck, occurs
as a resident, and more or less abun-

* Anas pcecilorhyncha of the British Museum
Catalogue.

150

The Grey Ducks. 151

dantly, in every part of India, from the
base of the Himalayas down to Cape
Comorin, and in Ceylon. It has not
- yet been observed in Kashmir, nor in
any portion of the Himalayas. Eastwards,
this Duck extends through Assam ; and
in a southerly direction, through Sylhet,
Cachar, and Manipur to Arrakan and
Upper Burma. Captain F. T. Williams
shot this Duck in the Chindwin river. It
is found in the swamps and tanks near
the banks of the Irrawaddy, quite down
to Mandalay ; and Captain T. S. Johnson
and party, during one Christmas week,
obtained ten of these Ducks near Man-
dalay, out of a total bag of 562 water
fowl, showing that it is by no means
rare in that part. I obtained a speci-
men not far from Lashio, in the Northern
Shan States. Major G. Rippon informs
me that this species occurs in all parts
of the Southern Shan States, and
Lieut. J. H. Whitehead writes to me
stating that he got the Spot-bill as far
east as Kengtung. In these instances,
I do not think that the Chinese Grey
Duck has been mistaken for the
Indian species. I did not observe this
Duck in any part of Pegu, but Blyth
records it from Tenasserim, where, how-

152 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

ever, it has not been met with in recent
years.

The Grey Duck is not known to occur
anywhere outside the limits of the Indian .
Empire.

This fine Duck frequents ponds, tanks,
and small lakes by preference, but is also
to be found at times in streams and on
the larger rivers. It prefers well-wooded
and reed-margined pieces of water to
any others. When ponds dry up in one
part of the country, it proceeds to another
part, and it is only in this sense that the
Grey Duck can be termed migratory.
It is found, as a rule, singly or in pairs,
but on large pieces of water flocks of
from twenty to eighty may be observed.
This Duck is not at all shy, and is
frequently to be seen quite close to
villages ; and I once shot one in a small
drinking-water tank, not more than forty
yards square, close to a monastery,
where the villagers were in the habit
of coming all through the day to fill their
water-pots. When on large pieces of
water, they are not difficult to approach
in a boat. They rise heavily, but fly
swiftly when they are fairly off. When
wounded, they dive very cleverly, and
often escape capture, but they are also

The Grey Ducks. 153

frequently drowned among the weeds.
The food of the Grey Duck consists
chiefly of vegetable matter, grain, grass,
and the roots of water-plants, and also
insects, worms, and small frogs.

With regard to the notes of the Grey
Duck Messrs. Hume and Marshall
observe : — " Their voices, both when
chattering to each other when at rest or
feeding, and when uttering their quacks
of alarm, closely resemble those of the
Mallard, but may always be distinguished
by a somewhat greater sharpness ; they
are not so sonorous, but they seem to be
emitted with greater force."

Mr. Hume met with this Duck in
Manipur, and found it so tame that it is
worth while to quote his experiences.
He says : — " This is the Duck of Manipur,
common in every pond and jheel, and in
many mere ditches fifteen or twenty feet
wide, and excessively abundant and very
tame on the Logtak lake. While the
rest of the wild fowl at the lake were
exceptionally wild, the Grey Ducks were
tamer than I have ever seen them else-
where. As a rule they only swam a little
out of the way of the boats, and very
seldom, if ever, dreamt of rising unless
these approached within thirty yards of

154 Ma nua I of the Ga me Birds of India .

them. As I had a good many persons
with me who eat wild fowl and were glad
to get these, I daily, when at the lake,
shot from six to ten Grey Ducks, but I
could have shot twenty or thirty of these
daily, all sitting shots, at distances between
thirty-five and forty yards. Nay, sometimes
a pair or two floating leisurely just outside
some thin rush bed have allowed the boat
to pass quite unconcernedly within even
ten or fifteen yards."

There are few places apparently in the
range of this Duck where it does not
breed. The nest is usually placed on
the bank of some pond or canal on the
ground, among thick grass, and is com-
posed of rushes, grass, and feathers, with
a little down. Sometimes the nest is
placed on a branch of a tree, drooping
near the ground, and entirely concealed
by the surrounding vegetation. In Sind,
this Duck appears to nest in April and
May ; in the Punjab and the North-west
Provinces in August ; in Gujarat in
October, and in Mysore in November.
Probably it lays twice a year in most
places.

Captain Woods communicated the
following note to Mr. Stuart Baker re-
garding the breeding of this Duck in

The Grey Ducks. 155

Manipur : — " Here the birds generally
pair about the beginning of April ; but
I have found a nest in a flooded dhdn
khet as late as October. The nests are
composed of grass and feathers, the latter
of which the parent birds pluck from
their own breasts. I have found as many
as fourteen eggs in a nest, though the
usual number is ten. The parent bird
sits very close when incubating, and when
alarmed feigns injury to a wing, as do
others of the family."

The eggs are short ellipses in shape,
and measure about 2.15 by 1.7. When
first laid, they are white or greyish white ;
after incubation, yellowish or brownish.

The adult has the forehead, the crown,
and a band through the eye, dark-brown,
streaked paler. A band over the eye,
the sides of the head and the whole neck
are dull white, minutely streaked with
brown ; the chin and throat similar, but
with fewer streaks, sometimes streakless.
The mantle, the sides of the breast, the
lower plumage and the sides of the body
are white or fulvous white, turning to
dark brown on the lower part of the
abdomen, each feather with a large
roundish well-defined brown spot ; the
under tail-coverts black. The under

156 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

wing-coverts and the axillaries are pure
white. The upper back, the scapulars
and the lesser wing-coverts are blackish,
each feather with a pale fulvous margin.
The lower back, the rump and the upper
tail-coverts are black ; the tail-feathers
black, narrowly margined with fulvous.
The greater wing-coverts are brown, ter-
minated with white and broadly tipped
with black. The primaries are blackish,
the inner webs slightly paler than the
outer. The outer secondaries have the
inner webs brown, the outer brilliant
metallic green or greenish blue, according
to the light in which the wing is viewed,
terminated by a broad black band and
tipped with a narrower white band. The
inner secondaries are dark brown, the
first two longer ones, next the specu-
lum, with the whole outer web pure
white.

The young duckling, on assuming its
first feathered plumage, resembles the
adult, but has the spots on the lower
plumage less distinct.

Male : length about 24 ; wing 1 1 ; tail
rather more than 4. The female is rather
smaller. The bill is black, the base of
the upper mandible orange, the tips of both
mandibles varying from yellow to orange ;

The Grey Ducks. 157

the tip of the nail, black ; irides brown ;
legs and feet bright red. In young birds
the base of the bill, instead of being red,
is brown, and the legs are orange. Weight
up to 3 \ Ib.

103. THE ANDAMAN DUCK.

Polionetta albigularis, (HUME).*

Primaries uniformly black.

Under wing-coverts black, with a median
white patch.

Axillaries white.

Speculum black, divided into two
portions by a longitudinal streak of
metallic green or coppery bronze.

Sexes alike.
VERNACULAR NAMES :— None known.

THE Andaman Duck, or, as Messrs.
Hume and Marshall term it, the Oceanic
Teal, in the belief that this species had
a very wide distribution, ranging from the
Andamans to New Zealand, is strictly
confined, not only to the Andaman
Islands, but apparently to a very small
portion of this group only. Mr. Hume
discovered this Duck in 1873 during his
memorable voyage to the Andamans, and

* Nettion albigulare of the British Museum
Catalogue.

158

The Grey Ducks. 159

it was observed by him and his party
only on the coast and creeks of the South
Andaman Island. It is improbable, how-
ever, that this little Duck should be so
restricted in its range, and hereafter it
may be found in the adjacent islands.

Few persons have had an opportunity
of observing this Duck. The late Mr.
Davison thus described the habits of
this species : — " This 'Teal' is said to have
been very common, at one time, in the
Andamans, but it is far from being so
now. It appears to frequent alike both
salt and fresh water. During the day
it either perches among the mangroves
or settles down in some shady spot on
the bank of a stream ; when wounded
it does not attempt at first to dive, but
swims for the nearest cover, in which it
hides itself; but when hard pressed it
dives, but does not remain long under
water, and appears to get soon exhausted.
It feeds by night in the fresh-water
ponds, and I was informed that it is to
be seen during the rains in small flocks
in the morning and evening in the paddy
flats about Aberdeen. Sometimes in going
up the creeks a pair will slip off the bank
into the water, and keep swimming about
twenty yards ahead of the boat, only

160 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

rising when hard pressed, but they are
very wary when in flocks. I could learn
nothing about the breeding of this species.
The only note I have heard them utter
is a low whistle, and this apparently only
at night when they are feeding."

Mr. Hume adds the following remarks :
— " In the day time you commonly see
them in pairs, occasionally in flocks of
from twenty to thirty, high up in some
densely mangrove-bordered creek, where
the water is fresh ; but at night they leave
these, and collecting in moderate-sized
flocks, resort to fresh-water ponds or
paddy fields to feed. When wounded it
sometimes dives most vigorously, not in-
deed remaining long under water, but by
no means getting soon exhausted. On the
contrary, it will often compel you to fire
a second shot before you retrieve it.
It swims well, and runs through the
jungle at a great pace. Its flight appears
to be fairly rapid, but they are seldom
seen on the wing except at night, and
then it is difficult to judge accurately of
this.

"They are not, I should say, wild or
wary birds ; they do not leave a place
at the first shot, and Davison has got
as many as eight by successive shots out

The Grey Ducks. 161

of the same flock, the birds flying about
and settling again at short distances.
But they are eminently birds of a retiring
habit, and very soon abandon, as a day
haunt, any place which civilised or semi-
civilised men begin to frequent.

" A whole flock is sometimes seen
during the day time perched on the
mangroves of some salt-water creek ; but
they are certainly, by preference, the
denizens of forest-embowered fresh water."

Mr A. L. Butler, in the Journal of the
Bombay Natural History Society, thus
records his experiences with this Duck : —

" When I arrived at Port Blair in May,
these ' Teal ' were in good-sized flocks,
resorting principally, at low tide, to two
little rocky islets up the harbour, known
as Bird Island and Oyster Island. I did
not go after them at that time myself, not
having a boat ; a fair, though not large,
number were killed by some of the
officers stationed here. I believe eleven
was the result of four barrels on one
occasion ! As the monsoon commenced
and the harbour became rougher, at the
beginning of June, these flocks of 'Teal'
broke up into smaller parties of five or
six to a dozen or so, and retired to the
creeks and dyke-intersected marshes, a

VOL. II. II

1 62 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

little inland, near Bamboo Flat and Port
Mouatt. Towards the end of June these
small parties commenced to break up into
pairs ; about this time I shot several, and
in the paired birds I found the testes of
the drakes enlarged, but the ovaries of
the females were, as yet, in ordinary
condition. In the * Game Birds of India '
Mr. Hume mentions a single nest being
found in August, and I should think that
August or the end of July would be the
usual time of laying. I am afraid I am
not likely to find a nest, as there are
so many hundreds of acres of suitable
breeding ground, and the birds are
comparatively few.

" The ' Oceanic Teal ' feed a good deal
in the paddy fields at night ; under cover
of darkness, too, a few birds often drop
into small tanks at Aberdeen within a few
yards of bungalows and buildings. When
in flocks they are very wild, but in pairs,
on the small channels among the marshes,
I found them very tame. I have often
been able to creep up to the water's edge
and watch a pair swimming quietly about
within ten yards of me for some time.
On one occasion I came right on to a
pair under an overhanging bush, and they
only fluttered, like waterhens, along the

The Grey Ducks. 163

surface for twenty yards or so, then
pitched and commenced swimming away,
so that I was able to kill one on the water
and the other as it rose, from where I
stood. Of course birds that have been
shot at a bit go clean away at the first
alarm. On these creeks they associate
with the common ' Whistling Teal/ and I
have watched the two species in close
company on the water, though the ' Oceanic
Teal ' separate from the others when put
up. The only thing I noticed about
them, which I do not think has been
recorded, is that they have a * quacking '
note as well as a low whistle. One day
a party of eight or ten, at which some
shots had been fired, after wheeling
round and round overhead for some
time, pitched on a narrow channel, within
thirty yards of me, as I stood concealed
in the bushes on the bank. I watched
them for some minutes, when another
pair, frightened by some distant shots,
came scurrying over : the birds on the
water all twisted their heads up and set
up a loud rapid quacking call-note which
they kept up for some minutes ; the new-
comers circled round several times, but
probably seeing the top of my topee^ con-
cluded not to join their companions in

164 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

their fancied security. The flight of this
' Teal ' is fairly fast ; occasionally when they
have been kept on the wing for some
time a party will stoop down to the
surface of a creek as though they meant
to pitch, and then change their minds
and rise again. When executing this
manoeuvre they rush past at a tremen-
dous pace. The broad white wing-bar, in
this species, is most conspicuous when
the bird is on the wing.

" Winged birds promptly swim for the
nearest cover, into which they scuttle off
at a great pace, and are generally lost
without a dog. One I shot swam steadily
along in front of a Pathan convict who
was swimming after it in the capacity of
a retriever, and though hard pressed
made no attempt to dive till it reached
the bank, where it was caught. One of
the officers stationed here has a live bird
in captivity which was pinioned by a shot
some months ago. It thrives well on
paddy, but has not become very tame.
It spends most of the day asleep, with
its head resting on the plumage of the
back. The local sportsmen have christened
them ' Gibberies.'

" They are rather difficult birds to skin,
being very fat, and having, for a Duck,

The Grey Ducks. 165

rather a tender skin. They seem to
average about 15 oz. in weight."

A single egg of this species was taken
by Captain Wimberley in August. The
nest was composed of grass and was
placed in a paddy field. The egg is
described as being a broad oval in shape,
with a smooth shell, devoid of gloss, and
of a delicate cream colour. It measured
1-93 by 1-43-

The forehead and crown are dark-
brown, becoming paler and greyish-brown
on the hindneck. The whole lower, and
the edge of the upper, eyelid are covered
with small white feathers. The sides of
the head are mottled with dark-brown and
fulvous. The chin, the throat, and the
foreneck are white ; the cheeks, the lower
part of the sides of the head and also the
sides of the neck are dull white, mottled
with fulvous. The mantle, the back, the
scapulars, and the upper tail-coverts are
brown, each feather with a narrow rufous
margin. The feathers of the rump are
dark-brown, with hardly a trace of paler
margins. The tail is plain brown. All
the small upper wing-coverts are dark-
brown ; the greater coverts white, with a
buff tinge, forming a conspicuous patch
or bar above the speculum. The primaries

1 6 6 Ma n ua I of the Ga me Birds of India .

are uniformly black, both webs of the
feathers being of quite the same shade.
The first secondary is brown with a broad
white margin on the outer web ; the
succeeding shorter secondaries are brown
on the concealed inner web, black with
a slight greenish gloss on the outer web,
except two or three feathers in the middle
of the black patch thus formed, which
are of a brilliant green or coppery bronze
on the outer web. All these secondaries
are also tipped broadly with pale buff.
The longer inner secondaries are pale
brown. The whole lower plumage and
the sides of the breast and body are
dull rufous, each feather with a large
round brown spot ; these spots being very
distinct on the breast, but somewhat
blurred on the other parts. The axillaries
are pure white, and the under wing-coverts
are black with a white patch in the
middle of the lower margin.

In the large series of this Duck in the
British Museum, there are three specimens
which exhibit a certain amount of white
on the face. A pair, shot in May,
have a considerable space round the eye
white, and they have also a patch of
white on either side of the base of the
upper mandible, and some white marks

The Grey Ducks. 167

between these patches and the eye. A
third bird, a male shot in December,
resembles the above pair, but has, in
addition, an indistinct white band behind
the eye.

Male : length about 17 ; wing nearly
8 ; tail 3. Female : length nearly 16 ;
wing 7^ ; tail 2|. The bill is plumbeous,
the lower mandible tinged with pink in
some cases ; irides reddish brown ; legs
and feet plumbeous, the webs darker.
Weight up to i Ib.

THE TRUE DUCKS.

THE True Ducks, as restricted by me,
consist of migratory species in which the
sexes are, for a great part of the year,
differently coloured, but in which the
drake assumes a summer, or post-nuptial,
plumage greatly resembling that of the
duck.

The pattern presented by the primaries,
and the colour of the axillaries and under
tail-coverts, will suffice to separate the
True Ducks from all other Indian Ducks,
except the Grey Ducks, and they may be
separated from these by the length of the
secondary quills of the wing, or in other
words by the bluntness of the wing.

Of the nine True Ducks found in India,
no less than seven are well-known English
species, and two are Asiatic, occasionally
straggling into Europe. There are no
other Ducks of this group at all likely
to occur in India.

The True Ducks have been divided
into several minor groups by characters
168

The True Ducks. 169

of more or less importance, which may
here be noticed.

THE TEAL (Nettium).— The bill is of
uniform width throughout. The male
has the head banded with brilliant
colours ; the scapulars and inner second-
aries lengthened, pointed and distinctively
coloured. The speculum, composed of
black and green, is the same in both
sexes.

THE GARGANEYS (Querquedula). — The
bill is rather wider near the tip than at
the base. The male is not brilliantly
coloured, and differs from the males of
all the other True Ducks in not having
the under tail-coverts black. The scapu-
lars in the male are long, pointed and
distinctively coloured. The speculum is
not very dissimilar in the two sexes.

THE FALCATED DUCKS (Eunettci). — The
bill is of equal width throughout. The
male has the head brilliantly coloured ;
the inner secondaries long, narrow and
sickle-shaped (falcated) ; and the lower
and upper tail-coverts long, reaching to
the tip of the tail. Both sexes have the
speculum quite the same, and both have
a conspicuous crest.

THE WIGEONS .(Mareai). — The bill is

170 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

narrower near the tip than at the base.
The sexes differ greatly, not only in
general colour, but in the colour of the
speculum. The male has the scapulars
and inner secondaries lengthened and
pointed.

THE PIN-TAILS (Daft/a).— The bill is
distinctly wider near the tip than at the
base. The sexes are very different, both
in general colour and in the colour of
the speculum. The male has the middle
tail-feathers greatly lengthened. The
scapulars and the inner secondaries are
also much lengthened and pointed.

THE GADWALLS (Chaulelasmus). — The
bill is of uniform width throughout. The
sexes do not differ much in colour, and
they both have a large white patch on the
wing, on the inner side of the speculum.
The male has the inner secondaries long
and pointed. The lamellae of the upper
mandible are very prominent, and project
well over the lower mandible.

THE SHOVELLERS (Spatula). — The bill
is double the width near the tip that it
is at the base. The lamellae of the upper
mandible are very prominent, and project
well over the lower mandible. The
speculum is the same in both sexes, or

The True Ducks. 171

nearly so; otherwise the duck differs
considerably from the drake, The latter
has the scapulars and inner secondaries
lengthened and pointed.

THE WILD DUCKS (Anas).— The bill
is of equal width throughout. The sexes
differ greatly, except in respect to the
wing and speculum. The male has the
four middle tail-feathers curled up. The
scapulars and inner secondaries are not
much developed.

The True Ducks get their food at or
near the surface of water ; they do not
dive, except when wounded or pursued.
When searching for food in shallow water,
they immerse the head, neck, and front
half of the body, showing only the hinder
part of the body above the surface of
the water, in a vertical position.

The wing of the True Ducks is long
and pointed. They fly with great speed,
and they are able to launch themselves
into the air at once from the land or
from the surface of the water without
running or splashing.

104. THE COMMON TEAL.

Nettium crecca,

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;

inner web drab, with a blackish tip.
Axillaries white, with a brown tip.
Wing under eight inches in length.
Shafts of primaries brown.
Greater upper wing-coverts tipped with

white, the tips of the inner feathers

sometimes tinged with buff.
Speculum formed by two longitudinal

bands, the outer black, the inner

metallic green.

MALE : Crown and sides of head rich
chestnut.

FEMALE: Head streaked with brown;
no oval buff spot at the side of the base of
the upper mandible.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Murghabi,
Chota-murghabi, Kerra, Lohya Kerra,
Putari, Souchuruka, Hind. ; Kardo,
Sind. ; Baigilagairi, Nepal ; Naroib,
Tulsia-bigri, Bengal ; Killowai, Mad-
ras ; Sorlai-haki, Canarese.

THE Common Teal visits almost every

part of the Empire in the cold season.

172

The True Ducks. 173

The only portions from which it has not
yet been recorded are the Andaman
Islands, where it is probably replaced
entirely by the Andaman Duck, and
Tenasserim, which perhaps lies beyond its
range. It is found in Ceylon. To the
east it extends through the Shan States,
at least as far as Kengtung, where Lieu-
tenant J. H. Whitehead informs me that
he has shot it.

The Common Teal has a most extensive
range, being found in summer throughout
the northern parts of Europe and Asia
up to the yoth degree of north latitude,
and extending into portions of North
America. In winter it is found in Africa
as far south as the Canary Islands on the
one hand, and Abyssinia on the other.
In Asia it comes south to Arabia, Persia,
India, Burma, and China.

The Common Teal arrives in India
from the end of September to the middle
of October, and leaves again by the end
of April as a rule, but many birds remain
well into May. It is possible that some
Teal may stay and breed in Kashmir and
parts of the Himalayas, but there is no
positive evidence on this point.

This Teal, in most parts of the Empire,
is an extremely common bird. It occurs

174 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

on almost every piece of water, whether
large or small, river, pond or marsh. It is
wary or tame, according to the treatment
it receives. It is found in pairs and also
in good-sized flocks. Immense numbers
of these birds are snared in India,
kept in " tealeries " and fattened for the
table.

The habits of the Common Teal in
India during the time it stays with us
are not very different from those of the
other True Ducks, and there is little to
be said about them. I shall therefore
proceed to quote the accounts of this
bird given by two English naturalists, as
they refer chiefly to the habits of this
Teal in Europe during the summer.

The late Mr. Seebohm remarked : —
"The Teal is no exception to the rule
that the larger a bird is the more timid
and wary are its actions. It is the smallest
European Duck, and at the same time
the tamest. It often swims in and out
amongst the reeds, fearlessly allowing
itself to be watched at a comparatively
short distance, but once on the wing it
almost rivals the Garganey in the dashing
rapidity of its flight. Although it migrates
far into the Arctic regions, where it
arrives with the first flights of the migra-

The True Ducks. 175

tory Ducks, before the rivers have been
broken up into pack-ice, breeding much
farther north than the Mallard, it is less
courageous than the larger species in
braving the storms and snows of winter.
Its habits differ very little from those
of its congeners ; perhaps it might be said
that the Teal is more partial to small
reedy ponds and less fond of visiting the
mud-banks on the sea-shore than its
relations ; but its food is the same mixture
of animal and vegetable substances. Its
quack or alarm-note is very similar to that
of the Garganey, and may be represented
by the syllable knake ; but the call-note
of both sexes is a sharp krik^ and in the
pairing-season the drake utters a harsh
grating note. It is quite as gregarious as
its congeners, and sometimes on migration
the flocks of Teal are very large. Like
the Wigeon and the Pintail, the Teal
loves to breed amongst the scattered trees
in the low-lying forest swamps and on the
banks of the lakes and courier s> as the
little freshwater fjords of Siberia are called,
up in the nortn near the Arctic circle.
The nest is sometimes concealed amongst
the rushes, often hidden in a clump of
bilberries or under a willow bush. The
first egg is laid early in May in North

176 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Germany, and even in the Arctic regions
it loses no time, as eggs may be taken
a week after the ice has broken up and
before it has all marched down to the sea.
. . . The Teal seldom sits more than
three weeks ; but this species is said to
be so little shy that the drake takes part
in the care of the young until they have
feathers, when he leaves them in charge
of his mate whilst he retires to asume his
brown moulting-dress."

I now quote some interesting notes
from Mr. Stevenson's "Birds of Norfolk."
" On the 1 3th May I saw a TeaPs nest at
Ranworth containing ten eggs, from which
the keeper had taken two pheasant's eggs ;
another nest, near the same place, which
was destroyed by rats, had also contained
two pheasant's eggs. Mr. Norgate saw a
Teal's nest on the iQth April on Santon
Warren, which contained eight teal's, one
duck's, and several pheasant's, eggs. The
old bird is very much attached to the
nest, especially when near hatching. Mr.
J. H. Gurney, jun., once found a nest at
Hempstead, on June i3th, containing ten
eggs, on which the old bird ' sat like a
stone ' till he almost trod on her ; and a
good many years ago, in Inverness-shire,
I actually removed a Teal from her nest

The True Ducks. 1 7 7

with my hand, so close did she sit. The
stratagems resorted to by this pretty little
Duck to draw off the attention of the
intruder from its brood exhibit a charm-
ing display of maternal affection ; the
little ones, too, have a marvellous power
of concealment. On one occasion I dis-
turbed an old Teal which was brooding
over a large family : off went the old bird,
fluttering away as if in the last agonies
of death, and the young scattered in all
directions ; but keeping my eye fixed on
one particular baby Teal, I saw it squat
down a few yards off, its neck stretched
out and its little body close to the ground
where some dead oak-leaves were lying ;
the concealment so perfect that had I not
seen it assume the position I should most
certainly never have detected it, nor did
it stir from the spot till I stooped and
took it up in my hand. . . . The note of
the male Teal is a clear musical whistle ;
the voice of the female, however, although,
perhaps, not inharmonious, is decidedly
unmusical."

The nest of the Teal is made of decayed
vegetable matter, and is lined with feathers
and down. The latter is dark brown,
each piece with a whitish base or centre.
The eggs are eight or ten in number,

VOL. II. 12

178 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

generally perfect ellipses in shape, but
sometimes rather more pointed at one
end than at the other. They are creamy
white or pale buff, and sometimes very
pale greenish. They measure from r6
to i '8 in length, and from 1*3 to 1*4 in
breadth.

The adult male has the chin, a line
bordering the bill, and a patch round the
eye black. A broad, brilliant green or
purple band extends from the eye back-
wards along the side of the neck. With
the above exceptions, the head is of a
rich chestnut, which colour extends half-
way down the neck. A pale narrow line
borders the green band on the head, both
above and below, the two meeting in front
of the eye, whence the line is produced
in a crescentic form to the angle of the
gape and round the black of the chin.
The lower neck, the whole mantle, the
sides of the breast and the inner scapulars
are closely vermiculated with black and
greyish white. The outer scapulars are
rich cream-colour, broadly bordered with
deep black on the outer web. The
back and rump are ashy brown, with
darker centres to the feathers. The
upper tail-coverts and the tail-feathers are
dark brown, margined with ashy. The

The True Ducks. 179

lower plumage is creamy or fulvous white ;
the breast thickly spotted with black ; the
sides of the body beautifully vermiculated
with black; the under tail-coverts black
with a creamy buff patch on each side.
The under wing-coverts are brown, mar-
gined with white, and with a white patch
in the middle ; the axillaries are white
with brownish shafts and tips. The
upper wing-coverts are brown, the larger
series broadly tipped with white, which is
tinged with buff as the band approaches
the body. The primaries are drab on the
shafts and the inner webs ; brown on the
outer webs and the tips of the inner.
The first secondary is brown, tipped with
white. The following shorter secondaries
are black on the outer web, the base more
or less metallic green. The succeeding
three or four secondaries are metallic
green on the outer web. The quill imme-
diately next the green speculum has the
inner half of the outer web brown, the
outer half black narrowly edged with buff.
The inner and longer secondaries are
brown with black shafts. The metallic
portion of the speculum is green in some
lights, purplish-blue in others.

The adult female has the crown and
the forehead dull rufous streaked with

180 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

brown ; the sides of the head and the
whole neck pale buff, spotted and streaked
with brown ; the chin and the throat
very sparingly marked with brown. The
mantle, back and scapulars are dark
brown, with crescentic rufous bars. The
rump and upper tail-coverts are dark
brown, with pale rufous edgings and
angular markings on the feathers. The
tail is brown with pale margins. The wing
is very similar to that of the male, but
the deep black border to the quill next
the speculum is absent, or merely indi-
cated by a brown border. The breast,
the sides of the body, and the under tail-
coverts are white, with a rufous tinge,
mottled and streaked with brown. The
abdomen is whitish. It is to be noted
that in the female the tips to the greater
wing-coverts, forming a bar above the
speculum, is generally entirely white, and
seldom tinged with buff as in the male.

In post-nuptial plumage, according to
Mr. De Winton, as quoted by Dr. Sharpe,
the male is so similar to the female, that
it is hardly possible to distinguish them
by any certain character.*

Young birds, on moulting from the

* According to Seebohm, however, the male,

The 7 rue Ducks. 181

downy plumage, resemble the adult female,
but have the wing-coverts with pale
margins.

The sexes do not differ much in size ;
the male is slightly heavier. Length
about 14^ ; wing 7 to y| ; tail nearly 3.
The bill is blackish ; irides brown or
hazel ; legs and feet grey to plumbeous.
Weight up to 15 oz.

at this period, retains the black-bordered quill
in the wing, next to the speculum. If this be
the case, the male can, of course, be recognised
at a glance.

105. THE BAIKAL TEAL.

Nettium formosum, (GEORGI.)

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;

inner web drab, with a blackish tip.
Axillaries white, mottled with brown

at the tip.

Wing about eight inches in length.
Shafts of primaries brown.
Greater upper wing-coverts uniformly

tipped with cinnamon.
Speculum formed by two oblique bands ;

the upper, metallic green, sometimes

very small in extent; the lower,

black.

MALE : Sides of the head buff, with a
black band from the eye to the throat.

FEMALE : A well-defined oval buff spot
at the side of the base of the upper
mandible ; sides of the head streaked
with black.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — None known.

THE Baikal, or Clucking, Teal is probably
one of those birds which visit India in
larger numbers than is generally suspected.

182

The True Ducks. 183

The larger number of individuals of this
species which visit the Indian Empire
consist of females and young males,
and these are almost certain to be passed
over as Common Teal.

The history of the few specimens of
this Teal that have been met with in
India is soon recorded. Blyth found
one in the Calcutta bazaar in 1844.
Mr. E. James procured another in Sind.
A third was obtained by Mr. W. N.
Chill at Sultanpur, near Delhi. Colonel
McMaster believed that a Teal that he
shot in the Upper Circars was referable
to this species. Finally Mr. W. N. Chill
obtained another specimen of this Teal,
alive, also near Delhi. This bird, unlike
the first procured by Mr. Chill, did not
find its way to the Hume Collection, and
is not available for examination.

The Baikal Teal summers in Eastern
Siberia, and winters in Japan and China.
It has occurred in Europe.

Very little has appeared regarding the
habits of this species since the issue of
Messrs. Hume and Marshall's work on
the Game Birds, and I can only repeat,
in a somewhat condensed form, what has
been already published.

Colonel Prjevalsky remarks ; — " When

184 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

migrating these Ducks fly very low, follow-
ing the plains which abound with lakes ;
and as soon as one is perceived that is
not frozen, especially in cold and stormy
weather, they at once settle down on it.
The presence of such a flock is always
known at a good distance, as the drakes
keep calling even when on the wing."

Dr. Middendorff writes : — " Although
the commonest Duck on the Boganida,
(70° N. lat.), it did not extend its range
as high as the Taimyr river. It was not
observed before the i2th June on the
Boganida. On the 3rd July seven fresh
eggs were found in a nest on the river
bank, under a willow bush. . . . The
young in down are easily recognised by
the spot at the root of the bill and the
stripe by the eye, which agree exactly
with those of the female, but are yellowish
instead of white ; the feathers which are
shooting out on the breast have broad
and rather bright reddish brown edges.
The eggs are small, bluish yellow in
colour, the smallest 50 ' millims ' long by
35 ' millims ' in the widest part.

" When in flocks these Ducks were
very shy, but less so when paired. They
make a great noise, as they continually
utter their loud clucking note."

The True Ducks. 185

Mr. F. W. Styan tells us that in the Lower
Yangtse Basin this Teal is " abundant
in winter. Generally found in vast flocks
in wild open marshes and lakes, and not,
like the Common Teal, on ponds, creeks,
and paddy-fields. Comparatively few,
therefore, are shot."

Taczanowski describes the eggs as being
somewhat larger than those of the Gar-
ganey, and the colour pale greyish green,
very like that of the eggs of the Mallard.
They vary from about i'8 to 1*9 in length,
and from about 1*3 to 1*4 in breadth.

After the autumn moult the adult male
has the forehead, the crown, the lower
part of the hindneck, the chin and throat
and a broad band from the eye to the
lower part of the throat, black, each
feather tipped with buff; and these black
parts everywhere bordered with whitish.
The sides of the head, the sides of the
neck, and the foreneck are buff, each
feather tipped with black. A broad
metallic green band runs from the eye
down the side of the neck. This band
is separated from the buff of the lower
neck by a black band, and from the black
of the hindneck by a white band. The
middle portion of the mantle is brown ;
the lateral portions are beautifully vermi-

j86 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

culated with very fine black and ashy
lines. Similar lines are to be found on
some of the upper scapular feathers. The
other feathers of the scapulars are creamy-
buff on the inner webs ; black, margined
with cinnamon-red on the outer webs. All
the scapular feathers are long and pointed.
The upper wing-coverts are brown, the
lower series tipped with cinnamon-red,
which forms a band above the speculum.
The shafts and the inner webs of the
primaries are drab; the outer webs and
the tips of the inner, brown. The
outer two or three secondaries are brown,
tipped with white. The succeeding short
secondaries are metallic green or bronze
at the base, black at the end, and are tipped
with pure white. The amount of metallic
green on the feathers increases pro-
gressively from the outer to the inner
feathers, and the black correspondingly
decreases, the speculum thus consisting
of two oblique bands, one green and one
black. The inner and longer secondaries
are brown, with some short, irregular,
black and rufous margins. The back is
brown, the feathers edged paler. The
rump and the upper tail-coverts are ashy
brown, the feathers centred darker. The
tail-feathers are brown, edged with fulvous,

The True Ducks. 187

The breast is vinous grey, brighter at the
sides, the whole marked with oval, and
partially concealed, black spots. The
abdomen is white. The sides of the
body are beautifully vermiculated with
deep ashy and pale fulvous. A cres-
centic white band is situated on each
side of the lower part of the breast, and
is partially hidden by the closed wing.
The feathers on each side of the root of
the tail, forming a bunch, have the tips
truncated and broadly margined with white.
The under tail-coverts are black, the longer
feathers tipped with whitish, the lateral
feathers edged with chestnut. The under
wing-coverts are brown with a central
patch of white ; the axillaries are white,
mottled with brown at the tips.

As the winter passes, the buff tips to
the feathers of the crown and throat, and
the black tips to the feathers of the sides
of the head, get worn away, and those
parts become respectively, pure black and
buff.

The adult female has a large oval buff
spot on either side the base of the upper
mandible. The crown of the head is
black, each feather edged with fulvous.
The sides of the head and of the neck are
fulvous, streaked with black. The mantle,

1 88 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

back and scapulars are dark brown, the
feathers margined with fulvous. The
rump is dark brown, each feather edged
with ashy. The tail and the upper tail-
coverts are brown, edged with fulvous.
The upper wing-coverts are brown, nar-
rowly edged paler, the lower series, as in
the male, tipped with cinnamon-red. The
quills and the speculum are the same as
in the wing of the male, except that the
metallic portion of the speculum is much
less in extent and sometimes extremely
small and indistinct, but never entirely
absent. The breast is fulvous, with large,
partially concealed, round, brown spots.
The abdomen is dull white ; the under
tail-coverts white blotched with brown ;
and the sides of the body rich brown, the
feathers broadly margined with bright
fulvous. The under wing-coverts are
brown with a central white patch, and
the axillaries are white, mottled with
brown at the tips.

The male, in post-nuptial plumage,
resembles the female very closely, and
appears to be distinguishable only by the
nearly uniform colour of the back, the
feathers of which are barely margined
paler.

The female is rather smaller than the

The True Ducks. 189

male, which measures : length about 15 ;
wing about 8 ; tail rather more than 3.
The bill is deep brown; the irides
chestnut-brown ; legs and feet bluish
grey. The weight has not been recorded.

106. THE GARGANEY.

Querquedula cirria, ( LINNAEUS).

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;

inner web drab, with a blackish tip.
Axillaries pure white.
Wing eight inches or less in length.
Shafts of primaries white.
Bill rather wider near the tip than at

the base.
Speculum pale metallic greyish green,

or brown ; a broad white band above

and below the speculum.

MALE : Speculum pale metallic greyish
green ; a large white eye-band.

FEMALE : Speculum brown, often tinged
with green ; no white eye-band.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Chaitwa,
Patari, Khira, Hind. ; Ghang-roib,
Girza, Bengal.

THE Garganey, or Blue-winged Teal, is a
winter visitor to every portion of the
Empire, including Ceylon. It has not
yet been actually obtained in the southern
portion of Tenasserim, but it will un-
190

The True Ducks. 191

o ubtedly be found to occur there. This
pecies is met with throughout the Shan
States, as far as Kengtung at least, where
Lieut. J. H. Whitehead informs me that
he has shot it.

The Garganey is found over the greater
part of Europe and Asia, extending in
summer to about the 6oth degree of
north latitude. In winter it is found
over a large part of Northern Africa and
Southern Asia, extending to the Philip-
pines, Borneo, Java, and other islands.

This species commences to arrive in
India in August, but it is not till October,
or even November, that they occur
commonly in the southern portions of the
Empire. At the end of March, or in
the first half of April, a general movement
north takes place, but a few birds remain
till May.

There are many instances on record of
the late, or early, occurrence of the Gar-
ganey in various parts of the Empire, and
it has been thought that some birds of
this species may remain to breed in favour-
able localities. Moreover, both Colonel
Tickell at Moulmein and Colonel Irby
in Oudh state that they met with young
birds of this species. Both these natural-
ists, however, may have very pardonably

192 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

mistaken males in the post-nuptial plumage
for young birds. Drakes of many species
migrate before they have completely re-
acquired their normal male plumage, and
in this state they look ragged and partially
fledged, and might be easily mistaken 'for
young birds.

The Garganey on the whole is perhaps
the commonest Duck in many parts of
India and Burma. In the latter country
it occurs in very large numbers ; and out
of a large bag of water fowl shot near
Mandalay, one Christmas week, fully one-
quarter was composed of Garganeys.

The Garganey is chiefly found on large
pieces of water containing plenty of floating
weeds. I do not remember to have seen
it on the banks of rivers nor on clear
tanks. They are generally in flocks of
considerable size.

Of the habits of this Duck in Europe,
Seebohm says : — " The Garganey differs
very slightly in its habits from the other
fresh-water Ducks, but it has some slight
peculiarities of its own. It is one of the
species which are more susceptible to
cold than others of its congeners ; it does
not venture into the high north, and even
in Germany it seldom arrives from its
winter quarters before April, and dis-

The True Ducks. 193

appears again before the November frosts
have begun. Though widely distributed,
it cannot be regarded as a very common
species ; and though it is as gregarious as
its relatives, it is not seen in such large
flocks as many of them are. The Garganey
is one of the least shy of the European wild
Ducks, and allows itself frequently to be
approached within gunshot ; but it is
partly compensated for its tameness on
the water by the wonderful swiftness of
its flight in the air, in which it is surpassed
by none of its congeners. Although its
flight is so rapid, it is almost noiseless ;
and in other respects the Garganey is a
somewhat silent bird. Its quack is not
so loud as that of the Mallard, but is in a
slightly higher key ; it may be represented
by the syllable knake, whence the German
name of this Duck, Kniik-Ente. It is
generally uttered singly, but sometimes
repeated twice. The quack is common
to both sexes-, but in the breeding season
the male utters a harsh grating note
resembling Kr-r-r. The food of the
Garganey is the same as that of its
congeners, partly insects and other animal
food, partly the buds of water-plants and
other vegetable substances."

Of the habits of the Garganey in India
VOL. ii. 13

194 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Mr. Hume thus writes in the " Game
Birds " : — " I have very seldom seen them
in the day feeding in fields, but I know
that at nights they come in some parts
of the country in such crowds into paddy-
fields as to destroy acres of crops at one
visit. Along the Mekran coast, and in
many places along the Sindh and Bombay
coasts, you find them in secluded salt-
water creeks, where they seem just as
much at home as in inland waters.

" They are not very wild or wary ; it
is generally easy enough to get shots
at them with a little precaution ; they are
easy to work up to in a punt, but they
are yet not tame and familiar like the
Common Teal, and do not, like this,
habitually affect pools where men con-
stantly come and go, and in close proximity
to human habitations. Generally they
keep in flocks ; rarely less than a dozen
are found together, and most commonly
from fifty to several hundreds are seen
in a bunch. Few fowl sit closer or
straggle less, few offer more effective big-
gun shots.

" Their flight is rapid — though less so
than that of the Common Teal — direct,
and with far fewer sudden turns and
twists. They rise rapidly and easily from

The True Ducks. 195

the water, but not very perpendicularly.
I have so seldom seen them on dry land
that I can speak with no certainty about
this ; but once, when emerging from a
dense reed-bed, through which I had
been carefully creeping in order to get
a shot at some Shelldrakes that I knew
to be paddling about somewhere near
the margin, I surprised a party of
Garganeys, all asleep, on a patch of turf
some ten yards square, almost entirely
surrounded by high reeds ; they seemed
to me to rise very clumsily, and I made
a tremendous bag with two barrels as
they flustered up.

" They swim well, far more rapidly
when pressed than the Common Teal,
and dive better. They are altogether,
I should say, more vigorous and less agile
birds."

I cannot quite agree with Mr. Hume
that the flight of the Garganey is less
rapid than that of the Common Teal.
To me it has always seemed that the
flight of this species was faster than that of
any other Duck I am acquainted with.

The Garganey nests in . Southern
Europe, but a few breed in England.
Mr. E. T. Booth tells us, in his " Rough
Notes": — "My own experience with

196 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

regard to the situation chosen by this
species for its nest differs considerably
from the statement in the last edition of
Yarrell, that Sn the Broad district in
Norfolk, the densest reed-beds are pre-
ferred.' About Hickling Broad, where I
have had ample opportunities of observing
them during the summer, I remarked
that the eggs were usually laid in the
patches of rushes in the unreclaimed
marshes, at some little distance from the
water, not a single nest having, to the
best of my knowledge, ever been detected
in a reed-bed. Now and then the birds
were known to have bred among the long
coarse grass and tufts of rushes on the
dryer portion of the hills surrounding
the broads, but, as a rule, they go further
from their usual haunts."

I again quote from Seebohm : —
" Like most other Ducks, the adult
Garganeys pair in mid-winter, but the
young not until spring. The first eggs
are seldom laid before May. The nest
is placed in a variety of positions — hidden
under a bush or in thick grass or sedge ;
far away from water in the forest or
among the corn : anywhere and every-
where where a hidden retreat can be
found. . . . The nest is made very deep,

The True Ducks. 197

and is lined with dead grass and leaves,
to which is afterwards added plenty of
down. The number of eggs varies from
eight to twelve, or sometimes fourteen. . . .

" Like the Teal, the Garganey does
not sit so long upon its eggs as most
Ducks do, incubation only lasting from
twenty-one to twenty-two days. As is
the case with most Ducks, the male is
very attentive to the female until his first
moult begins, which is usually before
the eggs are hatched. The entire charge
of the young falls upon the mother, who
is deserted by her mate until he has
passed through his second moult and
acquired his nuptial plumes, late in
autumn."

The eggs of the Garganey resemble
very closely, and, in fact, are undistin-
guishable from those of the Common
Teal. They are huffish white or cream-
coloured, and measure from 17 to 1-9
in length, and from 1*3 to 1*4 in breadth.

The down found in the nests of the
two Teal differ, however, in a very re-
markable manner. In both cases it
is dark brown with pale centres, but
whereas in the down of the Common
Teal the filaments are entirely brown,
in that of the Garganey the tips of

198 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

the filaments are all very conspicuously
white.

The adult male has the whole forehead
and crown blackish, with some pale shaft-
streaks on the former. A broad band of
white commences in front of the eye,
passes over it and skirts the black of the
crown. The chin is black. The sides
of the head, the throat and the whole
neck are chocolate-brown streaked with
white. The upper part of the mantle
and the whole breast are barred with
fulvous and brown, the bars on the mantle
and upper breast being concentric with
the margins of the feathers, and those
on the lower breast more or less trans-
verse and straight. The upper part of
the abdomen is white ; the lower part
white with narrow, indistinct, undulating
lines of brown. The sides of the body
are white, barred with narrow undulating
black lines. The longer flank-feathers
are terminated by a broad white bar, fol-
lowed by a broad tip of bluish grey. The
under tail-coverts are pale buff, blotched
with brown. The axillaries are pure
white, and the under wing-coverts bluish
grey, with the middle portion white. The
lower part of the mantle and the back
are dark brown, the feathers margined

The True Ducks. 199

with pale fulvous. The rump is dark
brown, the feathers margined with ashy.
The upper tail-coverts and the tail-feathers
are dark brown, margined with pale ful-
vous. The upper wing-coverts are bluish
grey, the lower series very broadly tipped
with white, forming a conspicuous wing-
bar. The outer scapulars are bluish grey ;
the inner, which are long and pointed,
are chiefly bluish black with a conspicuous
white line along the shaft. . The outer
webs of the primaries and the tips of the
inner are brown margined with grey ; the
remainder of the inner webs are drab ; the
shafts are white. The outer secondaries
are brown on the inner web, pale metallic
greyish green on the outer, both webs very
broadly tipped with white. The next long
secondary is grey margined with white ;
and the remaining quills are brown with
paler shafts and very narrow grey mar-
gins.

The adult female has the forehead and
crown glossy brown, the feathers with
minute fulvous tips and margins. The
hindneck is similar, but of a lighter brown.
The sides of the head and of the neck
and the foreneck are greyish white, mottled
and streaked with brown, with a faint
indication of a band over the eye. The

200 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

chin and throat are greyish white. The
mantle, the back, the rump, the scapulars
and the upper tail-coverts are dark brown,
each feather margined with fulvous ashy.
The tail-feathers are brown, with narrow
pale margins. The feathers of the sides
of the breast are brown, with fulvous
margins ; those of the middle breast dull
fulvous with indistinct brown centres.
The greater part of the abdomen is pale
fulvous white, obscurely mottled with a
darker shade of the same. The lower
part of the abdomen and the under tail-
coverts are fulvous white, the former
faintly mottled with brown, the latter with
large brown spots. The feathers of the
sides of the body are brown, with fulvous
margins. The axillaries are pure white ;
the under wing-coverts are brown, edged
with grey, and with the central portion
pure white. The upper wing-coverts are
light brown washed with ashy-grey, the
lower series tipped with white. The
primaries have the outer web and tip
of the inner, dark brown ; the remainder
of the inner webs pale drab ; the shafts
white. The outer secondaries are entirely
brown, with broad white tips, and the
outer webs frequently glossed with greyish
green. The inner, long secondaries are

The True Ducks. 201

brown with a narrow, whitish margin on
the outer web.

The young duckling assumes the plu-
mage of the adult female, and young
males soon show indications of the mature
male plumage.

In post-nuptial plumage, the male resem-
bles the females, but may be recognised
by the brighter speculum, which is always
of a pale metallic greyish green, whereas
in the female it is brown with a pale
greenish gloss, or simply plain brown.

Male: length about 16; wing about
7! ; tail nearly 3. Female : length about
15; wing about y|: tail nearly 3. The
bill is blackish brown, paler on the lower
mandible ; irides brown ; legs and feet
plumbeous to greenish. Weight up to
i Ib.

107. THE FALCATED DUCK.

Eunetta falcata^ (GEORGI).

Outer web of the primaries blackish;
inner web drab, with a blackish tip.

Axillaries pure white.

Upper wing-coverts grey, turning to
whitish and forming a very broad,
pale band above the speculum ; tips
of the greater coverts usually tinged
with buff.

Speculum black, tinged with bluish
green, and becoming entirely of a
deep bluish green on the two inner-
most feathers of the speculum.

MALE :— Head brilliant chestnut and green ;
under tail-coverts black; a white spot
on the forehead.

FEMALE :— Head and under tail-coverts
black, streaked with fulvous.

VERNACULAR NAMES \-Kala Sinkhur,
Oudh.

THE Falcated Duck has been so often
met with in India that it cannot be con-
sidered at all rare. No doubt the females

The True Ducks. 203

and young of this species are often con-
founded with some of the commoner
species of Ducks.

Dr. Bonavia appears to have been the
first naturalist to observe this species in
India. He procured two specimens near
Lucknow. Subsequently Mr. G. Reid
obtained this Duck in the same locality,
where it seems to be sufficiently common
as to be known by a vernacular name.
General C. H. T. Marshall shot a specimen
of this Duck on the Bazida jhil in the
Kurnal District of the Punjab, and General
J. H. McLeod secured another at Firoza,
in Bhawalpur. Mr. W. N. Chill met with
this species at Sultanpur. At least three
of these Ducks have been, at various
times, observed in the Calcutta bazaar
for sale. Mr. Stuart Baker gives Jessore,
Purneah, and Manipur as localities where
the Falcated Duck has been obtained,
and he also mentions Bhamo, near to
which place Dr. J. Anderson, many years
ago, got it. When sportsmen get in the
way of identifying this species, no doubt
it will be found to be quite a common
species in Upper Burma and the Shan
States ; but fully adult males, with the
long curved inner secondaries, will proba-
bly seldom be met with.

204 Manual of the Game Birds of India .'

The Falcated Duck in summer inhabits
North-eastern Asia, extending from the
Yenesei River to Kamtschatka and Japan.
In winter it appears to be very abundant
in China. It has on a few occasions
occurred in Europe.

Very little is on record about the habits
of this Duck. Colonel Prjevalsky remarks
that its note is a tolerably loud and
piercing whistle. Von Schrenk tells us
that it cackles as it feeds, and from his
account it appears that this species swims
in streams which, sometimes at any rate,
have a strong current. Mr. F. W. Styan
states that this bird collects in large flocks
on the Yangtse river. I can find little
else about its general habits.

Regarding the nidification of the Fal-
cated Duck, Mr. Stuart Baker writes : —
" In Manchuria, where my informant took
several nests, they are said to make them
on low-lying parts, along the banks of the
larger rivers, which are more or less in the
condition of swamps. The nest appears
to be a rather well-built affair of rushes
and weeds, rather more compactly put
together than are most ducks' nests, and
lined very plentifully with down, presum-
ably taken from the breasts of the parent
birds themselves. So thick is this down

The True Ducks. 205

that in some of the nests, the cups of
which were in some cases as much as six
inches deep, it filled them completely to
the top, hiding the eggs which were inside.
The nests were placed in thick tufts of
grass, beds of sedges, or, more rarely,
under and amongst bushes ; they were
not very carefully hidden, and, but for
the treacherous nature of the ground in
which they were found, not particularly
hard to get. The duck is a close sitter,
and is assisted, at least occasionally, by
the drake, which is seldom found far from
the nest. They lay from six to nine eggs,
beginning to lay in the end of May, and
continuing through June and the early
part of July."

Dybowski states that the female makes
her nest among the bushes in swamps,
collecting dry seeds and grass and lining
it thickly with down. At the beginning
of June she lays eight eggs, sits closely,
and only rises at your feet.

I gather that the eggs of this species
are creamy white in colour, and smooth
in texture, and that they measure about
2*2 by 1*6.

The adult male has a white spot on
the forehead, immediately at the base of
the upper mandible ; the forehead and

206 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

crown chestnut. A large patch behind
the eye, covering the ears and extending
to the hinder part of the crest, is metallic
green. The sides of the head, below
the eye and the green patch, are bright
coppery bronze. The chin, the throat,
and the upper part of the foreneck are
white ; this colour continued round the
neck and forming a collar ; below this,
a broad black collar glossed with green ;
and below this again, a narrower white
collar. The mantle, back, and the shorter
scapulars are beautifully marked with
alternating black and white wavy . lines,
parallel to the margins of the feathers.
The longer scapulars are creamy white,
very finely vermiculated with black, a
few of the feathers also broadly edged
with black, forming a conspicuous black
patch on the closed wing. The lower
back and the rump are chocolate-brown.
The upper tail-coverts are deep black at
the sides ; buff, vermiculated with black,
in the middle. The tail-feathers are pale
brown tipped paler. The upper wing-
coverts are grey, turning to whitish on
the lower series, the feathers of which are
usually tipped with buff. The outer webs
and the tips of the inner webs of the
primaries are brown, the remainder of the

The True Ducks. 207

inner webs pale drab. The first, and some-
times the second secondary, is brown ;
the following secondaries are brown on
the inner web, black, tinged with bluish
green, on the outer. The last two feathers
of the speculum are a deep but slightly
glossy bluish green on the outer web.
All the feathers of the speculum are
narrowly tipped with white. The inner,
curved secondaries have the shafts white ;
the outer web black, margined with
white ; the inner web black next the shaft,
grey on the marginal half. The whole
breast is marked with broad, firm, black
and white bars, concentric with the
margins of the feathers. The abdomen
and the sides of the body are greyish
white, closely vermiculated with brown.
The tips of the feathers of the flanks
are truncated and broadly tipped with
white. The under tail-coverts are black
in the middle, buff at the sides. The
under wing-coverts are chiefly white, and
the axillaries pure white.

The adult female has the whole head
and neck dark brown, streaked with
fulvous, the chin and the throat much
paler. The mantle, the back, and the
scapulars are dark brown, each feather
margined with rufous, and with some

208 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

interior rufous markings. The back and
rump are blackish with rufous-grey mar-
gins. The upper tail-coverts are brown
with pale rufous margins and interior
markings. The tail-feathers are brown,
margined with whitish. The upper wing-
coverts are grey with whitish margins,
and gradually becoming wholly whitish
near the speculum. The quills of the
wing and the speculum are similar to the
same parts in the male, except that the
inner long quills, next the body, are
brown, margined paler, and not lengthened,
narrow, or curved, as in the male. The
breast is rufous, each feather with a
regular, broad, black, circular border, and
a pale margin. The remainder of the
lower plumage and the sides of the body
are pale rufous or fulvous, streaked and
variegated with brown. The axillaries
are white, and the under wing-coverts
white with some brown marks along the
margin of the wing.

According to Messrs. Hume and
Marshall, the male, in post-nuptial plu-
mage, resembles the female, but may be
recognised by a certain amount of green
metallic gloss which is retained on the
head, and by the whiter or greyer and
more spotted under-surface.

The True Ducks. 209

The ducklings moult from down into
a plumage resembling that of the adult
female. The male bird assumes the
plumage of the old drake by a gradual
series of changes during the winter and
early spring. The long sickle-shaped
feathers of the wing do not, however,
make their appearance till February.
Males shot in India, in full adult plumage,
generally want these feathers, or have
them just sprouting, showing that they
are immature. The old males retain
these long feathers throughout the winter
and spring, and only drop them in the
post-nuptial stage of plumage.

Male : length about 20 ; wing 9^ ; tail
35. Female: length about 18 ; wing 9;
tail 3. Bill black ; irides brown ; legs
and feet bluish. Weight up to nearly

VOL. II. 14

108. THE WIGEON.

Mareca penelope, (LINNAEUS).

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;

inner web drab, with a blackish tip.
Axillaries white, mottled with brown.
Wing over nine inches in length.
Speculum black and metallic green ; or

entirely brownish ; followed in either

case by a single quill, the outer web

of which is white.
Bill bluish, with a black tip ; narrower

near the tip than at the base.

MALE : — Head chestnut ; under tail-
coverts black.

FEMALE : — Head marked with fulvous
and brown ; under tail-coverts streaked
with brown.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Pea-san, Patari,
Pharia, Chota-Lalsir, Hind. ; Parow,
Sind. ; Cheyun, Nepal ; Ade, Adla,
Ratnagiri.

THE Wigeon is a winter visitor to the
Indian Empire, being found in more or
less abundance all over the peninsula of

The True Ducks.

India as far south as the Tinnevelly
District of Madras, where Mr. W. N.
Fleming records it as fairly common.
Being found so far south as this, it will
no doubt be hereafter observed in Ceylon.
It occurs throughout the Himalayas, but
there is no evidence that any ducks of
this species remain to breed in Kashmir
or elsewhere within our limits.

Notices of the occurrence of the Wigeon
in the eastern portion of the Empire are
few in number, but there can be little
doubt that this widely spread Duck will
be found to visit every portion of the
country from Assam down to the southern
limits of Pegu. Blyth recorded it years
ago from Arrakan ; Colonel McMaster
wrote that the Wigeon was commoner in
Burma than in India ; Mr. Hume found
it to be one of the commonest Ducks of
Manipur ; Captain T. S. Johnson informs
me that he and his party procured four
Wigeon, one Christmas week, near Man-
dalay ; and lastly, Major G. Rippon writes
to me that he has obtained this species at
Fort Stedman in the Southern Shan States.
The Wigeon has not yet been met with
in Tenasserim, but it will undoubtedly be
found in that extensive province when
observers become more numerous,

212 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

The Wigeon has a wide range. It is
found in summer throughout the northern
portions of Europe and Asia, breeding
generally north of the 6oth degree of
latitude, and is even found on both coasts
of the North American continent. In
winter this species ranges south, and is
found over a considerable portion of
Northern Africa, the Black Sea, Persia,
India, Burma, China, and even Borneo.

The Wigeon appears to reach India
about the end of October, and it leaves
the country in March or April according
to locality. From all accounts it is very
irregular in its migrations, visiting some
places in large numbers one year, and
avoiding the same locality the next year.

The Wigeon is found on the larger
tanks and lakes in the interior as well
as on the sea-coast. It is usually seen
in flocks of considerable size, but pairs
or small parties are not unfrequently met
with. In addition to feeding on vegetable
matter and the small forms of animal life
found in water, the Wigeon feeds a good
deal on land, cropping grass like a Goose.
It walks with considerable ease, flies
swiftly, and dives well, when compelled
to do so. The flesh of the Wigeon
varies in quality very much, according

The True Ducks. 213

to locality : those birds shot on inland
waters, and especially those which have
fed on grass, being for the most part
excellent for the table, whereas those shot
on the sea-coast are coarse and fishy.

Mr. Seebohm thus describes the general
habits of Wigeon : — "The Wigeon has
probably derived its name from its remark-
able note, but, as is usual in cases of this
kind, it requires a considerable stretch of
imagination to recognise the similarity.
The cry of this Duck is a loud prolonged
whistle or scream, immediately followed
by a short note. I can best represent it
by the syllables mee-yu^ the first very loud
and prolonged, the last low and short. It
sounds very wild and weird, as it startles
the ear on the margin of a mountain
tarn or moorland lake, a solitary cry, very
high in key, not unmusical in tone, but loud
and piercing — one of the most familiar
sounds on the banks of the Petchora and
the Yenesay, where the Wigeon is very
abundant, especially on the lakes and
swamps of the borderland, where the forest
merges into the tundra not far north of
the Arctic circle. . . . The Wigeon is a
bird of rapid and almost noiseless flight,
and is very shy, especially when collected
in large flocks, which are almost impos-

214 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

sible to approach. According to Naumann
the duck sits from twenty-four to twenty-
five days ; for about half this period she
is attended by the drake, who roosts
during the day not far from the nest,
and faithfully accompanies his mate every
evening to the feeding-grounds ; but long
before the eggs are hatched, either his
ardour has cooled or important business
calls him elsewhere, and he leaves her to
bring up her brood alone, whilst he retires
into the marshes to undergo his first moult.
As soon as the young are able to fly, the
female leaves them to fight their own way
in the world, whilst she undergoes her
one annual and complete moult in the
most retired locality she can find. As
soon as the frosts begin the Wigeon leaves
its breeding-grounds for the south."

Mr. Abel Chapman, in his "Bird-Life
of the Borders," after commenting on the
fact that Wigeon for some weeks after
arriving south in autumn remain inside
harbour throughout the day, instead of
flying out to sea at dawn as is their custom
later on, continues : — " This phase in the
character of Wigeon is rather remarkable,
and appears at first sight to point to the
conclusion that they are, by nature, diurnal
in their habits, and that they are only

The True Ducks. 215

driven to acquire night-feeding proclivities
by the influence of man, and by considera-
tions of safety. But, on further examina-
tion, this conclusion appears hardly to be
borne out, though Wigeon are undoubtedly
far more disposed to feed by day than
are the Mallard. It must be remembered
that, in their northern breeding grounds
(whence they have newly returned) there
is practically, during their sojourn there,
no night at all. Even in Central Norway
there is no darkness, and in their grand
resorts in Lapland and corresponding lati-
tudes, midnight is indistinguishable from
noon. Consequently they then acquire
promiscuous habits ; and, like other Arctic
voyagers, they eat when hungry and sleep
when tired, without much regard to solar
chronology. On first arrival here, the
Wigeon, and especially the young birds,
which now for the first time experience
the regular alternations of light and dark-
ness, continue the somewhat anomalous
habits acquired in northern lands, where
the summer sun never sets, or at least his
light never dies out. In a few weeks,
however, they adapt themselves to the
altered conditions, and become absolutely
nocturnal in their habits."

Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, in "The

2i6 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Fowler in Ireland," observes : — " The
actions of Wigeon when unsuspicious and
playful are very interesting. They may
be observed dressing their feathers, wash-
ing, tossing the water about, and nodding
and bowing vis-a-vis like cocks fighting.
The old yellow-headed males may be
seen chasing the others, or ploughing
and splashing through the water after one
another, and causing great commotion in
the ranks. Some will stand up on end,
the treading feet assisting them to main-
tain an upright attitude, without which
the wings could not be fanned and dried
clear of the water. ... A large company
of Wigeon feeding in earnest are often-
times the most silent ; though when in
shot, or nearly so, you may discern the
low croaking purr of satisfaction emitted
by the hen, the soft quiet whistle of the
cock, and the rippling bills as they shovel
greedily along the ooze. Duck and
Wigeon, when they get the chance, are
as fond of feeding by day as by night.
It is an error to suppose that it is invariably
after dark the latter seek their food ; they
prefer night, because they are then safer
from disturbance in most places ; but when
left alone in spots where food abounds,
they will feed with avidity during the day."

The True Ducks. 217

Mr. Monement, as quoted by Mr.
Stevenson in his " Birds of Norfolk,"
informs us that in foggy weather and rain
Wigeon are restless and silent at night,
but when the weather is bright and frosty
they are usually noisy and more or less
unsuspecting. As with Wild Duck, the
female of the Wigeon is a more expert
diver when wounded than the male,
although the superiority is not so marked.
He found the Wigeon's sense of smell
to be less acute than that of the Wild
Duck or Teal, but it is nevertheless
unsafe for the gunner to go directly to
windward of them, unless at a considerable
distance.

The Wigeon breeds about June, con-
structing its nest in the long grass and
rushes growing on the margin of a lake
or pond. The nest is deep, made of
vegetable matter, and well lined with
down. This latter is sooty brown in
colour with white centres. The eggs vary
in number from seven to twelve. They
are of a very pale buff or cream-colour.
They are seldom perfectly elliptical, one
end being rather markedly more pointed
than the other. They measure from 1*9
to 2*3 in length and from 1*3 to r6 in
breadth, from which measurements it will

218 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

be seen that they are very variable in size
and shape.

The plumage of the Wigeon varies
considerably according to age and season.
The following descriptions are taken from
good representative specimens. The fully
adult male has the forehead and crown
creamy buff. The remainder of the head
and the upper neck are chestnut, more
or less spotted, rather minutely, with
black. The chin and throat are dusky.
The mantle, the back, and the scapulars
are grey, vermiculated with black. The
rump and the upper tail-coverts are more
delicately vermiculated, and the middle
of the rump is almost plain grey. The
longer upper tail -coverts are black with
whitish inner margins. The middle pair
of tail-feathers is plain brown ; the others
ashy, margined with whitish. The upper
part of the breast and the sides of
the breast are a delicate vinous, tinged
with grey, the portion immediately next
the chestnut neck vermiculated with
black, like the < mantle. The lower part
of the breast and the whole abdomen
are pure white ; the sides of the body
vermiculated with black and grey ; the
sides of the rump white ; the under tail-
coverts black. The under wing-coverts

The True Ducks. 219

are ashy grey ; the axillaries white, more
or less mottled with brown. The lesser
upper wing-coverts, round the edge of the
wing, are grey, very finely vermiculated ;
the remaining upper coverts pure white,
the lower series tipped with black. The
outer web and the tip of the inner web
of the primaries are brown ; the remaining
portion of the inner web is a pale drab.
The outer secondaries are brown on the
inner web. Their outer web is deep black,
with the basal portion bright metallic
green, the amount of green increasing on
each feather progressively. The first
inner secondary, the one next the specu-
lum, has the outer web almost entirely
white with a black margin. The remaining
secondaries are black margined with white
on the outer web, brown on the inner web.
Younger males resemble the old male,
but have the whole head chestnut, spotted
with black. Others have the buff fore-
head and crown of the old male, but the
brown upper wing-coverts of the female.
The head and the upper wing-coverts
appear liable to great variation, and are
the very last portions of the plumage to
be permanently changed. Males probably
take three years before they acquire their
perfect plumage.

22O Manual of the Game Birds of India.

According to Seebohm, adult males
in moulting-plumage (or, as I should term
it, in post-nuptial plumage) "are more
brilliantly coloured than usual, the prin-
cipal difference being that the black and
white vermiculated upper parts are changed
to dark brown barred with chestnut and
buffish white, which is also the colour of
the upper breast, whilst the flanks are
nearly uniform chestnut."

According to Mr. De Winton, as quoted
by Dr. Sharpe, " After the breeding season
both males and females assume a very
distinct summer dress of reddish brown,
though the female is not quite so rufous.
In the male, all traces of the beautiful
breeding-dress disappear."

Mr. Howard Saunders, in his revision
of Yarrell's " British Birds," quoting Mr.
Cecil Smith, says : " The adult male
birds undergo considerable change in their
appearance towards the end of June, or the
beginning of July ; at which time the head,
neck, breast and flanks become a rich
rusty-red, but always so much brighter
than the browner tints of the female, that
the sexes may easily be distinguished."

Dr. Blanford writes : — " After the breed-
ing season the male moults into a dress
much resembling the female, except that

The True Ducks.

the head and neck are dull chestnut
spotted with black, without the buff
patch ; upper breast and flanks dull
ferruginous."

As I have not been able to examine
any specimen of a Wigeon which could
be satisfactorily determined as being a
male in post-nuptial plumage, I am unable
to throw any further light on the matter
from my own investigations.

The adult female, in newly-moulted
plumage, has the forehead and crown
brown barred with fulvous. The sides
of the head, the chin, throat, and the
whole neck are fulvous, spotted and
streaked with brown. The whole upper
plumage and the scapulars are brown,
each feather margined with fulvous or
pale rufous. The tail-feathers are brown,
narrowly margined with whitish. The
whole breast and the sides of the body
are rather bright fulvous, all the feathers
with paler edges. The lower plumage is
white, the under tail-coverts with large
brown central streaks. The axillaries are
white, very thickly mottled with brown.
The under wing-coverts are mottled ashy
brown. The upper wing-coverts are
brown, margined with white, the lower-
most row whitish tipped with black. The

222 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

primaries resemble those of the male.
The outer secondaries are ashy brown,
gradually turning to black, the whole of
them tipped with white, and the innermost
two or three black secondaries with a
small patch of metallic green near the
base. The secondary following the black
ones is nearly entirely white on the outer
web. The remaining secondaries are
brown, edged with fulvous.

The plumage of the females is subject
to variation caused by the wearing away
of the margins of the feathers and a
general fading of the plumage. In females
which are not quite adult there is no
trace whatever of metallic green on the
wing, and the outer secondaries are never
black. At all ages, however, there will
always be found the single inner secondary
with the white outer web.

The sexes do not differ much in size,
but the male is generally a heavier bird
than the female. Length about 19 ; wing
about 10 ; tail 4 to 4^. The bill is bluish
with a black tip ; the irides are brown ;
the legs and feet greyish brown. Weight
up to about 1 1 Ib.

109. THE PIN-TAIL.

Dafila acutd) (LINNAEUS).

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;
inner web drab, with a blackish tip.

Axillaries white, mottled or barred with
brown.

Wing over nine inches in length.

Speculum green or bronze with a
cinnamon bar above it ; or simply
mottled brown, between two narrow
white bands ; in either case followed
by a quill, the outer web of which
is white.

Bill distinctly wider near the tip than
at the base.

MALE: — Speculum brilliant; under tail-
coverts black; a band of white on the
side of the neck; middle tail-feathers
lengthened.

FEMALE : — Speculum brown ; under tail-
coverts marked with brown ; middle
tail-feathers not lengthened.

VERNACULAR NAMES -.—Sank, Sinkpar,
Hind. ; Kokarali, Drighusk>y Sind. ;
223

224 Manual of the Game Birds of India

Digoonch, Nepal ; Dighons, Sholoncho,
Bengal ; Laitunga, Manipur ; Tau-bay,
Burm.

THE Pin-tail occurs, as a winter visitor,
in every portion of the Indian Empire
from Kashmir and the Punjab to Assam,
and thence to the extreme southern point
of India and Ceylon on the one hand,
and to Burma, at least as far as the
latitude of Moulmein, on the other. On
the east, Lieut. J. H. Whitehead informs
me, it extends to Kengtung in the Shan
States, where he has shot it.

The Pin-tail has a very wide range,
being found throughout the greater part
of the Northern Hemisphere. In summer
it is a circumpolar bird, breeding between
the 6oth and yoth degrees of north lati-
tude and occasionally farther south. In
the winter it is found as low down as
Central America, Northern Africa, Asia
Minor, Persia, India, Burma and China.

The Pin-tail commences to arrive in
Kashmir and the Himalayas as early as
the end of September, but it does not
become generally common in the plains
till November. It commences its return
journey to the north in March, a few birds
remaining till the beginning of April.

The True Ducks. 225

The Pin-tail is a sociable bird and
assembles in large flocks, but it is some-
what capricious in its choice of localities.
Usually it is met with on large sheets of
water or tanks on which there is a mixture
of clear water and islands of floating weeds.
It also frequents the sea-coast. It does
not appear to be found on the large rivers
in any quantities. Pin-tails feed a good
deal at night, and they then betake them-
selves to shallow swamps and even to
rice-fields. The Pin-tail is very shy, and its
flight is extremely rapid. When once dis-
turbed it seldom returns to the same piece
of water until some hours have passed.
It is one of the best Ducks for the table.

Mr. Hume brings to notice an in-
teresting fact about these Ducks. He
says : — " It is worth noting, because it
is a peculiarity almost confined to this
species, that during the cold season
one continually comes across large flocks
consisting entirely of males. I cannot
say that I ever noticed similar flocks of
females, but this may be because the
females do not attract the eye similarly,
and are not equally readily discriminated
at any distance, but ' bull-picnics ' I have
noted, times without number, as a speciality
of the Pin-tail."

VOL. II. 15

226 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

This curious habit is corroborated by
Mr. G. T. Booth in his " Rough Notes."
He writes : — " I never noticed large mixed
bodies of males and females, seldom more
than ten or a dozen being in company
when both sexes were represented, though
thirty, forty, or even fifty drakes were
often met with by themselves."

Mr. Hume further observes : — " The
Pin-tail, when undisturbed, is a silent
bird by day, and rarely utters any sound,
even when feeding, though I have, when
lying up pretty close to them, heard a
little low chatteration going on, more
like the low clucking of hens than any-
thing else. But when alarmed by day,
and pretty constantly by night, they
utter their peculiar soft quack, — such a
note as one might expect a Mallard, not
quite sure whether he meant to speak or
not, to emit — quite different from the
sharp quack of the Gadwall, softer and
less strident than that of the Mallard,
but still not at all feeble, on the contrary
audible at a great distance."

Montagu describes the notes of the Pin-
tail as being " extremely soft and inward ;
the courting note is always attended with
a jerk of the head; the other greatly
resembles that of a very young kitten,

The True Ducks. 227

In the spring the male indicates his softer
passions by suddenly raising his body
upright in the water, and bringing his
bill close to his breast, uttering at the
same time a soft note. This gesticula-
tion is frequently followed by a singular
jerk of the hinder part of the body,
which in turn is thrown up above the
water."

Mr. Seebohm thus describes the habits
of this Duck : — " The long neck and long
pointed tail give to the Pin-tail a some-
what more slender appearance than that
of most of its kind. It belongs to the
fresh-water group of Ducks, breeding in
the midst of moors, lakes, rivers, and
swamps ; but on migration and in winter
spending most of its time on the sea-
shore, to feed on the mud-flats at low
tide. It is one of the earliest Ducks to
arrive in spring, and one of the latest
to leave in autumn. ... In" its habits
it most closely resembles the Mallard,
feeding, like the other fresh-water Ducks,
on insects and mollusks, and partly on
the ends of grass and the buds of water-
plants ; but, like the Mallard, it frequents
the stubble-fields in autumn to pick up
the fallen grain. Its voice closely re-
sembles that of the Mallard and Shoveller,

228 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

but on the whole it is a silent bird. This
may be accounted for by its extreme
wariness; it takes such great care to
avoid danger, that its alarm-note of quaak
is not often required. Its call-note is
a low kah \ and Naumann says that, in
the pairing-season, the male may be seen
swimming round the female uttering a
deep cluk) which, if the observer be
fortunate enough to be sufficiently near
to hear it, is preceded by a sound like
the drawing in of the breath, and followed
by a low grating note."

Writing of his experiences in Siberia
he goes on to say : — " Early the next
morning the sight that presented itself
to our view was a most interesting one.
As far as we could see, the strip of open
water on each side of the ice in the
Zylma was black with Ducks, and over-
head Ducks were flying about in every
direction like a swarm of bees. To
estimate the number at half a million
would probably be to guess under the
mark. They were almost all of them
Pin-tails, but many Teal and Wigeon were
among them. In spite of their enormous
numbers they were wild enough. We
had no difficulty in watching them through
our glasses so as to identify the species ;

The True Ducks. 229

but when it came to getting within shot,
we found the only way was to conceal
ourselves behind a willow-stump and
take them as they flew over. After
the weary waiting for summer to come,
with comparatively few birds to watch
except the flocks of Snow-Buntings,
Shore-Larks, and Lapland Buntings, it
was most exciting to find ourselves in the
midst of such abundance of bird-life. . . .
As soon as the snow had melted, the
Ducks, or those of them which remained,
began to breed. The nests of the Pin-tail
were placed in the grass among the shrubs
in dry places, generally at some distance
from the water; they were deep, and
well lined with dead grass and sedge, and,
when the full clutch was laid, contained
plenty of down. We took the first eggs
on the 5th June."

The eggs of the Pin-tail are seven to
ten in number, and they are of a dull
green or greenish buff colour. Some eggs
are perfectly elliptical, others slightly
pointed at one end. They vary from
2 to 2*25 in length, and from 1*5 to r6
in breadth. The down is dark brown with
a white centre.

The adult male has the whole head
and the foreneck rich brown, the feathers

230 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

of the crown with dark centres, those of
the other parts more or less minutely
mottled. The hindneck is blackish,
bordered in front and at the sides by a
white band. The sides of the lower part
of the neck, the breast, and the upper
part of the abdomen are usually pure
white, but these parts are frequently
tinged with ferruginous. The lower part
of the abdomen is minutely vermiculated
with brown. The sides of the body are
beautifully vermiculated with black and
pale buff, the lower feathers very much
lengthened ; a large patch on each flank
is yellowish buff. The under tail-coverts
are black, some of the lateral feathers
margined with buff. The axillaries are
white, mottled with brown; the under
wing- coverts ashy brown with narrow
whitish margins. The mantle, the back,
and the upper scapulars are vermiculated
with black and buff. The outer scapulars
are chiefly black, forming a large patch
of this colour. The long, pointed scapu-
lars are chiefly black, variegated with long
lines of buff. The rump is dark brown,
irregularly vermiculated and mottled with
buff. The upper tail-coverts are blackish
on the outer, pale buff on the inner,
web. The middle tail-feathers are black;

The True Ducks. 231

the others are brownish on the outer,
drab or pale buff on the inner, web.
The upper wing-coverts are dark grey, the
lower series broadly tipped with cinnamon.
The primaries are dark brown on the
outer web and tip of the inner ; light drab
on the inner web. The outer secondaries
are changeable metallic green or bronze,
tipped with a double band, the upper
portion of which is black, and the terminal
portion white, frequently tinged with
cinnamon. The secondary next to the
quills composing the speculum is black,
with a pale buff band next the shaft. The
inner, long secondaries are black, with
a broad drab margin.

In post-nuptial plumage, the drake
resembles the female very closely, but
he retains the full speculum of the winter
plumage.

The adult female has the forehead and
crown reddish brown, streaked with black.
The remainder of the head and the whole
of the neck is pale fulvous with numerous
small black streaks. The whole lower
plumage is greyish white, each feather
with an ill-defined dark centre. The
sides of the body and the under tail-
coverts are marked with crescentic lines
of brown and white, parallel to the margin

232 Manual of the Game Birds of India,

of the feathers. The axillaries are white,
coarsely barred with brown. The under
wing-coverts are brown, margined with
white. The mantle, the back and the
scapulars are dark brown or black, barred
with undulating or curved bands of ful-
vous. The rump and upper tail-coverts
are black, each feather margined with
pale fulvous or fulvous white at the
sides, but not at the extreme tip. The
tail-feathers are dark brown, diagonally
barred with fulvous and edged paler. The
upper wing-coverts are blackish, narrowly
margined with pale fulvous, the lower
series conspicuously tipped with white,
the tips forming a band. The primaries
are dark brown on the outer web and the
tip of the inner, light drab on the inner
web. The outer secondaries are mottled
black and brown, with some admixture of
fulvous, and broadly tipped with white.
The inner, long secondaries are brown,
margined with fulvous.

Young birds, of both sexes, moult into
the plumage of the adult female, and the
young males ^soon commence to show
signs of the adult male plumage.

Male : length about 25 ; wing about 11 ;
tail 7|. Female: length about 21 ; wing
about 9^ ; tail 45. In the male, the bill

The True Ducks. 233

is black with the sides of the upper man-
dible blue ; in the female, the bill is greyish
black above, reddish brown beneath. The
irides are brown ; the legs and feet are
greyish plumbeous, blackish on the central
portion of the webs. Weight up to 2| Ib.

110. THE GADWALL.

Chaulelasmus streperus, (LINNAEUS).

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;
inner web drab, with a blackish tip.

Axillaries pure white.

Speculum brown turning to black, and
followed by several quills, the outer
webs of which are white. Most of
the wing-coverts of the greater series
black, forming a large patch above
the speculum.

Bill of uniform width throughout.

MALE : Under tail-coverts black.
FEMALE : Under tail-coverts fulvous,
marked with brown.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Mila, Bhuar,
Beykhur, Hind. ; Burd, Sind. ; Mail,
Nepal ; Peeing-hans, Bengal.

THE Gadwall has been observed, as a
winter visitor, in most parts of the penin-
sula of India, from the Himalayas down
to Mysore. South of this, and in Ceylon,
it has not yet been met with. It ascends
the Himalayas up to 5000 or 6000 feet,
234

The True Ducks. 235

This Duck extends through Bengal and
Assam, and has been obtained in Tipperah,
Sylhet, Manipur and Arrakan. Captain
F. T. Williams informs me that it occurs
on the Chindwin river. Captain T. S.
Johnson found it common near Mandalay,
and Major G. Rippon writes to me that,
in his opinion, this is the commonest duck
in Upper Burma, Teal alone excepted. I
have not heard of its occurrence south of
the Mandalay District.

The Gadwall, like many other species
of the True Ducks, has a very wide dis-
tribution, but does not reach quite so far
north in summer, being found up to the
Arctic Circle, but, as far as we know,
never within it. It occurs alike in
North America, Europe and Asia. In
the winter it ranges south to Mexico, to
Northern Africa, South-western Asia,
India, Burma and China.

Gadwalls may be seen in the Himalayas
towards the end of September, but they
are not fully established in the plains till
the end of October or the beginning of
November. They return north in March
and April, and they are sometimes still to
be met with early in May in the North-
West.

Writing in the "Game Birds," Mr,

236 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Hume thus describes the habits of the
Gadwall : — "They are, I think, essentially
fresh-water birds (I have never seen them
really on the sea-coast), but having secured
fresh water, they do not seem to have
much preference as to locality, and you
find them equally in the largest rivers and
the smallest hill-streams, in huge lakes
and small ponds, in open water (as at the
Sambhur lake) where not a reed or rush
is to be seen, and in tangled swamps,
where there is barely clear water enough
to float a walnut.

" In rivers and in small pieces of water,
the Gadwall commonly occurs in small
parties of from three to a dozen, but in
large lakes I have seen them in flocks of
several hundreds.

" On rivers they are generally to be
seen snoozing on the bank during the
day, and then they commonly leave these
towards sunset for feeding-grounds inland.
In broads they keep, if at all disturbed,
well out of gunshot towards the centre,
sometimes in clear water, more often
skulking in low water-weeds ; but in un-
frequented places they may, even during
the day-time, be found walking on the
shore or paddling in the shallows round
the edges of the tank, feeding busily with

The True Ducks. 237

their tail-ends bolt upright, and the rest
of them hidden by the water.

"They swim more lightly and they fly
far more easily and rapidly than the Grey
Duck or the Mallard. But like the former
they spring up with one bound from
land and water, at a rather sharp angle,
and usually rise thus for twenty yards
before sweeping off in a horizontal course.
Their wings are long and pointed, and
make in passing through the air a peculiar
whistling sound similar to, though louder
than, that made by the Common Teal, by
which they may be recognised as they
pass overhead in flight shooting."

With reference to Mr. Hume's remark
that the Gadwall is essentially a fresh-
water species, Mr. J. D. Inverarity writes
in " Stray Feathers " : — " I have frequently
seen them in salt creeks on the other side
of the Bombay Harbour, and I shot one
out of a very large flock in a salt-water
creek close to the tank where I got the
Scaup on the same day."

Mr. Hume continues : — " The quack of
the Gadwall is very much like that of the
Mallard, but weaker and sharper, and
more often uttered. They are more
talkative birds than either the Grey or
Common Wild Duck, and when feeding

238 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

in undisturbed localities keep up a per-
petual chatteration, not unlike that in
which the Mallard occasionally indulges,
but shriller, feebler, and far more incessant.

" On land it walks extremely well, far
more gracefully than do the Mallard or
Grey Duck, and may often be seen trotting
about on tiny smooth grass patches at
the margins of broads, busily devouring
grasshoppers, crickets, and (strange though
it may seem, it is the fact) small moths
and butterflies.

"When wounded and pursued, they
dive easily, but are much more easily
tired out and captured than the Grey
Duck, or a fortiori any of the Pochards."

Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker remarks regard-
ing this Duck : —

f ' Surgeon-Captain Woods says that even
in Manipur they leave about the end of
March,

" An interesting fact noted by this close
observer is that many, perhaps the majority,
of these ducks pair off before leaving their
winter quarters. He says most of them
pair off in March, but that he has noticed
some pairing as early as February. No
one seems to have noticed these birds
arriving at their breeding-grounds in pairs,
so it is to be presumed that, their pre-

The I rue Ducks. 239

liminary courtship completed, the pairs
reassemble in flocks which remain together
until they reach their nesting haunts.

"The Gadwall ranks very high up in
the table of duck precedence. There are
so many good points about it which attract
favourable notice. As an article of diet
few ducks are better. Some people would
give the prize in this respect to the Mallard,
others perhaps to the Pintail, but take the
Gadwall all round it is hard to beat on
the table. Personally I have never known
the- duck to have a fishy or other un-
pleasant flavour, nor have I met any
Bengal sportsman who has charged it
with this crime. But the northern presi-
dencies have held men who have com-
plained of this flavour when they first
arrive. They ought to be all right, as
they are almost entirely vegetable feeders,
subsisting much on wild and cultivated
rice, water-weeds, etc., and seldom vary-
ing the diet with animal food. A drake
shot in Silchar was found to contain a
mass of small white worms in addition to
some water berries and half ripe rice, but
this in no way affected the flesh.

" Before cooking, however, he has to
be shot, and though not as a rule a very
shy bird, yet he is quite wide awake

240 Manual of the Game Birds of India,

enough to make the getting within shot
of him an interesting, if not difficult job.
Where, too, he has been much shot at,
one's ingenuity and perseverance will be
required before the game-bag can be
made to assume the bulgy appearance it
ought. Then, when you have got within
shot, the Gad wall proves a thoroughly
sporting bird : he is quick off the water,
rising rather straight up into the air, and
getting very soon well under way, and in
full flight the Gadwall is even faster than
the Mallard and, as many writers have
observed, reminds one much of Teal
in the manner of flying and the swish-
swish of the wings as the flock hurtles
overhead, leaving, let us hope, two birds
in response to the right and left with
which it has been greeted."

The Gadwall breeds throughout a con-
siderable portion of Europe and in other
temperate parts of the world. Regarding
its nidification Mr. Seebohm says : — " The
nest of the Gadwall is placed under some
convenient bush, or beneath the shelter
of a tuft of coarse grass or rushes, at no
great distance from the water's edge. In
rare instances it is made at some consider-
able distance from water. The nest is a
mere depression in the ground, probably

The True Ducks. 241

scratched out by the female, and lined
with a little dry grass, bits of reed or rush,
and, in some cases, with a few dead leaves.
The eggs of the Gadwall are laid in May,
frequently not before the end of the
month."

Mr. Stevenson tells us :— " I have never
seen the nest of a Gadwall far from the
water ; it is generally placed either in a
very boggy spot, or in a tussock of sedge,
by which it is raised above the shallow
water itself. In such situations it is con-
structed of dead grass or sedges, and very
sparingly lined with down. The usual
complement of eggs seems to be from ten
to thirteen."

The eggs of the Gadwall appear to be
cream-coloured when freshly laid, but, judg-
ing from a number of eggs of this species
in the British Museum, they are often of
a decidedly greenish tint : whether this is
the original colour of some eggs, or im-
parted to the shell by incubation, it is
difficult to say. They are slightly more
pointed at one end than at the other,
but many eggs are quite elliptical. They
measure from 1*9 to 2 '2 in length, and
from i '4 to 1*55 in breadth. The down
is dark brown with pale centres.

The adult male has the crown and the

VOL. II. 1 6

242 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

hinder part of the head brown, the feathers
with very narrow fulvous margins. The
remaining parts of the head, with the fore-
head and the whole neck, are whitish or pale
fulvous, closely streaked with dark brown.
Each feather of the upper breast and of
the sides of the breast is black, with
several narrow, concentric, white bars.
The feathers of the middle of the lower
breast are white, with one or two broad,
black bands. The upper part of the
abdomen is white ; the lower, white with
narrow brown undulating cross-bars. The
sides of the body are very distinctly barred
with brown and pale fulvous. The axil-
laries and under wing-coverts are pure
white. The under tail-coverts are deep
black. The mantle, the back and the
outer scapulars are vermiculated with
white or pale fulvous on a dark brown
ground. The inner scapulars are brown
with fulvous margins. The rump and the
upper tail-coverts are black. The tail-
feathers are ashy brown, the exterior ones
much mottled with white and fulvous.
The primaries are drab on the inner web,
the outer web and the tip of the inner
being brown. The first four secondaries
are brown tipped with white ; the next
four are black on the outer web and tipped

The True Ducks. 243

with white; the next four are white on
the outer web, forming a large patch.
The inner pointed secondaries are ashy.
The first series of upper wing-coverts is
ashy, marked with brown ; the middle
series is chestnut ; and the third or lowest
series has the inner two-thirds black, the
outer third grey.

According to Dr. Bowdler Sharpe " the
Gadwall drake, like the Mallard, assumes
a sort of female plumage after the breed-
ing season. The male then resembles the
female, but is darker, as is the case with
the other Ducks which assume the female
coloration. The black rump, which is so
characteristic of the adult Gadwall, dis-
appears, as do the distinctive markings of
the wing, and the male in the hen-like
plumage can scarcely be told from the
female. Mr. De Winton says that the
summer dress is not so distinctive as in
some of the other Ducks, as the male does
not lose his speckled breast, or all the
vermiculated feathers of the body, or the
black under tail-coverts. The bill has
much more yellow on it, and it is more
like that of the hen, while the feet are
dull orange with sooty webs."

The adult female has the crown and
back of the head streaked with black

2'44 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

and fulvous. The remainder of the head
and the whole neck is fulvous, streaked
with black. The whole breast, the sides
of the body, and the under tail-coverts
are fulvous with large brown spots and
streaks. The abdomen is white. The
a>illaries and the under wing-coverts are
pure white. The mantle, back, upper
tail-coverts and scapulars are black,
the feathers with broad bright fulvous
margins and concealed diagonal bars.
The rump is black, irregularly barred
with fulvous. The tail is brown, tipped
paler and with diagonal fulvous bars.
The first or upper series of wing-coverts
is brown with whitish margins. The
second or middle series is similar, but
intermixed with a few chestnut feathers.
The third or lower series is ashy on its
outer half, black on its inner half. The
primaries resemble those of the male.
The first seven or eight secondaries
are brown, progressively turning darker
or blackish as they approach the body,
and tipped with white; the next two or
three secondaries are white on the outer
web, forming a large patch. The inner,
long secondaries are brown, narrowly
margined with whitish.

Young birds in their first plumage very

The True Ducks. 245

closely resemble the adult female, but
they have the whole lower plumage
densely spotted or streaked. A smaller
area of the lower series of the upper
wing-coverts is black, but there is always
enough black to make a patch and catch
the eye. The white patch on the second-
aries is always present.

Male: length about 20; wing 10^; tail
3|. Female: length 19; wing Q| ; tail
35. In the male the bill is black ; in the
female the bill is orange-brown, variegated
with black. The irides are brown. The
legs are yellow or orange, with the webs
black. Weight up to a little more than 2 Ib.

111. THE SHOVELLER.

Spatula clypeata^ (LINNAEUS).

Outer web of the primaries blackish;

inner web drab, with a blackish tip.
Axillaries pure white.
Upper wing-coverts blue, separated from

the green speculum by a white band.
Bill twice as broad near the tip as at

the base.

MALE : Head and under tail-coverts black

FEMALE : Head and under tail-coverts
fulvous, streaked with brown.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Tidari, Punana,
Tokurwalla, Ghirah, Hind. ; Alipat,
Sind ; Dhobaha Sankhar (male), Khi-
keria Sankhar (female), Nepal ; Punta-
mookhi, Bengal.

THE Shoveller occurs in the winter months
throughout the peninsula of India from
Kashmir and the Himalayas down to the
extreme south, and in Ceylon. It has not
yet been procured in the Andamans or
Nicobars. It is found in Assam, and it
246

The True Ducks. 247

has been recorded from Sylhet, Cachar and
Manipur. Dr. Anderson obtained it at
Bhamo and on the Taping River. Captain
F. T. Williams informs me that it occurs
on the Chindwin. It is common near
Mandalay, for Captain T. S. Johnson
counted thirty-five ducks of this species
in a total bag of 562 ducks shot near that
town at Christmas. I procured a speci-
men of this Duck at Fort Stedman, and
Major G. Rippon writes to me that it
is fairly common in the Southern Shan
States. The Shoveller probably occurs
much farther south, but personally I did
not meet with it in Pegu, nor has it been
recorded from Tenasserim.

The Shoveller is a very widely distri
buted Duck, being found throughout the
northern hemisphere in summer, up to
nearly the yoth degree of north latitude ;
and in winter, south to Mexico and the
West Indies, over a large portion of
Northern Africa, in Arabia, Persia, India,
and Southern China.

The Shoveller arrives in the plains of
India and Burma during October, and
has generally left by the end of April.
It is probable that, as suggested by
Adams, some of these birds may remain
to breed in Kashmir.

248 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

The Shoveller, however common it
may be, is generally found in small parties,
keeping to themselves, and not joining
in the movements of the neighbouring
parties. It is particularly tame and con-
fiding, and is not easily driven away from
its favourite haunts. It frequents pieces
of water of all sizes, less frequently the
banks of rivers, and seldom or never
the sea-coast. It is generally found on
shallow water and near the banks, for,
as may be judged from the shape of its
bill, it is essentially a sifter of mud. In
India, it is decidedly a coarse feeder, and
is often found in filthy water. Its flesh is
consequently of very inferior quality. In
England, however, Mr. Stevenson tells us
that the flesh is excellent, and only inferior
eating when killed out of season or in
brackish marshes. Shovellers do not fly
so swiftly as many of the True Ducks ;
they swim slowly, and they seldom dive.
Wounded birds are very tenacious of
life, and give much trouble before they
are captured. Mr. E. T. Booth in his
" Rough Notes " records an instance of a
Shoveller having its skull fractured and
a portion of the brain protruding, but,
nevertheless, recovering in the course of
a few weeks. This Duck appears to

The True Ducks. 249

differ from other species in its mode of
feeding, being seldom or never seen with
the front part of its body immersed and
the hinder part stuck up out of the water.

Mr. Cordeaux thus describes a peculiar
habit of the Shoveller :— " These Ducks,
I am told by those who have had the
opportunities of watching them, have a
curious habit of swimming round and
round each other in circles, with the head
and neck depressed to the surface of the
water; this they will do for hours to-
gether." This, according to Mr. Alfred
Newton, as quoted by Mr. Stevenson, is
no amatory action, but for the object of
procuring food, as a pair, when feeding,
"get opposite to one another, and swim
round in a circle, holding their heads
towards its centre, and their bills plunged
into the water perpendicularly and up
to the base, while their mandibles are
employed in ' bibbling,' to use a Norfolk
term. They will swim in this way for
ten minutes together, always preserving
their relative position on the circumfer-
ence of the circle they are describing;
then after a pause, and perhaps a slight
removal of a yard or two, they will resume
their occupation."

Mr. Seebohm has the following note

250 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

on the flight and voice of this species : —
"The flight of the Shoveller is not
quite so rapid as that of some other
Ducks, but the pinions are moved rapidly
and very audibly even at some distance.
It is not otherwise a very noisy bird.
The duck quacks not unlike the domestic
species ; the voice of the drake is a little
deeper ; if we represent the former as
yuaak, the latter might be represented
as quauk. On the wing the note is a
guttural puck puck"

Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey has the follow-
ing interesting note in his " Fowler in
Ireland " :—

" They swim in bunches of from seven
or eight to fifteen — that being the number
I have usually seen together, seldom more
— and are very easy to approach. In
calm water they may be noticed paddling
lazily forward as though asleep, their
heavy-looking bills rippling along the sur-
face as if in the act of drinking. Perhaps
when at rest the head is overbalanced by
the unusual weight attached, and it may
be an exertion for the bird to keep its bill
in a constantly horizontal position. They
fly well; not so boldly perhaps as other
ducks, but not so low as the divers. I have
more than once seen these birds suck up

The True Ducks. 251

the falling rain with their spoon-shaped
bills as it, for the moment, lay on their
somewhat cup-shaped backs. I never
remarked this habit in other species of
duck. Shovellers are poor divers when
wounded. The feet are peculiarly small,
and give but weak propelling power to the
body. The foot of a Shoveller is smaller
in proportion to its body than that of any
of the true ducks. The larger the foot in
the duck tribe the better they can dive.
. . . When feeding the bird swims swiftly
along the water, skimming the surface
with its broad bill, quickly opening and
closing it, and causing a loud rippling
noise that may be heard many paces
distant."

Mr. Seebohm, writing of the nesting
habits of this species, says : —

" The Shoveller is a somewhat late
breeder ; eggs are seldom found in this
country before the middle of May, and
in high latitudes not until the middle of
June. During pairing-time the males may
constantly be seen chasing the females,
and until the female begins to sit she is
generally followed by several males every
time she leaves her nest ; but the Shoveller
cannot be regarded as a polyandrous bird
like the Cuckoo. Each female appears to

252 Manual of the Game Birds of India,

have a male specially attached to herself,
who waits upon her, and does not venture
to rise from the water until she takes wing,
but is not allowed to interfere in the selec-
tion of a site for the nest, or in the im-
portant operation of building it, or, after
the eggs are hatched, in the care of the
young. The nest is generally placed in
the open, well concealed in long grass or
heath, and is not very skilfully made.
The depression in which it is placed, if
deep, is only slenderly lined with dead
grass or sedge ; but, if shallow, a consider-
able amount of material is collected to
give the nest the required depth. When
the female leaves her eggs after she has
begun to sit, she carefully covers them
with down, Seven to nine is the usual
number of eggs, but occasionally clutches
are found as large as ten to fourteen.
Only one brood is reared in the year ;
but if the first nest be robbed before in-
cubation has proceeded very far, a second
nest is made, but seldom more than five
or six eggs are laid in it."

The eggs of the Shoveller are nearly

elliptical in shape, one end being very

• slightly more pointed than the other. In

colour they are a pale greenish grey, and

they measure from r8 to 2 '2 in length

The True Ducks. 253

and from 1*4 to 1*6 in breadth. The
shell is very smooth and has a little
gloss. The down has pale centres and
very minute white tips, the general colour
being a very dark brown.

The adult male has the forehead and
crown black, with a slight gloss. With
this exception, the whole head and neck
are black with a brilliant green or purple
gloss, less marked on the throat than
elsewhere. A brown band passes down
the middle of the mantle from the hind-
neck to the back. The remainder of the
mantle, the sides of the breast, and the
upper portion of the breast are pure white.
The lower portion of the breast and the
whole abdomen are deep vinous chestnut,
somewhat paler on the sides of the body,
where the feathers are vermiculated with
very narrow black lines, becoming broader
on the flanks. There is a large patch of
white on each side of the base of the tail.
The under tail-coverts are black, the base
vermiculated with white. The axillaries
are pure white. The under wing-coverts
are mostly white. The back is black,
the feathers margined with pale fulvous.
The shorter scapulars are white outside,
black inside. The longer, inner scapulars
are black, each feather with a white streak

254 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

near the tip. The longer, outer scapulars
are blue on the outer web, partly black
and partly white on the inner. The rump
and upper tail-coverts are deep black.
The two middle tail-feathers are dark
brown ; the others white, with some
brown along the shaft. The primaries
are drab on the inner web, with a black
tip; entirely dark brown on the outer
web; the shafts white. The first two
secondaries are black; the other outer
secondaries are metallic green on the
outer, black on the inner, web. The
inner secondaries are black, all but the
innermost, with a white streak at the tip.
The upper wing-coverts are blue, the
lower series broadly tipped with white,
forming a band above the speculum.

Younger males have the white scapulars
vermiculated and margined with brown,
and many of the white feathers of the
mantle mottled with brown.

Males approaching maturity have the
forehead and crown black, but otherwise
the head and the neck resemble the same
parts in the female. The mantle is entirely
brown ; and the white sides of the breast
are variegated with black and fulvous bars.
The sides of the body are coarsely barred,
not finely vermiculated, with .black. In

The True Ducks. 255

other respects these males resemble the
adult males.

A male, evidently in the post-nuptial
plumage, killed in October, resembles the
female, but may be recognised at once
by the pure blue of the upper wing-coverts,
none of the feathers being margined with
fulvous, as in the female ; and by the
plain black rump and upper tail-coverts.

The adult female has the forehead and
crown dark brown, streaked with fulvous.
The remainder of the head and the whole
neck are fulvous, streaked with dark brown,
except the throat. The mantle, back,
scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts are
dark brown or blackish, each feather with
a very distinct fulvous margin and an
interior bar, parallel to the margin, of the
same colour. The tail-feathers are brown
with pale margins, and interior fulvous
bars. The whole breast and the sides of
the body are fulvous, each feather with
one or more crescentic black bands. The
abdomen is plain fulvous, with a chestnut
tinge in parts, and the lowermost portion
mottled with brown. The under tail-
coverts are fulvous, streaked with brown.
The axillaries are white, and the under
wing-coverts are nearly entirely so. The
upper wing-coverts are pale blue, each

256 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

feather very narrowly margined with ful-
vous ; the lower series tipped with white.
The primaries resemble those of the male.
Of the outer secondaries, the first four or
five are plain black; the others metallic
green on the outer, black on the inner,
web. The inner, long secondaries are
brown, with a white shaft-streak near the
tip.

The above description refers, I think,
to the old female. Younger females,
instead of having the abdomen plain ful-
vous, have all the feathers of that part
centred with brown. In many females
there are streaks on the throat.

Male : length about 21 ; wing about Q-| ;
tail 3|. Females: length about i8|;
wing 8| ; tail 3. The bill, in males, is
black with a greyish tinge ; in females,
the upper mandible is brown, the lower
dull orange. The irides vary from brown
to yellow and reddish orange. The feet
are red. Weight, up to nearly 2 Ib.

112. THE WILD DUCK.

Anas boscas, LINNAEUS.

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;

inner web drab, with a blackish tip.
Axillaries pure white.
Speculum metallic purple between two

double bands of black and white.
Bill of equal width throughout.

MALE : -Head and neck metallic green or
purple ; under tail-coverts black.

FEMALE :— Head and neck streaked with
black and fulvous ; under tail-coverts
fulvous streaked with brown.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Nilsir, Niroji,
Upper India ; Lilgah, Lilg (male),
Lilgahi, Lilge (female), Nepal.

THE Wild Duck or Mallard is a resident
species in Kashmir and probably in other
parts of the Himalayas. It is a winter
visitor to the plains, being extremely
abundant in the Western Punjab and Sind
and comparatively rare in other parts,
but extending considerably to the south.

257 17

258 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Colonel J. M. Anderson, for instance,
obtained this Duck at Nimar and at
Aurungabad in the Deccan, and Colonel
E. A. Butler observed three, and shot
one, at Habli, about eighteen miles south-
east of Belgaum. Dr. Jerdon recorded it
from Mhow. Mr. Hume has noticed it
twice in the Calcutta market. We may
therefore presume, I think, that the Wild
Duck will be found in winter in suitable
localities throughout the country lying
between the base of the Himalayas and
the latitude of Belgaum.

This Duck is found throughout Assam,
and Mr. Stuart Baker mentions several
places in that province where it has oc-
curred. Mr. F. Finn also records it from
North Luckimpore. Farther south it has
been met with in Sylhet, Cachar and
Manipur. I have been told of its occur-
rence near Bhamo, and Namkhan, and
also near Mandalay. Lieut. J. H. White-
head, a most competent observer, has
lately written to me that he has bagged
the Wild Duck at Kengtung in the eastern
part of the Shan States. We may gather
from the above that this Duck has a con-
siderable range in winter over the Indo-
Burmese countries, but is everywhere a
somewhat rare bird.

The True Ducks. 259

The Wild Duck has a very extensive
distribution in the Northern Hemisphere,
being found everywhere, according to
season, from the Arctic Circle down to the
Tropic of Cancer. Most of these Ducks
no doubt go far north to breed, but where
the conditions are favourable it is often a
permanent resident even far south, as in
Kashmir for instance.

The Mallard arrives in the northern
parts of the plains of India about the
middle of October and leaves again by
the end of March or at latest by the
middle of April. In the eastern part of
the Empire it appears to be met with only
during the coldest months, from December
to February. Near the base of the
Himalayas, birds of this species have been
procured in July and August, and their
breeding-quarters were probably close by.

The habits of the Wild Duck can be
best described by a series of extracts from
the writings of experienced observers who
have had ample opportunities for studying
this bird. And, first, as regards the species
in India, I shall quote from Messrs.
Hume and Marshall's " Game-birds " : —

" In India, even in far north-west and
in Sindh, where many hundreds may be
met with in a day, the Mallard is rarely

260 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

seen in large flocks, and is almost invari-
ably in small knots of three to ten in
number, or, towards the close of the season,
in pairs. In the North-West Provinces
they are usually met with in the larger
jhils and broads, but in the Punjab and
Sind they are equally common on the
larger rivers and inland waters.

"With us they feed chiefly by night,
often changing their ground for this
purpose about dusk, though not with the
regularity observable in the case of wild
fowl at home, while during the day, at any
rate between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., they
are, if undisturbed, almost always asleep.
On our rivers, you find the party pretty
close together, but not huddled into a
lump like some other species, snoozing on
the bank at the water's edge, while in
broads you find them floating motionless
in some secluded nook of pellucid water
screened in by bulrushes and weeds, and
often overhung by tamarisk or other trees.

" Compared with many other species
they are tame and unsuspicious, or, perhaps
I should say, unwary. With the most
ordinary precautions you may always
(where they are not much worried) make
sure of some out of every party that you
meet with."

The True Ducks. 261

Of the habits of the Wild Duck in
England, Seebohm writes : — "The Mallard
is probably the most numerous species
of Duck, and the most gregarious.
Sometimes enormous flocks may be seen
in winter on the coasts, flying low over
the water, especially about sunset, looking
black against the red sky as with rapid
flight they hurry to their feeding-grounds.
These flocks consist principally of migra-
tory Ducks from the cold north, and
Pin-tail and Wigeon are often found con-
sorting with Mallards. The flight of the
latter species is very rapid and powerful,
and each stroke of its wings is distinctly
audible even at some distance. When
disturbed from the water they soon get
fairly on the wing and fly straight away,
slowly wheeling round if necessary, so as
to get up wind ; but as they rise from the
surface the direction of their flight forms
a very small angle at first with the plane
of the water, and this is also the case as
they alight. As they approach the water,
they skim with expanded wings, and drop
feet first perpendicular into it, with de-
pressed tail and fluttering wings. If a
pair of Mallard are on the water the drake
generally waits for the duck to get up
first. They do not dive in search of

262 Manual of the Game Birds of India,

food, but they sometimes do so in play,
and frequently if wounded in the wing,
or if pursued by a Hawk. The Mallard,
in spite of the wonderful intelligence
which it shows in its habits, and in spite
of the excellence of its flesh when brought
to table, is a great glutton. It may
almost be said of this bird that it is
omnivorous and never satisfied. No
kind of animal life which is to be found
in the water comes amiss to it, and few
water-plants are safe from its voracity.
On the banks it eats the juicy ends of
grass and the buds of other weeds. In
early morning, or during the day, after a
shower, it repairs to the pastures to feed
on the worms and slugs, or strays into the
orchards to pick up fallen fruit. In
autumn it enters the forest to devour the
acorns under the oaks, or wanders over
the stubble-fields to pick up the scattered
grain. So eager is it to satisfy its appetite,
that it can scarcely find an opportunity
to roost during the day ; and at night
most of its time is occupied in sifting the
mud on the banks of lakes and streams
or on the sea-shore. To carry on this
process scarcely any light is required ; it
may be heard feeding on very dark nights ;
the selection of the food which remains

The True Ducks. 263

after the mud has been washed away
through the lamellae with which the edges
of its bill are provided must be made
entirely by feeling."

I string together some interesting re-
marks from Mr. Abel Chapman's " Bird-
Life of the Borders " : — " By nature the
Mallard is essentially and absolutely a
night-feeding bird (far more so than the
Wigeon) ; is almost omnivorous in its
taste, but with a partiality for fresh water
if easily accessible ; has a strong inclination
to rest by day, but careless as to whether
it rests ashore or afloat. Well aware of
the danger of remaining inside harbour
by day, the Mallards, with the Wigeon,
take flight from their feeding grounds, as
a rule, before a sign of daylight has
appeared. Their most favoured resorts
for whiling away the hours of daylight
are either (i) on the open sea, opposite
their feeding grounds if smooth, or, other-
wise, some sheltered bay or roadstead
along the coast, possibly several miles
away ; or (2) among the tidal channels
and shallow backwaters, formed by the
tide, in the sand-bars which inclose most
large estuaries, or wildfowl resorts, both
in this and other countries. . . . Consider-
ing the well-known fact that the Mallard

264 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

is certainly one of the wildest and most
watchful birds in existence, one singular
fact has always struck the writer as being
among the most inexplicable features in
wildfowling— namely, the comparative ease
with which these Ducks can often be
approached in broad daylight in a gunning-
punt. . . . Yet, strange to relate, the
Mallards, the finest and most valuable
fowl of them all, despite the experience of
generations, do not yet seem fully to have
learned to recognise the deadly nature of
that low white craft. Time after time I
have ' shoved ' up to within sixty, even
fifty, yards of their still unconscious
flotilla, drifting slowly along on the tide,
all inanimate and apparently asleep,
hardly a head to be seen. Even after
the cruel disappointment of a miss-fire
they have not risen at once. Up go their
necks, full stretch, at the snap of the cap,
and their deep-toned and extremely elo-
quent £ q-u-a-r-k ! q-u-a-r-k ! ' is barely
audible, so gently and suspiciously is the
alarm note sounded, but they do not rise
till one has had almost time to replace the
cap, but not quite."

Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey observes in
"The Fowler in Ireland":— "A mallard
is not such an expert diver when wounded

The True Ducks.

as is the female wild-duck ; and will often
foolishly waddle out on dry land, thus
affording an easy chance to the fowler.
The females, however, are gifted with far
greater powers of deception, and can dive
and hide well. They will creep slily to
the shore, and there lie motionless among
weeds or stones, till all but trodden under-
foot by the searcher. Shore shooters have
tried to convince me that the female wild-
duck, when wounded, will remain under
water, holding by the bill to aquatic plants
or seaweed till drowned. They cannot,
they say, otherwise account for losing
sight of their wounded birds, as they
often do. This idea is a fallacy, and is
to be accounted for by the fact of the
cripple having risen and dived at some
spot towards which their eyes were not at
the moment directed, and so crept away
out of shot, or stolen to shore. Once
near the land, they have the cunning to
remain motionless, with but the bill and
eye above water; at such times every
shelter is taken advantage of, be it only
a lump of floating weed, or tiny creek.
This cunning is of great service to a duck
when with young brood or eggs. At such
times she will glide softly from the nest,
and remain with only the bill above water

266 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

in the neighbouring reeds and aquatic
plants ; or else, by diving and reappear-
ing at a distance, endeavour to decoy the
intruder from her precious charge."

I transcribe the following interesting
notes from Mr. Stevenson's " Birds of
Norfolk " :— " It is seldom the wild duck
is distressed for food, and even when
frozen out, the supply of acorns, which
are almost always to be had, even in
snowy weather, proves a great attraction.

" A large number of wild duck nest
every year in Norfolk, generally dispersed
over the county ; and, although the greater
number are produced in the Broad district,
there is scarcely a stream or piece of water
of any extent which does not form a
nursery for a brood or two at some time.
Our sluggish rivers, meandering through a
flat country, and in many places flanked
by damp woods and cars, are a source of
great attraction to these birds, but many
nest on dry open heaths, at a distance
of a couple of miles from any water, under
the shelter of a whin bush or a clump of
brakes, whence the old birds lead their
young ones to the nearest water. . . .
One curious circumstance in connection
with the nesting of the wild duck is the
frequency of the occurrence of pheasants'

The True Ducks, 267

or partridges' eggs in their nests; many
such instances have come under my
observation, and I have frequently heard
of others. The partridge occasionally
makes use of the comfortable nest of the
duck as a receptacle for its eggs, but not,
I believe, so frequently as the pheasant.
When the proud mother marshals her
young ones, to conduct them to the water,
great must be her surprise at the ugly
ducklings which form part of her brood.

" Wild ducks frequently depart from
their usual habit of nesting on the ground
and make use of trees for the purpose.
Instances are known where ducks' nests
have been found twenty feet from the
ground. In many cases the deserted
nests of wood-pigeons are made use of;
and a nest of the wild duck has actually
been discovered in some ivy on the top
of a wall."

In Kashmir the Wild Duck breeds ;in
large numbers, laying in May and the
beginning of June. It constructs its nest
on the ground on the margins of lakes, or
even in rice-fields, under an overhanging
tuft of grass or rushes. The nest is com-
posed of dry grass and flag, and after the
eggs are laid it is lined with down. The
number of eggs varies from eight to twelve.

268 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

The eggs of the Wild Duck are very
variable in colour, and range between a
dull pale green and a pale stone-colour.
The shell is very smooth and has a faint
gloss. In shape the eggs are nearly ellip-
tical, one end being slightly pointed.
They vary from 2*1 to 2^5 in length, and
from 1*5 to 17 in breadth. The down
is dark greyish brown with whitish centres,
and pale inconspicuous tips.

The adult male has the whole head
and neck brilliant metallic green or purple,
the crown of the head and the hindneck
less glossy and standing out distinct from
the other parts. There is a narrow white
collar at the base of the neck, not quite
complete behind. The whole breast is
a rich brownish chestnut, each feather
margined with grey. The remaining lower
plumage, including the sides of the body
and the basal part of the under tail-coverts
is grey, very finely and regularly vermi-
culated with ashy or brown. The terminal
part of the under tail-coverts is black.
The axillaries and the under wing-coverts
are white. The mantle is brown, very
finely vermiculated with grey. The back
is brown, the feathers with pale margins,
and some of them, on the lower back,
mottled with black. The inner and outer

The True Ducks. 269

margins of the scapulars are chocolate-
brown, the central portion grey, the whole
finely vermiculated with black and ashy.
The rump and the upper tail-coverts are
deep black. On either side of the upper
tail-coverts there is a bunch of truncated
feathers, broadly tipped with white, and
generally concealed by the long flank-
feathers. The four middle tail-feathers
are black and curled up, the others are
whitish, with the central portion more or
less brown. The upper wing-coverts are
greyish brown, the lower series tipped
black, with a preceding white band. The
inner web of the primaries and the shaft
are drab with a brown tip ; the outer web
entirely brown. The first, and sometimes
the second or third, secondary, are dark
brown on the outer, paler brown on the
inner, web, and tipped with white. The
following ones have the outer web metallic
purple with a double band of black and
white at the tip; the inner web brown
tipped with white. The first two or three
inner secondaries next the speculum are
rich brown on the outer web, grey on the
inner ; and the innermost secondaries are
all grey.

Younger males have very broad margins
to the feathers of the breast ; and the

270 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

whole abdomen is streaked with brown.
Each of these brown streaks has a fulvous
or buff margin on either side.

Males, in post-nuptial plumage, resemble
the females closely, and are only to be
distinguished by the black crown and a
dark stripe through the eye.

The adult female has the chin, throat
and foreneck plain fulvous. The remainder
of the head and neck is closely streaked
with narrow black and fulvous lines. The
whole upper plumage, with the scapulars
and upper tail-coverts, is dark brown or
black, each feather margined and dia-
gonally banded with fulvous. The tail-
feathers are similar, but with whitish
margins. The upper wing-coverts are
brown, but otherwise the whole wing is
quite similar to that of the male. The
whole lower plumage is fulvous, marked
with brown ; the marks on the breast
being crescentic, those on the abdomen
elongated, spots, those on the sides of the
body diagonal bands, and, finally, those
on the under tail-coverts streaks. The
axillaries and under wing-coverts are pure
white. At times, the abdomen is plain or
very slightly spotted.

Ducklings change into a first plumage
which resembles that of the iemale, and

The True Ducks. 271

young drakes soon begin to assume the
plumage of the adult, which, however, is
not quite attained in its fullest lustre till
the third year.

Male : length about 23 ; wing about 1 1 ;
tail about 4. Female : length about 2 1 ;
wing about 10; tail 3|. The bill is
greenish yellow, with the nail blackish ;
the irides are brown ; the legs orange.
Weight, generally up to 3 Ib, but occa-
sionally up to 4 Ib.

THE MARBLED DUCKS.

THE peculiar Duck which is the sole
representative of this group is an in-
habitant of dry, arid countries, and may
be regarded as a desert form of Duck.
Its coloration recalls to mind the colora-
tion of the Sand-Grouse.

The Marbled Duck has the upper
plumage spotted. This character, to-
gether with the barred under tail-coverts,
suffices to distinguish it from all other
Indian Ducks. The sexes hardly differ
in colour, and there can be little doubt
that the drake does not have a post-
nuptial moult, the whole moult being
accomplished in the autumn. The male
is very slightly crested ; in the female
there is hardly a trace of a crest.

The speculum differs little in colour
from the surrounding parts of the wing,
which is weak in structure. The legs are
feeble and the middle toe is hardly longer
than the tarsus. The profile of the upper
mandible is considerably concave ; and
the bill is of equal width throughout.
272

113. THE MARBLED DUCK.

Mannaronetta angustirostris, (MENE-
TRIES).

Primaries nearly uniformly grey on
both webs, with a silvery grey tinge
on the outer web of the outer
feathers.

Axillaries white, barred with brown
near the tip.

Under tail-coverts barred across.

Upper plumage with large, roundish,
pale buff spots.

MALE : With a blackish patch round the
eye.

FEMALE : With a pale brown patch
round the eye.

VERNACULAR NAMES :— None known.

THE Marbled Duck has been observed
so frequently in Northern India that it
may be considered a regular and common
winter visitor.

Mr. Hume was the first to introduce
this species to the Indian list. He found
it abundant in suitable localities through-

273 1 8

274 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

out Sind. Mr. Ross Knyvett procured
it at Futtehgurh, in the North-West
Provinces, in January, and the late Mr.
A. Anderson got it in Oudh in March.
Mr. G. Reid also observed it near
Lucknow. Colonel Butler records it
from Mount Abu and Northern Guzerat.
Mr. Hume noticed two specimens in the
Calcutta market, one in December and
one in February. Lastly General J. H.
McLeod informs us that he shot this
species in the Bhauwulpur territory, and
near Gurdaspur, in the Punjab.

It may therefore be safely asserted
that this small Duck occurs over the
whole of Northern India, from Sind to
Bengal, and from the foot of the Hima-
layas down to at least the 22nd degree
of north latitude.

This Duck occurs as a resident or a
partial migrant in Portugal and Spain ;
the whole northern part of Africa, from
the Canaries to Egypt ; Southern Russia ;
Palestine ; the Caspian Sea ; Persia, and
thence on to India. It is difficult to
understand the movements of this Duck,
and it is most probably more of a resident
in most countries than is generally sup-
posed; and it is not at all unlikely that
ome birds of this species may remain

The Marbled Ducks. 275

in the north-western parts of India during
the summer.

The Marbled Duck does not appear to
be anywhere so common in the winter as
it is in Sind, and to Mr. Hume we are
indebted for nearly all we know regarding
its ordinary winter habits.

He thus records his experiences of this
Duck: — "In Sindh, where I had abundant
opportunities of observing it, I found it
invariably associated in large parties ; its
favourite haunts are broads thickly grown
with rush, in which it feeds and sports,
comparatively seldom showing itself in
the open water. As a rule it does not
at once rise when guns are fired, as the
other Ducks do, but, if at the outside
of the rush, scuttles into these for con-
cealment, as a Coot would do, and if
in them already, remains there perfectly
quiet until the boats push within sixty or
seventy yards of it ; then it rises, generally
one at a time, and even though fired at,
not unfrequently again drops into the
rush within a couple of hundred yards.
When there has been a good deal of
shooting on a lake, and almost all the
other ducks, and with them, of course,
some of these, are circling round and
round high in the air, you still keep, as

276 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

you push through the reeds and rushes,
continually flushing the Marbled Duck,
and the broad must be small, or the
hunting very close and long continued,
to induce all the Marbled Ducks to take
wing. Of course, where there is little
cover (though there you never meet with
this Duck in large numbers) they rise
and fly about with other ducks ; but
their tendency in these respects is rather
coot-like than duck-like. Individuals may
take wing at the first near shot, but the
great majority of them stick to the rush
as long as this is possible ; and on two
occasions I saw very pretty shooting,
boats in line pushing up a wide extent
of rush-grown water, and the Marbled
Duck rising every minute in front of us
at distances of sixty or seventy yards,
like Partridges out of some of our great
Norfolk turnip-fields ; here and there a
Shoveller, or a White-eyed Duck, both
of which, when disturbed, cling a good
deal to cover, would be flushed ; but
there were not one of these to ten of
the Marbled Duck. This species is not
amongst first-class ducks for the table ;
it ranks with the Shoveller and the White-
eyed Duck, and after obtaining a goodly
array of specimens, we never shot it,

The Marbled Ducks. 277

first-class Ducks, Gadwall, Mallard, and
Pin-tail, as well as the Indian Canvas-
back (Aythya ferind) being always avail-
able."

Subsequently he wrote : — " The flight
of this species, though Teal-like, is less
rapid and flexible (if I may coin an
expression to represent the extreme facility
with which that species turns and twists
in the air) than that of the Common
Teal. It more nearly resembles that of
the Garganey, but is less powerful, and
less rapid, even than that of this latter
species. There is something of the Gad-
wall in it, but it wants the ease of this.
It flies much lower, too, and, as already
mentioned, much more readily re -settles
after being disturbed. I have hardly
ever seen them swimming in the open,
and in the rushes they make, of course,
slow progress. When wounded, they
dive, but for no great distance, and then
persistently hold on under water in any
clump of rush or weed, with only their
bills above water. I have never seen
them on land in a wild state, but some
captured birds, whose wings had been
clipped, walked very lightly and easily ;
and, though they had been but a few
days in confinement, they were very tame,

278 Manual of the Game Birds of India

and could, I should imagine, be easily
domesticated.

" As a whole I consider them poor,
rather sluggish ducks, very much disposed
to take life easy, and in a dolce far niente
style, and lacking in every line the vigour
and energy that characterise races born
and bred within the hardy north."

Regarding the nesting of this species
in Spain, we have the following excellent
note by Colonel Irby, as quoted by Mr.
Dresser : — " In Andalucia this species is
a summer migrant, arriving from March
to May. I have heard of three having
been killed late in February ; but I myself
first noticed it on the 23rd of March.
They are tolerably numerous on the
marismas and other suitable localities,
where they remain to breed, leaving us
again in September. I never saw any or
heard of their occurrence here except
between the dates above given. In 1871
I had two nests, with the eggs, brought
to me, the female having been, in both
cases, shot off the nest. Both these nests
were found in the same small, circular,
isolated patch of short, spiky rushes, not
more than ten feet in diameter, and
surrounded by dried mud. I went mysell
to inspect the place, which is in that

The Marbled Ducks. 279

part of the marismas near the Goto del
Rey, called Las Carnecerias, so termed
because in former years the wolves used
to kill the sheep there. The nests were
formed of small broken bits of dried
rushes mixed with a large quantity of
down. One nest was taken on the 3oth
of May, and contained ten fresh eggs,
and in the female was another ready for
exclusion, which was broken in the fall
of the bird. The other nest contained
eleven fresh eggs, and was taken on the
7th of June. All these eggs are exactly
similar in size and colour. In shape they
are inclined to be elliptical, and are in
colour yellowish white or buff."

Eleven eggs of this Duck in the British
Museum, of which seven were taken
by Colonel Irby on the 3oth May, as
above related, are uniformly of a deep
cream-colour. They are as nearly as
possible elliptical, very smooth and rather
glossy. They measure from 1*65 to 1*95
in length, and from 1*25 to 1*4 in breadth.

In the adult male the forehead and
the front part of the crown are dull white,
cross-barred with black ; the hinder part
of the crown and the hindneck pale buff,
cross-barred with black. There is a
blackish patch round the eye extending

280 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

to the ears. The sides of the head and
neck, the chin, throat, and foreneck are
white, streaked with brown. The mantle
is greyish brown, each feather with a
dark cross-band and a pale tip. The
back and scapulars are dark greyish brown,
each feather with a large pale buff spot
at the tip. The feathers of the rump
and the upper tail-coverts are greyish
brown with darker centres and buff tips.
The tail-feathers are greyish brown, the
middle pair darker and with whitish tips.
The wing-coverts are brownish grey with
pale buff margins. The primaries are
dark grey with brown tips ; and a portion
of the outer web of the first five, near
the tip, silvery grey. The outer secondaries
are paler grey, forming a speculum which
is inconspicuous, but paler than the other
parts of the wing. The inner, long
secondaries are pale brown. The breast
is greyish white with partially concealed
brown bars. The abdomen is dull white.
The under tail-coverts and the sides of
the body are whitish barred with brown.
The under wing-coverts are chiefly white,
and the axillaries are white, barred with
brown at the tip.

The adult female resembles the male,
but has a much shorter crest, and is not

The Marbled Ducks. 281

barred on the hindneck. The patch
round the eye is pale brown.

The young bird does not differ much
from the adult female. It is of a rather
lighter colour, and there are some fulvous
tips on the lower plumage.

Male : length nearly 19 ; wing 8| ; tail
3|. Female: length about 17; wing
barely 8 ; tail about 3. The bill is bluish
grey, black on the tip and along the
ridge of the upper mandible. The legs
are horny brown with black webs. The
irides are brown. Weight up to rather
more than \\ Ib.

THE PINK-HEADED DUCKS.

So far as is at present known, the Pink-
Headed Duck, the sole representative of
the group, is restricted to the Indian
Empire. Judging from the general style
of its plumage, and especially from the
colour of the primaries, it seems to be
allied to the Pochards, and to bear the
same relationship to those Ducks that the
Grey Ducks do to the True Ducks. It
is noticeable that the lobe of the hind toe
in the Pink-headed Duck is comparatively
small, but this may be a modification to
suit altered habits. Very little is known
of the habits of this Duck, and I cannot
learn whether this species is a diver, or
a surface-swimming Duck. It will pro-
bably prove to be the former.

In the Pink-headed Duck, the sexes
are not very dissimilar, and the differences
chiefly lie in the coloration of the head.
The bill is of equal width throughout,
and the profile of the upper mandible is
nearly straight. The head is not crested,
282

The Pink-headed Ducks. 283

but the feathers of the hindneck and
back of the crown are slightly lengthened.
The wings are weak, the secondaries
being of considerable length. The middle
toe is about half as long again as the
tarsus.

11*. THE PINK-HEADED DUCK.

Rhodonessa caryophyllacea, (LATHAM).

Outer primaries with the outer web
much darker than the inner ; inner
primaries with both webs of the
same pale vinous drab as the specu-
lum ; all tipped with dusky.

Axillaries brown, mottled with white.

Whole lower plumage, together with
the sides of the body, of one uniform
dark colour.

MALE : Chin, throat, and foreneck black;
crown of head pink.

FEMALE : Chin, throat and foreneck pink
crown of head brown.

VERNACULAR NAMES \-Lal-sira, Golab
Lai-sir, Hind. ; Doomrar, Nepal Terai ;
Doomar, Tirhoot ; Saknal, Beng.

THE distribution of the Pink-headed
Duck was for many years a matter of
much uncertainty, but it is now fairly
well known.

Commencing with the north-west portion
284

The Pink-headed Ducks. 285

of India, this Duck has been found on
several occasions near Delhi. It is not
uncommon near Lucknow, and Colonel
M. Tweedie met with a very large number
of these Ducks a little north of Kheeri,
in Oudh, in May.

Continuing along the north, we find
that Hodgson observed this Duck in
Nepal and Pemberton in Bhutan. It
has been recorded from many parts of
Bengal, and it is exposed for sale some-
times in the Calcutta market. Ball pro-
cured it at Sahibgunj on the Ganges, the
Rajmehal Hills, Hazaribagh and Man-
bhum. Mr. J. H. Taylor observed it at
Khorda, in Orissa, and it is found down
the east coast as far, at least, as Madras.

On the west coast, the Rev. S. B. Fair-
bank observed this Duck in the vicinity
of Khandala, near Bombay.

East of Bengal, the species occurs,
according to Mr. Hume, throughout the
Assam valley up to Sadiya. It also
occurs in Sylhet and Manipur. Accord-
ing to Blyth, it has been obtained near
Bhamo and also in Arrakan. My friend
Mr. E. Gabbett informs me that four of
these Ducks were shot near Mandalay,
and that he examined the birds arid was
sure of their identity.

286 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

There is no country outside the limits
of the Indian Empire from which the
Pink-headed Duck has been recorded,
and it is therefore probable that it is
restricted to the Empire, being migratory
to a small extent according to climate
and rainfall.

Mr. Frank B. Simson has written an
interesting account of this Duck in the
" Ibis," and as it was published after the
issue of Messrs. Hume and Marshall's
work, and is not referred to in Mr. Stuart
Baker's account of this species in a recent
volume of the Journal of the Natural
History Society of Bombay, I shall re-
produce it nearly in full. He says :—
"The Pink-headed Duck is a bird little
known to the Bengal sportsman and or-
nithologist, and considered rare. It is,
however, far from uncommon in a re-
stricted area of Bengal, and may be said
to make its home in the southern part
of the district of Purneah, and in the
country which borders the left or northern
bank of the Ganges, between the Coosy
River, which separates Purneah from
Bhaugulpore, and in the Maldah district.
It is found more sparingly in Bhaugulpore
and Tirhoot, and occasionally in likely
places in the North -Western Provinces

The Pink-headed Ducks. 287

and in Upper India. Jerdon records it
from Madras, though he never saw it in
the flesh there. Specimens have been
obtained in the Calcutta bazaar, which
has yielded more ornithological rarities
than any single place in India. Colonel
Irby tells me he met with it, and this
can be relied on. But many people in
Bengal have told me that they had shot
it in various places ; nevertheless, when-
ever I could test these statements, I
never found that any such Duck had been
killed lower in Eastern Bengal than
Maldah. The birds called Pink-headed
always turned out to be Red-crested
Pochards.

" The country mentioned on the north
of the Ganges which I have referred to as
the home of this Duck is alluvial, and
consists of vast, extensive, and much-
neglected plains, studded at considerable
intervals with small poor villages, inter-
sected with very deep clear streams, all
running to the Ganges and abounding in
crocodiles. These plains are difficult to
cross on foot in the dry season, except by
paths which cannot be called roads;
elephants are generally used by all but
the poor to travel with across these wastes,
which are often inundated when the

288 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Ganges rises high. To such an extent do
these inundations occasionally prevail that
the human inhabitants are compelled to
take to boats, while the deer and game
generally resort to the few highest spots,
where they are often slaughtered. The
tigers have even been known to live for
a time in trees, where, apparently, they
feed on turtles, small crocodiles, and
dead animals which come floating near
the trees.

" Scattered among these plains are pools
of deep water, extending over areas of
from ten to forty acres, abounding in wild
fowl and crocodiles, surrounded by very
high grass with stalks like thin bamboo.
A few stumpy trees, hidgels and others,
grow in this grass, the pools are covered
with beautiful lotus plants, and here the
Pink-headed Duck resorts at all seasons
of the year. . . .

" One morning in May, very early, I
was standing, almost without clothes, at
the door of a travelling bungalow on
the trunk-road in Purneah, watching two
Florikens with a binocular as they wheeled
about in the sky, when about a dozen dark
Ducks, with lovely, rosy, light-coloured
feathers under their wings, alighted in &
tank close by. I immediately got my

The Pink-headed Ducks. 289

gun, and fortunately was able to get close
and bag two. After this I was always on
the look-out, and shot numbers of them
before I left that part of Bengal.

"Dr. Jerdon visited me while I was
stationed at Purneah, and told me he had
never seen the bird alive, and that the
picture in his illustrations was drawn from
a dried skin. I promised to show him and
get him some specimens, and I did so
in this wise. We were both at a shooting-
party given by that hospitable planter
and owner of Kolassy, so well known and
liked in Purneah, and were shooting with
a long line of elephants, looking for that
wonderful tiger which is always there
when no one has a gun or wants him,
and always somewhere else when made
an object of special pursuit. In default
of this tiger we shot buffaloes, deer,
Floriken, and Partridges, and shouted at
hogs which were reserved for the spear.
Whilst going on I marked a small party
of Pink-headed Ducks into one of the
pools I have described, and immediately
told Jerdon that if he would leave the
party and come with me I thought I
could get a nice shot at his long-coveted
birds. So we took four^ elephants and
started.

VOL. ii. 19

290 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

" Of course, with noisy splashing animals,
any approach to Ducks was impossible ;
on the other hand the pool was full of
huge crocodiles : we could see them with
our glasses. However, I agreed to go
on foot, the elephants to come to me
the moment the shots were fired. I
passed through the tall bamboo-grass in
water deepening until it was nearly up
to my waist till I came to the edge, and
found myself about twenty yards from ten
or a dozen of the Ducks. They were
not sitting close together, so I shot the
finest with one barrel, and another as
they rose, and I made off to the elephants
as hard as I could. . . .

" The Duck's plumage is fully described
by Jerdon and Hume ; I need only refer
here to its habits. It lives in this country
all the year round ; generally it is found
in small flocks of from eight to twelve :
probably these are the old birds and
the young ones of the year. It never
associates, so far as I saw, with other
Ducks, nor gets into large flocks. In the
breeding season it pairs and nests in short
grass on dry land at some distance from
the pools. I have seen the eggs, but
cannot now describe them. I have had
the young ones brought to me, and should

The Pink-headed Ducks. 291

think they could be easily domesticated,
for the bird seems exactly like the
Mallard, except in size and plumage. I
have never met with the bird far from
these plains, and I remarked its absence
when shooting at the foot of the Himalaya
lowest ranges in the north of Purneah.
The taste of this Duck when cooked is
inferior ; indeed, I prefer every other
Duck save the Shoveller to it, and
consider it worse than the Brahminy
Duck or Whistling Teal.

" There are many reasons why the
Pink-headed Duck is not well known.
One I have just given, viz., that it is
poor on the table ; another is that it is
never very numerous nor goes in flocks ;
the native shikarrie can never kill a lot
at one shot, nor net a large number.
The sahib can never get many shots in
one day, nor is his prize when gained so
valuable to him as the other Ducks,
which are so much more numerous, and
so much better to eat. It does not
associate much with other Ducks, but
keeps rather to itself, and seldom is seen
flying to the feeding-ground before sunset,
but stays all day in the pools, where
it lives till disturbed. But if a person
residing in Purneah, Bhaugulpur, or

292 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Maldah, chooses to make the bird an
object of special pursuit, he should have
no difficulty in procuring as many as
would be necessary."

To the above, I may add some notes
published by Mr. F. A. Shillingford in
the " Asian " some years ago. He writes :
— " During the cold weather, November
to March, the Pink-headers remain in
flocks varying from six to thirty, or even
forty birds, in the lagoons adjoining the
larger rivers, and have been observed by
myself in considerable numbers in the
southern and western portions of the dis-
trict, that portion of Eastern Bhaugalpur
which lies immediately to the north of
the river Ganges and south-western parts
of Maldah. They come up to the central
or higher parts of the Purneah district
in pairs, during the month of April, begin
to build in May, and their eggs may be
found in June and July. The nests are
well formed (made of dry grass interspersed
with a few feathers), perfectly circular in
shape, about nine inches in diameter and
four or five inches deep, with three- to
four-inch walls, and have no special
lining. The nests are placed in the centre
of tufts of tall grass, well hidden and
difficult to find, generally not more than

The Pink-headed Ducks. 293

five hundred yards from water, They lay
from five to ten eggs in a nest. Both
the male and female have been started
simultaneously from the vicinity of the
nest, but whether the former assists in
incubation is uncertain, though judging
from the loss of weight during the breed-
ing season, the male must be in constant
attendance at the nest."

The call of this Duck, according to
the same writer, resembles that of the
Mallard, with a slight musical ring about
it. The stomach of a specimen which Mr.
Shillingford examined contained water
weeds and various kinds of small shells.

Jerdon, who was perhaps as well ac-
quainted with this Duck as any one,
writes : — " It shows a decided prefer-
ence for tanks and jheels well sheltered
by overhanging bushes, or abounding in
dense reeds, and in such places it may
be found in the cold season in flocks
of twenty or so occasionally, but generally
in smaller parties of from four to eight.
During the heat of the day it generally
remains near the middle of the tank or
jheel, and is somewhat shy and wary."

The eggs of this Duck are very re-
markable. They are extremely smooth
and polished, and very nearly spherical

294 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

in shape. In colour they are a pale
yellowish cream-colour. The five eggs
in the Hume collection, presented by
Mr. Shillingford, measure from 171 to
1*82 in length and from i'6i to 17 in
breadth. Four of these eggs were taken
in the Purneah District on the 3rd July,
1880. The fifth egg was taken in the
same locality, but is without date.

The adult male has the chin, the throat,
the front of the neck, and the whole
lower plumage, together with the sides of
the body, of one uniform chocolate-brown.
The whole head, the hindneck and sides
of the neck are rosy pink. The whole
upper plumage, scapulars and tail are
dark brown or blackish, the back and
scapulars with some grey speckles or
vermiculations. The margin of the wing
is broadly white. The upper wing-coverts
are brown. The outer webs of the outer
primaries are brown ; the inner, pale drab
on the half next the shaft, white on the
other half, and tipped dusky. The inner
primaries are vinous drab on both webs
and tipped dusky ; the inner edge more
or less white. The outer secondaries are
vinous drab on the outer web, with white
tips and concealed white bases ; entirely
white on the inner web. The inner

The Pink-headed Ducks. 295

secondaries are glossy brown, those im-
mediately following the speculum with a
narrow, black margin on the outer web.
The under wing-coverts are pinkish white ;
the axillaries brown, mottled with white
at their base.

According to Jerdon, the male at the
breeding season has the crown of a richer
pink than the other parts of the head.

The adult female, in most respects,
resembles the adult male. The body
plumage and the wings are, however,
rather paler. The chin, the throat, and
the front of the neck, instead of being
brown, as in the male, are pink, like the
sides of the head. A broad brown band
occupies the forehead, the crown and
back of the head. Many of the feathers
of the body are margined paler.

The young birds of both sexes appear
to assume a first plumage which closely
resembles that of the adult female.

The sexes are of much the same size.
Length about 23 ; wing about 10 ; tail
about 3^. The bill is reddish white, dirty
red or light pink ; irides red ; legs and
feet varying from slate-colour to blackish.
The weight appears to run up to rather
more than 2 Ib.

THE POCHARDS.

THE Pochards form a large group of
Ducks which from their peculiar habits
are termed Diving Ducks. Their con-
formation especially fits them for moving
under water, their legs being placed
further back than in the ordinary Ducks,
and the toes being of great length as
compared with the tarsus. The lobe on
the hindtoe is also of much larger size
than in the surface-swimming Ducks.

The Pochards are widely distributed,
but there is no species likely to be found
in India in addition to the four species
here noticed. The Pochards differ from
the Scaup Ducks in having a more slender
bill, and in having quite a different pattern
of colour on the primaries.

The Pochards occurring in India may
be divided into two sections. The first,
Netta, containing only the Red-crested
Pochard, may be known by the following
characters : both sexes have an ample
crest; the bill is entirely or largely red,
296

The Pochards. 297

diminishing in width from the base to
the tip ; and the sexes differ very much
in colour. The members of the second
section, Nyroca^ have no crest ; the bill
is of a dark colour, without any red, and
is of about equal width throughout its
length, or rather broader near the tip
than at the base ; and the sexes, though
differing in colour in some degree, retain
the same pattern of plumage.

The Pochards have a shorter wing than
the ordinary Ducks, and when flying they
make a distinct rushing sound, easily re-
cognised. They possess the power of
partially submerging the body when an
enemy is in view.

I reproduce the following useful re-
marks by Mr. Abel Chapman on the
general habits of the Diving-Ducks : —
" From the nature of their avocations, the
Diving-Ducks are almost entirely day-
feeding fowl, as they require light for
their subaqueous investigations. Those
which prey on animal food — living crus-
tacea and other creatures which require
catching — are exclusively diurnal in their
habits ; but one or two species, such as
the Pochard, whose food consists of grass
and vegetable substances, exhibit noc-
turnal proclivities. In the main, however,

298 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

the Diving-Ducks are of diurnal habits,
and are met with during the day inside
the harbours or estuaries ; in short, they
occupy by day the situations then vacated
by the nocturnal Game-Ducks."

115. THE RED-CRESTED POCHARD.

Netta rufina, (PALLAS).

Outer primaries with the outer web
much darker than the inner ; inner
primaries with both webs of the
same white or pale grey colour as
the speculum ; all tipped dusky.

Axillaries white.

Bill partially or entirely red, narrower
near the tip than at the base.

Head fully crested.

MALE : — Lower plumage, from the lower
neck to the tail, dark glossy brown ;
sides of the body largely white.

FEMALE : — Lower plumage, from the bill
to the tail, uniform dull white or pale
grey ; sides of the body brown.

VERNACULAR NAMES :— Lall-chonch, Lall-
sir, Hind. ; Rattoba, Ratchet,, Sind ;
Doomer, male, Sunwa, female, Nepal ;
Hero-hanSi male, Chobra-hans, female,
Beng.

THE Red-crested Pochard is a winter

visitor to a large portion of the Indian

Empire. In the northern half of the

299

300 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Indian peninsula this species is rather
common, but in the southern *half it is
a somewhat rare bird, although dis-
tributed over the whole area, extending
even to Ceylon. With regard to its oc-
currence in this island, Mr. E. L. Layard,
although he did not actually procure a
specimen, says, " I am as sure of it as
one can be of anything in this world."

This Pochard does not appear to have
been recorded from Kashmir, but it must,
most certainly, occur in that country, for
it lies between the summer and winter
quarters of this species ; it moreover
occurs in winter in the Himalayas, cer-
tainly as far east as Nepal.

The Red-crested Pochard extends
throughout Bengal, and is frequently to
be seen for sale in the Calcutta market.
It is found throughout Assam, up to the
extreme eastern point of that province.
Mr. Hume observed this species at the
Logtak lake in Manipur, and there is no
reason to doubt the accuracy of Blyth's
statement that he received it from Bhamo.
None of my numerous friends, however, in
Upper Burma or the Shan States has met
with it in those regions, and probably it
is not found south of the second defile
of the Irrawaddy river.

The Pochards. 301

This Pochard has a very considerable
range in the temperate zone, but does
not generally pass north of the 5oth degree
of latitude. Some birds of this species
appear to be resident in Spain, the countries
bordering on the Mediterranean, Black
and Caspian Seas, and in Turkestan.
Most Pochards of this species, however,
migrate northwards in the spring for
nesting purposes, and move southwards
on the approach of winter, a vast number
visiting India, which is probably their
winter headquarters. This Pochard is
not found far to the eastward, but in
the British Museum there is a specimen
from Lobnor and another from some part
of China, probably the western portion of
that country.

I can find very few original notes about
the habits of the Red-crested Pochard,
and I have never observed the bird my*
self. I shall therefore give some extracts
from Messrs. Hume and Marshall's "Game
Birds." Mr. Hume says : — " When much
molested they are shy and very difficult
to work, but fresh fowl that have not
been before shot at that season, can
always be easily approached within swivel
range, though they usually keep outside
the limits of efficiency of ordinary fowling

302 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

pieces." Referring to the erroneous state-
ment made by Mr. Dresser, that this Duck
does not dive but feeds like the Mallard
by merely bobbing the front part of its
body under water, Mr. Hume continues : —
"The fact is, that though you may^ at
times, see it dibbling about the water like
Teal and Shovellers, or again feeding
as he describes, its normal habit and
practice is to dive, and I have watched
flocks of them, scores of times, diving, for
an hour at a time, with a pertinacity and
energy unsurpassed by any other wild
fowl. Examine closely their favourite
haunts, and you will find these to be
almost invariably just those waters in
which they must dive for their food.
Deep broads, where the feathery water-
weed beds do not reach within several
feet of the surface, not the comparatively
shallow ones, where the same weeds (the
character of their leaves, however, changed
by emergence) lie in thick masses coiled
along the surface. . . . Though constantly
seen feeding by day, when in suitable
situations, they also feed a good deal
during the night, and those whose day
quarters happen for the time to be waters
that yield little food, leave these at dusk
for more prolific haunts. Perhaps they

The Pochards. 303

mostly move at that time ; certainly you
very commonly shoot them when out
flighting, and at that time they are usually
in pairs or small parties, very rarely in
large flocks.

" They are strong but heavy fliers, and
they are slow in getting under weigh : but
for some reason which I have failed to
discover (for in daylight they do not rise
very perpendicularly), they are very seldom
caught in the standing net.

" On the whole, taking them all round,
they are perhaps the most troublesome
fowl to work, as they are certainly, in my
opinion, the handsomest that we have
much to do with in India ; and there is
no species that I have more often watched
or more closely studied.

" I have sometimes found them out of
the water, on the land, a yard or two from
the water's edge, grazing and picking up
small shells and insects, and they then
walk better than the other Pochards ; but
it is rare to see them thus, though from
the frequency with which they are caught
along with Gadwall and other Ducks by
fall-nets on baited sward, it is probable
that during the night they more readily
leave the water.

"Their call-note, not very often heard

304 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

by day unless they are alarmed, is quite
of the Pochard character — not the quack
of a duck, but a deep grating kurr.
Occasionally the males only, I think, emit
a sharp sibilant note — a sort of whistle,
quite different from that of the Wigeon, and
yet somewhat reminding one of that. . . .

" As a rule, these birds are always in
mixed flocks, and I have never seen any
party consisting only of females ; but I
have, perhaps a dozen times in my life,
come across flocks (one of them number-
ing fully fifty individuals) composed of
adult males only.

" I have forgotten to notice their very
characteristic wing-rustle, which, though
resembling that of the Pochard, is louder
and harsher ; their wings are short, and
rapidly agitated make a very distinct,
palpitating, rushing sound, by which even
a single bird, passing anywhere near one
in the stillness of the night, can generally
be recognised."

I cannot find any recent account of the
breeding of the Red-crested Pochard.
In the British Museum there are eggs of
this species taken in Spain, Algeria, and
on the Danube. Of the Algerian eggs,
taken on June Qth, 1857, Salvin wrote
long ago : — "In the open pools at the

The Pochards. 305

upper end of the marsh of Zana, I used
frequently to see several pairs of the Red-
crested Duck. Two nests only were
obtained. The second lot, consisting of
seven eggs, were of a most brilliant fresh-
green colour when unblown ; the contents
were no sooner expelled, and the egg dry,
than the delicate tints were gone, and
their beauty sadly diminished."

The eggs are nearly truly elliptical,
very smooth, and fairly glossy. In colour
they are a pale delicate green. They
measure from 2*3 to 2*45 in length and
from i '5 5 to 1*75 in breadth.

The adult male has the forehead, crown
and crest cinnamon ; the whole of the sides
of the head, the chin, throat, and the sides
and front of the upper neck rich vinous
chestnut. The hindneck and the sides
and front of the lower neck are black, the
feathers short and of a velvety texture.
The upper part of the mantle, the sides
of the breast, and the lower plumage are
glossy dark brown. A very large white
patch occupies nearly the whole of the
side of the body, and the black feathers
margining this patch are more or less
vermiculated with white. The lower part
of the mantle and the whole back are
pale drab-brown, many of the feathers next

VOL. II. 2O

306 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

the black part of the mantle being ver-
miculated with white. The rump and
the upper tail-coverts are black.

The outer web of the tail-feathers is
brown, the inner whitish. The scapulars
are. light drab-brown, the bases white,
forming a large patch. The margin of
the wing is broadly white. The upper
wing-coverts and the long inner second-
aries are greyish brown. The outer prim-
aries are white on the inner web, the tip
black ; dark brown on the outer web,
more or less paler near the shaft. The
inner primaries are white on both webs,
the tips black. The outer secondaries are
white, or very pale grey, with a blackish
band near the tip, and a narrow, white,
terminal margin. The following two or
three secondaries are pale ashy brown, with
a very narrow and indistinct darker margin
on the outer web. The under wing-coverts
and the axillaries are white.

The adult female has the forehead,
the crown, the hindneck and a small
space under the eye, rich brown. The
remainder of the head and neck is pale
ashy grey. The whole lower plumage is
dull white or pale grey, the centres of the
feathers slightly darker, causing a some-
what mottled appearance. The sides

The Pochards. 307

of the body are pale brown. The axillaries
are white ; the under wing-coverts greyish.
The back, the upper wing-coverts, the
inner secondaries and the upper tail-
coverts are of a pale drab-brown, very
similar to the same parts in the male.
The scapulars are lighter, and the rump
darker, brown. All the feathers of the
upper plumage are more or less margined
paler. The quills of the wing are
similar to those of the male, but the light
parts of the primaries and secondaries
are a darker grey. The tail is brown,
with the outer feathers whitish.

In post-nuptial plumage, the drake is
said to be very similar to the duck, but
may be distinguished by the brighter
colour of the bill and eyelids, by the
larger crest, by the darker colour of the
lower plumage, and by the redder colour
of the feet.

Ducklings change from down into a
plumage resembling that of the female,
but very soon after the change the young
drake commences to assume some black
feathers on the mantle and breast, by
means of which it may be easily recog-
nised and distinguished from the female.

Adult males, after the autumn moult,
have the feathers of the dark parts of the

308 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

plumage margined with pale fringes, which
wear away in the course of the winter.
In the spring, the under wing-coverts and
the large white patch on the sides of the
body become tinged with pink.

Male : length about 21 ; wing io| ;
tail 3. Female : length about 20 ; wing
10 ; tail 2|. The male has the bill
crimson, with the nail pinkish ; the female
has the bill blackish, with the tip and
sides red. The irides vary from brown
to red, according to age. The legs vary
from yellowish brown to orange-brown,
the webs blackish. Weight up to rather
more than 2| Ib.

116. THE POCHARD.

Nyroca ferina^ (LINNAEUS).

Outer primaries with the outer web
much darker than the inner ; inner
primaries with both webs of the
same ashy grey as the speculum ; all
tipped dusky.

Axillaries white.

Bill dark, with no trace of red ; of
about equal width throughout.

Abdomen and breast of different colour.

Back and scapulars distinctly vermicu-
lated.

Under tail-coverts never pure white.

MALE : — Head and. neck rich chestnut ;

mantle black.
FEMALE :— Head, neck, and mantle, dull

reddish brown.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Boorar nur, Lai-
sir, Hind. ; Rutubah, Sind. ; Cheoou,
Nepal ; Lall muriya, Beng. ; Thording-
nam, Manipur.

THE Pochard occurs as a winter visitor

in all parts of the Indian peninsula, from

the Punjab and Sind to Bengal, and from

309

310 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

the Himalayas down to about the latitude
of Bellary (15°), being common in the
north and rare in the south. It occurs
throughout Assam, and has been observed
in Chittagong and Manipur. It extends
south to Mandalay, where my friend,
Captain T. S. Johnson, with his party,
once obtained three Pochards in a miscel-
laneous bag of 562 Ducks and Geese.

The Pochard has a wide range, but is
comparatively seldom found far north.
It occurs over almost the whole of Europe,
in a considerable portion of Northern
Africa and throughout Southern and
Central Asia, from the Red Sea to China,
and from about the i4th or i5th degree
of north latitude up to about the 6oth
degree. In this large area, it is more or
less migratory, according to season.

The Pochard arrives in the north of
India about the beginning of November,
although a few birds may be met with
in October. It appears to be quite
common in many parts throughout March,
and it probably leaves at the commence-
ment of April. I can find no precise
information on this point, and perhaps
the time of departure does not differ much
from that of other migratory Ducks in India.

As usual, Mr. Hume's account of the

The Pochards. 3 1 1

habits of this species is excellent. He
says : — " What the Pochard really likes
is a large broad or mere, surrounded by
rushes, reeds, and aquatic plants, some
feet in depth, and with a considerable
breadth of open water in the centre.
Elsewhere you may meet a few, as on
the banks of rivers, or in any kind of
lake, even the Sambhar ; but in such
localities as I have indicated you will
see flocks of several thousands, and many
acres of water completely paved over with
them. Habitually this species goes about
in large flocks, but in places unsuited to
its tastes you will meet with single birds
or small parties.

" The Pochards are eminently swimming
and diving ducks ; ' their path is o'er the
glittering wave, their home is on the
deep.7 They walk badly; indeed it is
very seldom one sees them on land ; but
I have once or twice surprised them
feeding in wild rice in the early mornings,
and have been struck by the awkwardness
of their gait. Their flight is slow and
heavy until they get well on the wing,
after which it is fairly rapid ; but they
rise with some little difficulty in perfectly
calm weather, and always, if there be a
wind, against it if possible.

3 1 2 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

" They swim very rapidly and gracefully ;
as a rule, rather deep in the water, but at
times, especially when a lot are at play
together, for a minute or two quite high,
as if barely resting on the water. They
are very playful, and skirmish about to-
gether, chasing each other, scuttling along
on the surface one moment, out of sight
the next. They are grand divers ; like
all the Pochards they have the hind-toe
more webbed (though this is slightly less
marked in this species and the White-eye
than in the Scaup, etc.) than the True
Ducks and Teal have, and it is doubtless
partly this which makes them such good
divers.

" Of course, with their diving powers,
wounded birds give a grand chase ; but
they are not quite such adepts at dis-
appearing altogether as the White-eye ;
and, as they are more generally shot in
open water, it is less common to lose
them.

" Their note, rarely heard until they
are disturbed, is very like that of the
White-eye, but louder and harsher — a kurr>
kurr] but their wing rustle is far more
characteristic, and I have rarely failed to
recognise them by it, when I have shot
them at night, before they came to hand."

The Pochards. 313

Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey thus cautions
the sportsman who is after Pochards : —

" After a shot, never pass Pochards that
may appear nearly dead, in pursuit of
those more lively. Whilst you are chasing
the latter, the others will often revive and
disappear. Failing to overtake the strong
cripples, you perhaps turn back, with the
consoling thought that the others are
easily to be found. Never was hope
more delusive : they are the hardiest of
fowl, and scarcely feel a blow that would
kill a Mallard."

Although there are eggs of this Duck
in the British Museum which were taken
in Russia, I cannot find any account of
the breeding of this species either in
Russia or in any other part of Europe
except Great Britain. In England this
bird breeds in some localities where it is
carefully protected. I shall, therefore,
give a few notes regarding the breeding
of the Pochard in England.

Mr. James H. Tuke, as quoted by Mr.
Hewitson, says : — " Whilst at Scarborough
about the middle of June last year, Mr.
Bean informed me that several pairs of
Red-headed Ducks, as the gamekeeper
called them, had been seen upon a piece
of water a few miles from Scarborough,

314 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

and that he was going the next day to
see if he could find their nests. I had
the pleasure of accompanying him, and
sure enough several pairs of Pochards
flew up from their reedy habitation as
we passed our boat up amongst the tufts
of grass and long reeds which at one end
of the lake form a bog of many acres in
extent, almost inaccessible, for between
these tufts of treacherous grass the water
is some feet deep ; it was with the greatest
difficulty we managed to jump from one
of these tufts to another. Whilst beating
about amongst this herbage, a female
Pochard flew up almost close to us, and
in a short time the gamekeeper, who was
with us, found a nest lined with feathers,
and rather under the shade of a bush of
Myrica gale, which grows plentifully in
this bog. I had the pleasure of seeing
the nest, but unfortunately there were
no eggs."

Professor A. Newton, writing of the
Pochards on the estate of Lord Walsing-
ham, in Norfolk, remarks : — " Of the nests
seen by me, one was built on sedge growing
in the water ; but the others were on the
land, though so close to the margin that
the bird could slip into the water in less
time than it takes to say so."

The Pochards. 315

The eggs of the Pochard sometimes
number as many as thirteen. Though
generally truly elliptical in shape, some
eggs are rather pointed at one end. The
shell is smooth and has a fair amount of
gloss. In colour they are uniformly of a
greenish grey or greenish stone-colour.
They measure from 2*2 to 2*45 in length
and from 1*65 to 175 in breadth. The
down is greyish brown with large whitish
centres.

The adult male, with the exception of
a small white spot on the chin, has the
whole head and neck rich chestnut. The
mantle is black. The breast is dark
slaty brown, the feathers with a rufous
margin and some indistinct black vermi-
culations. The abdomen and the sides
of the body are pale grey, the former
very finely vermiculated with black ; the
latter, more coarsely. The under tail-
coverts are black. The back, the scapu-
lars, the innermost secondaries and the
upper wing-coverts are grey, very finely
vermiculated with blackish lines. The
rump and the upper tail-coverts are black ;
the tail grey, freckled with dusky. The
outer primaries are ashy grey on the inner
web, which is tipped with dark brown ;
dark brown on the outer web, becoming

316 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

paler near the shaft. The inner primaries
are ashy grey on both webs and tipped
with dark brown. The secondaries are
ashy grey, the outer web freckled with
dusky, and both webs tipped with white.
Sometimes the dusky freckles are replaced
by an indistinct dark band in front of the
white terminal margin. The secondaries
on the inner side of the speculum are
narrowly margined with dusky on the
outer web. The axillaries are white and
the under wing-coverts nearly entirely so.
The adult female has the head, the
neck and the mantle dull reddish brown,
dark on the crown, light and frequently
almost whitish on the throat and the sides
of the head. The breast is very dull
reddish brown, each feather margined
with grey or yellowish brown. The re-
maining lower plumage is brownish grey,
becoming darker towards the tail and
vermiculated with brown on the lower
part of the abdomen and the sides of the
body. The back and the scapulars are
brown vermiculated with grey. The wing
resembles that of the adult male, but there
is hardly a trace of venniculations on the
coverts. The rump and the upper tail-
coverts are dark brown speckled with
grey ; the tail dark brown. The axillaries

The Pochards, 3 r 7

are white and the under wing-coverts
nearly entirely so.

The adult male in the post-nuptial
plumage resembles the female so closely
that it can hardly be separated by any
definite characters.

Ducklings of both sexes change from
down into a first plumage which resembles
that of the adult female. Many of the
feathers, however, of the upper plumage
have paler margins, and the sides of the
body are not vermiculated. The young
drake assumes the plumage of the old
male by a gradual series of changes.

Male: length about 18 ; wing8|; tail
about 2^. Female : length about 17! ;
wing 8 ; tail 2 J. The bill is black at the
base and the tip, bluish in the middle ;
hides orange-yellow ; legs and feet leaden
grey. Weight up to rather more than
2 \ Ib.

117. THE WESTERN WHITE-
EYED POCHARD.

Nyroca nyroca, (GULDENSTADT).*.

Outer primaries with the outer web
much darker than the inner ; inner
primaries with both webs white, like
the speculum ; all tipped dusky.

Axillaries white, mottled with brown
at tip.

Bill dark, with no trace of red ; of
about equal width throughout.

Under tail-coverts pure white.

Head and neck chestnut or reddish
brown.

MALE : — Head and neck rich chestnut
with a dark collar on the lower neck.

FEMALE : — Head andneckreddish brown
with no trace of a collar on the lower
neck.

VERNACULAR NAMES: — Karchiya,Boorar-
mada, Hind. ; Burnu, Sind. ; Malac,
Nepal Terai ; Lal-bigri, Bhooti-hans,
Bengal.

* Nyroca africana of the British Museum
Catalogue.

The Pochards. 319

THIS species and the next have not been
discriminated by Indian naturalists and
sportsmen till quite recently. We owe
it to Mr. F. Finn that we now know that
both species occur within the Indian
Empire.

Messrs. Hume and Marshall did not
suspect that the Eastern species occurred
in India, and they do not refer to it even
incidentally. It is therefore quite im-
possible to state even approximately what
the distribution of the two species in
India is. Inasmuch, however, as Mr.
Finn informs us that both species of the
White-eyed Pochard are equally numerous
in the Calcutta bazaar for a short time
after their first appearance, I shall as a
matter of convenience assume that the
longitude of Calcutta divides the range
of the two birds and leave it to sportsmen
hereafter to put us right regarding the
exact distribution of these Pochards. They
are very distinct species, and from the
characters I have given, it will be seen
that the females are quite as easy to
separate as the males. There ought to
be no difficulty about these birds in the
future.

On the assumption, therefore, that the
present species, the Western White-eyed

3 2 o Ma nua I of the Ga me Birds of I-ndit i .

Pochard, is restricted to the Indian penin-
sula, west of the longitude of Calcutta,
we find that its range extends throughout
the Himalayas from Kashmir to Sikhim
and southwards to about the i4th degree
of north latitude ; the lowest point from
which I can find this species recorded
being Honawar, on the west coast, where
Mr. J. Davidson procured a specimen in
December (Bombay Nat. History Society's
Journal, xii., p. 72).

In Kashmir, and probably in many
parts of the Himalayas, this species is
to a great extent a resident ; but in the
plains it is a winter visitor, arriving in the
northern parts at the end of October and
leaving again in March.

Out of India, this Pochard has a wide
distribution, but is a bird of temperate
climates, not being found far to the north.
It extends from Central Europe (it has,
however, been met with in Great Britain)
to the valley of the Ob river in Siberia,
its northern limit being approximately
indicated by the 6oth degree of latitude.
In many parts of its range, this Pochard
is a permanent resident. In the winter this
species is met with over a large portion
of Northern Africa and South-West ern
Asia, as well as in Europe and Central Asia.

The Pochards. 321

The Western White-eyed Pochard is
entirely a fresh-water bird, and I cannot
find that it has ever been observed on
the sea-coast. I shall let Mr. Hume
speak of its habits, as European observers
have written very little indeed regarding
this Duck. He says : —

" Unquestionably weedy lakes and
broads, containing moderately deep water,
are its favourite haunts in this country ;
but I have occasionally met with it on
river banks, small ponds, and even utterly
bare shallow sheets of water, like the
Sambhar Lake.

" It is seldom seen in the open water,
and I have never seen any very huge
flocks ; but while I have often met with
pairs and small parties of from three to
seven on small tarns and ponds, I have
put up successively many hundreds from
different parts of large rushy, reedy lakes.
Not en masse, but successively, for it is
a characteristic of this Duck to cling to
cover and rise singly, or in twos and
threes, and only when compelled to do so.

" When on the wing the flight of this
species is fairly, but by no means very,
rapid. They rise with some little diffi-
culty, and always by preference against
the wind (indeed when there is no wind

VOL. II. 21

322 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

they are slow in getting under weigh).
If flushed from water, they strike it re-
peatedly as they rise with their feet, much
after the fashion of Coots, but in a less
exaggerated style. Rising out of the
reeds, they fluster up and go off much
like Partridges, with a low, straight flight,
often dropping suddenly, almost Quail-
like, after a short flight.

"On land, one never sees them many
paces distant from the water's edge, and
running down to it, they shuffle along
most clumsily.

" In the water they are at home ; they
swim with great rapidity and dive marvel-
lously. Indeed, what becomes of them is
often a puzzle : the instant that, wounded,
they touch the water, they disappear, and
not unfrequently that is the last you see
of them ; at most they only rise once or
twice, and then disappear for good. It
is waste of time to pursue them ; if they
do rise, give them instantly a second
barrel.

" I have often, when lying up hid in
the reeds, waiting for more valuable fowl
to come over, watched little parties of
them feeding in some tiny, weedy, reed-
hedged opening. Part of the time they
swim about nibbling at the herbage or

The Pochards. 323

picking shells or insects off the lotus
leaves ; but they are continually disap-
pearing below the surface, often re-
appearing with a whole bunch of feathery,
slimy weed, which all present join in
gobbling up. Sometimes they remain a
very long time out of sight — I should guess
nearly two minutes (it seems an age) — but
generally they do not, when thus feeding,
keep under more than say forty to fifty
seconds.

" I fancy that they feed preferentially
by day ; first, because when in their
favourite haunts I have invariably found
them, when I have had opportunities of
watching them unperceived, busy feeding
at all hours, and never asleep, as night-
feeding Ducks so constantly are, between
1 1 a.m. and 3 p.m. ; and, secondly, because
I have so rarely killed them when flight
shooting. When settled on some comfort-
able, rush-embosomed, weed-interwoven
broad, I am pretty certain that they do
not change their quarters at night-fall, as
when encamped near any of their chosen
day-haunts I have heard their harsh
familiar call at intervals throughout the
midnight hours ; but of course in the
i less common case, when they affect bare-
• shored lakes or rivers by day — and some

324 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

few do do this — they must needs go else-
where to feed during the night, and in
such situations I have once or twice seen
them at midday snoozing at the water's
edge.

"Their quack or note is peculiar, though
something like that of the Pochard, a harsh
kirr, here, kirr^ with which one soon gets
acquainted as they invariably utter it,
4 staccato] as they bustle up from the
rushes, often within a few yards of the
boat."

The Western White-eyed Pochard not
only breeds in Kashmir, but it is be-
lieved to nest also in Sind, where a few
birds of this species appear to remain
during the year.

In Kashmir they breed most abundantly,
principally in June, and their eggs become
an object of commerce in the bazaars.
They build a moderate-sized nest of rush
and sedge amongst reeds and water-weeds,
sometimes on the firm ground, and some-
times on some partially-floating mass of
weeds.

In Poland, according to Dr. Tacza-
nowski, the nest is placed amongst the
herbage on the very edge of even deep
water, generally on a tussock, and some-
times in a bush two or three feet above

The Pochards. 325

the ground, always, however, carefully
concealed. If any one approaches the
nest, the female slips off noiselessly into
the water and avoids observation by
diving.

The late Lord Lilford obtained a nest
with nine eggs in Spain ; the nest was at
a short distance from the water, amongst
high rushes, and was composed of dead
dry water-plants, flags, etc., and lined with
thick brownish white down and a few
white feathers.

The number of eggs laid is frequently
as many as ten. They are almost per-
fectly elliptical in shape, smooth and with
very little gloss. In colour they vary be-
tween creamy white and pale buff. They
measure from 1*9 to 2*2 in length, and
from 1-4 to i '5 5 in breadth.

The adult male has the head, the
greater part of the neck, the sides of the
mantle and the whole breast deep chest-
nut. There is a well-defined, triangular
white spot on the chin. A broad collar
round the lower neck, a band down the
middle of the mantle, and the upper back
are blackish brown, the feathers with a
rufous margin. The lower back and the
scapulars are black, minutely, but indis-
tinctly, speckled with rufous. The rump

326 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

and the upper tail-coverts are deep black ;
the tail brown. All the upper wing-coverts
are 'dark brown. The primaries are
broadly tipped with black ; the first three
have the whole outer web blackish brown,
the inner web almost entirely white ; the
next two are white with a black margin
to the outer web ; the next five are white
throughout, with the exception of the
tip. The outer secondaries are white,
with broad, well-defined black tips ; and
the inner secondaries are black with a
metallic gloss. The upper portion of the
abdomen is white ; the lower, dull reddish
brown vermiculated with grey. The sides
of the body are dull chestnut. The axil-
laries and the under tail-coverts are white,
the former mottled with brown at the tip.
The adult female has the head and
neck reddish brown. There is a white
spot on the chin and the throat and fore-
neck are mottled with white. The feathers
of the mantle, breast, lower abdomen and
sides of the body are dark brown with
a rufous margin. The upper abdomen is
dull white with the brown bases of the
feathers showing through and causing a
mottled appearance. The under tail-coverts
and the greater part of the under wing-
coverts are white. The back, scapulars

The Pochards. 327

and wing coverts are blackish brown, each
feather with a narrow but paler margin.
The rump and the upper tail-coverts are
plain black ; the tail, brown. The axillaries
and the quills of the wing resemble those
of the male, but the white portions of the
primaries are often tinged with grey.

Ducklings of both sexes change from
down into a first plumage which closely
resembles that of the adult female.

A specimen collected by Stoliczka in
Kashmir on the ist August, 1873, appears
to me to be an adult male in the post-
nuptial plumage. It closely resembles
the adult female, but the whole chin and
throat are white mottled with chestnut,
and the sides of the head are streaked
with chestnut. The feathers of the
abdomen are brown fringed with dull
white. There are a few new feathers on
the breast, rich chestnut tipped with white.

Male : length about i6| ; wing about 7 ;
tail about 2|. Female : length about
16; wing nearly 7; tail about 2$. The
bill is bluish black ; the irides, white or
greyish white ; the legs and feet, lead-
colour, with the webs dusky or blackish.
In young birds the irides are said to
be brownish. Weight up to rather more
than i Ib.

118. THE EASTERN WHITE-EYED
POCHARD.

Nyroca baeri, (RADDE).

Outer primaries with the outer web
much darker than the inner; inner
primaries with both webs white, like
the speculum; all tipped dusky.

Axillaries white, mottled with brown
at the tip.

Bill dark, with no trace of red ; of
about equal width throughout.

Under tail-coverts pure white.

Head and neck black.

MALE :— Head and neck rich glossy black.
FEMALE:— Head and neck plain black;

a chestnut patch on either side of the

base of the upper mandible.

VERNACULAR NAMES :— None known.

As remarked when treating of the last
species, it is impossible to say what the
range of the Eastern White-eyed Pochard
in India may be, but I shall assume the
western limit of its migration to be the
longitude of Calcutta. There can be
little doubt that this species is the White-
ns

The Pochards. 329

eyed Pochard of Upper Burma, but I
have never had the opportunity offered
me of examining the Pochard which is
so abundant near Mandalay. I may,
however, state that when Veterinary
Captain G. H. Evans came to the
Natural History Museum some little time
ago, I happened to have specimens of
all the Indian Ducks exposed to view
on tables, and he immediately picked out
the Eastern White-eyed Pochard as the
species he had met with near Myingyan.

Although there is a specimen of this
Pochard in the Indian Museum, at Cal-
cutta, dating back to 1842, it was not
until quite recently that Mr. F. Finn drew
attention to the two allied species and
separated them. He appears to have
procured many specimens of the Eastern
species between November 25th and
January 5th in the Calcutta market, and
he remarks that for a short time after
their first appearance they are as common
as their Western relative. He also no-
ticed the Eastern species in the Calcutta
market in February.

The present species is only a winter
visitor to the eastern part of the Empire.
It is probably this Pochard which Mr.
Inglis procured in Cachar. It is doubt-

330 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

less also the species of which Mr. Hume
remarks : — " Rather scarce in Manipur.
I saw it however at two jheels, besides
the Logtak, where it was often seen
without its being at all in force." Mr.
Hume apparently did not shoot any of
these birds in Manipur, for there are
no specimens from that country in the
Hume Collection, and he appears to have
assumed that the Manipur birds were of
the common Indian species.

Captain F. T. Williams informs me
that a Pochard of this type is found on
the Chindwin river. Captain T. S. John-
son found a White-eyed Pochard common
near Mandalay, and Major G. Rippon
writes to me that he is aware of the
difference between the two White-eyed
Pochards, and that to the best of his
belief he has obtained the Eastern species
at Shwebo, Minhla, Sagain and Meiktila
in Upper Burma, and at Fort Stedman
in the Southern Shan States.

This Eastern White-eye is found in
summer in Kamtschatka and Eastern
Siberia. In winter it migrates to Japan
and China, and it will probably be found
to be a common bird at that season
throughout the Indo-Burmese countries,
Upper Burma and the Shan States.

The Pochards. 331

I can find nothing of any interest
regarding this Duck in the writings
of authors who have treated of the
birds of Eastern Asia. Its habits how-
ever, are not in the least likely to vary
in any important particular from those
of the Western White-eyed Pochard.
Mr. F. Finn has kept some of these
Ducks in captivity in Calcutta. He
writes : — " As to the habits of this Duck
I have little to say. In general appear-
ance it is lighter and less * dumpy ' than
its near ally ; the head and neck and
general shape are less Fuliguline than in
that species, and recall a Mallard some-
what. It of course swims and dives
excellently, and is a less clumsy walker
than the Common White-eye. The male
has a curious habit of contracting its neck
and jerking it backwards in a curve — no
doubt a pairing gesture."

This species resembles the Western
White-eyed Pochard in the general pattern
of its plumage. The difference lies in
the colour of the head and neck. In
the male of the Eastern species these
parts are of a deep black, beautifully
glossed with green and purple; there is
the same white spot on the chin.

In the female of the Eastern species,

332 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

the head and neck are black, without any
gloss, and slightly brownish in parts.
The chin-spot is present. There is also
a large patch of chestnut on each side of
the face, near the base of the upper
mandible. The chestnut of the breast
is not so bright as in the male, nor so
sharply defined from the white abdomen.

A bird of this species, sexed as a male,
which died in the Zoological Gardens of
London in June, and the skin of which
is preserved in the British Museum,
appears to be in post-nuptial plumage.
It resembles the male in winter plumage
in many respects, having the back and
scapulars speckled and vermiculated ; and
the chestnut of the breast of a dark
colour and sharply defined from the white
of the abdomen, but it has the head of
the female and exhibits a large amount
of chestnut on the face and at the base
of the bill.

Male : length about 18 ; wing 8| ; tail
2\. Female : length about 17^ ; wing 8 ;
tail 2^. According to Mr. Finn, the male
has the bill dark grey or greyish black
with a black nail and a grey patch at the
tip ; the female has the bill darker, with
the grey patch less distinct. The male
has white irides, but in one bird of this

The Pochards. 333

sex they were pale cloudy greenish yellow ;
the female has the irides brown, some-
times grey, sometimes a mixture of brown
and white. In both sexes, the feet are
grey with dark joints; the legs black,
The weight has not been recorded.

THE SCAUP DUCKS.

THE Scaup Ducks differ from the Pochards
in the pattern of the primaries and in
having a much broader bill. The bill
is also rather wider near the tip than
at the base.

The two Indian species of Scaup
Ducks resemble each other rather closely.
The Tufted Duck at all ages, however,
has a pointed crest, short in females and
young birds, long in the adult males.
In the bill of this species the tip is black
as well as the nail. The Scaup has no
sign of a crest, and only the nail of the
bill is black.

It is well to mention that in the Scaup
Duck the speculum is always much wider
than in the Tufted Duck, and the black
of the breast reaches down much further.
These characters, however, are compara-
tive and not of much practical value,
unless specimens of the two species are
laid side by side.

Adult males of the two species differ con-

334

The Scaup Ducks. 335

spicuously in the colour of the upper plum-
age, one having the back and scapulars
distinctly vermiculated with grey, and the
other having these same parts merely
speckled with white. Adult females are
easily separated by the amount of pale
coloration on or round the base of the
bill. In certain stages of the young plum-
age, the only reliable character by which
to separate the two species is the absence
or presence of a crest and possibly also
the colour of the tip of the upper
mandible.

On the general subject of these and
other diving Ducks, I do not think I can
do better than quote Sir Ralph Payne-
Gallwey. He says : — " The diving Ducks,
as before stated, seek their food at the
bottom, differing in this respect from the
surface feeders. Their legs are placed
farther back, and near the tail; their
down and feathers are thicker and more im-
pervious to water, a circumstance, indeed,
necessitated by their habit of feeding.
Their bodies are rounder, their wings
shorter, and their flight very irregular,
compared with that of Geese or surface-
feeding Ducks. Their pinions beat faster,
and show that more exertion is required
to sustain and project their heavier bodies.

336 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

They do not take long flights, neither
are they to be seen, like the former,
against the sky. Their flight is hurried
and anxious; they never wheel about
with the grace and uncertainty of Teal ;
but fly straight, and with all haste, to places
they appear to have previously chosen."

119. THE SCAUP DUCK.

Fuligula mania, (LINNAEUS).

Outer primaries with the outer web
much darker than the inner ; inner
primaries with the outer web white,
or much paler than the inner.

Axillaries white, or white mottled with
brown at the tip.

Head not crested.

Bill uniform bluish, with only the nail
black.

MALE :— Head, glossy black; back and
scapulars regularly and distinctly ver-
miculated with black and grey.

FEMALE :— Head, reddish brown ; with
a band of white or pale rufous, quite
half an inch broad, encircling the base
of the bill.

VERNACULAR NAMES :— None known.

THE Scaup Duck is probably a rare winter
visitor, and there are but few records of its
occurrence in India.

Mr. Hume mentions having two speci-
mens of this Duck in his collection, from
Kashmir, but neither is now in the Hume
Collection. Mr. A. G. Young informed

VOL. II. 337 22

338 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Mr. Hume that he had shot this species
in Kulu. Hodgson is said to have
procured this Duck in Nepal, but there
are no specimens in his collection, now
in the British Museum, and his draw-
ing of Fuligula nyroca appears to me to
represent the Eastern White-eyed Duck
and not a Scaup Duck as suggested
by Mr. Hume. Colonel McMaster
was of opinion that he observed the
Scaup Duck in the Northern Circars, but
he does not appear to have obtained a
specimen.

Turning to more recent times, we find
that Mr. R. N. Stoker shot no less than
six specimens of the Scaup Duck in the
Punjab, in the months of November,
December, January and March. Five
of these birds were shot in the Indus
river, near Attock ; the sixth, in the Jubbee
river, near Hasan Abdal. Mr. W. N. Chill
obtained an adult female, in March, near
Delhi, and Mr. J. D. Inverarity informs
us, in the pages of the Bombay Natural
History Society's Journal, that he observed
this species at Panwell, near Bombay. It
has also been recorded from Karachi by
Mr. Murray. It is very probable that this
Duck has been overlooked, and that it is
less rare than is commonly supposed.

The Scaup Ducks. 339

The Scaup Duck has an extremely
wide range. It inhabits North America,
Europe, Northern Africa, and the greater
portion of Northern and Central Asia,
being found in summer up to the yoth
degree of north latitude, and migrating
south in winter. The Chinese race (F.
mariloides) is thought to be a smaller and
separable race by some authors, but it
does not appear to me to be distinct.

The Scaup is essentially a maritime
bird, except at the breeding season, when
it withdraws some distance inland. Some
Scaup Ducks, however, may occasionally
be found on fresh water at all seasons of
the year, but the majority must be looked
for on the sea-coast.

The Scaup has hitherto been so rarely
observed in India, that I cannot find a
single remark about its habits there, and
I must consequently glean an account
of its mode of life from English writers.
Seebohm observed this Duck in Northern
Europe and also in Asia. He writes : —
" The Scaup is most active when the sun
shines from the north ; that seems to be
its favourite feeding-time ; and then its
loud harsh scream may be heard, as the
drake calls to his mate to leave her eggs
covered warmly up in a blanket of down,

340 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

and to come away from her snug nest
among the bilberries on the adjacent
bank-side and join him on the lake, or
perhaps have a swing down the river to
the delta to pick up anything that may be
left on the strand at low tide. Of all the
cries of the Ducks that have come under
my notice, I think that of the Scaup is
the most discordant. None of them are
very musical, perhaps ; but if you imagine
a man with an exceptionally harsh, hoarse
voice screaming out the word scaup at the
top of his voice, some idea of the note
of this Duck 'may be formed. It is said
that when this harsh note is uttered, the
opening of the bill is accompanied with a
peculiar toss of the head. The ordinary
alarm-note during flight is a grating sound
like that made by the Tufted Duck.

"The Scaup is a very gregarious and
sociable bird. In winter it is almost
always seen in flocks, frequently associated
with other Ducks, and in summer small
parties are constantly seen coming to and
going from their feeding-grounds. When
alarmed they generally seek safety by
diving, but if they find themselves obliged
to take wing they get up from the water,
one after another, with a great splash;
but once fairly launched in the air, they

The Scaup Ducks. 341

seem to get away very quickly, though
their wings are obliged to vibrate at a great
speed and with considerable noise. They
both swim and dive with perfect ease,
and obtain much of their food under
water.

" Although the Scaup, when cooked,
is said to taste very fishy, it does not
appear to be much of a fish-eater. Shell-
fish are its favourite food, but it varies
this diet with crustaceans, the larvae of
various insects, and with some vegetable
matter. In confinement, Montagu found
it remarkably tame, feeding eagerly at
once on soaked bread, and after a few
days on barley."

Mr. Cordeaux remarks : — " These
Ducks appear to keep in pairs, male and
female, throughout the winter, as we in-
variably find them in mixed flocks com-
posed of about equal numbers of males
and females. The Scaup swims high in
the water. They are very expert divers,
remaining immersed even longer than the
Golden-eye ; and I have frequently known
them to continue underneath from fifty
to sixty seconds. In the evening, at
dusk, and on moonlight nights, Scaups
leave the water and fly up on the flats to
feed; they are then often killed by our

342 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

gunners who are lying in wait on the
muds for Wigeon and Mallard."

Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, in "The
Fowler in Ireland," writes : — " When met
with in twos and threes, Scaup are very
tame, but if many are together they are
wild and difficult of approach. By reason '
of their dark appearance on the water,
and the large bulk of body exposed, no
fowl show thicker at a distance, or scatter
more when neared. They are most un-
satisfactory birds to follow in every way.
Their edible quality is far from good, and
a successful shot is very seldom made at
them."

Scaup Ducks appear, however, to be
very often tame and easily approached.
Mr. Abel Chapman has observed these
birds closely, and I shall quote his interest-
ing remarks. He tells us, in his
"Bird-Life of the Borders," that— "the
feeding-grounds of the Scaup are over
rocks where sea-weed grows luxuriantly,
and where they dive among the long,
waving tangles in search of the various
shell-fish and their spawn and the host
of minute forms of marine life which
abound in such places. Owing to this
preference, their company is often con-
fined all through the winter to certain

The Scaup Ducks. 343

localities — usually about the harbour
entrance, or a rocky bay adjoining the
open sea — hence they are less frequently
met with than the Golden-eyes, which are
scattered in odd pairs all over the sandy
channels of the estuary. . . .

" Besides the places where, as above
indicated, the main bodies of the resident
Scaup Ducks take up their winter quarters,
one frequently meets with small bunches
of half a dozen or so inside harbour,
especially about the "scaps," or mussel-
beds (whence probably their name), and
even on the edge of the ooze, where they
occasionally vary their shell-fish diet with
a feed of sea-grass. They always, how-
ever, keep afloat, or nearly so ; it is very
seldom one sees a Scaup or Golden-eye
go on to dry land, nor (on the coast)
have I ever heard either species utter
any note.

" Scaup are the tamest of all the Duck
tribe, and — exactly the reverse of the
Golden-eye — they continue throughout
the winter as tame and as easily ap-
proached as when they first arrive in
October. On seeing a pack of them, one
can shove the punt close in upon them,
and then, if scattered, can wait securely
till they arrange themselves nicely to

344 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

receive the charge. Scaup are also among
the toughest of birds and the most tenacious
of life. At least half the cripples usually
escape, and any that are captured alive it
is all but impossible to kill. I have seen,
when the bag was emptied on to the
kitchen floor, a couple of Scaups, which
had appeared as dead as door-nails, return
to life and flutter vigorously round the
room. Even when killed, however, they
are of no value, being the strongest,
nastiest, and most utterly uneatable Ducks
I ever tried."

Regarding the nesting of the Scaup
Duck, I must again quote from Seebohm's
charming work. He writes : — " The
Scaup generally selects some sloping bank,
not far from water, but high enough from
the edge to be secure from floods, on
which to build her nest. It is always well
concealed, and seldom to be found except
by accidentally frightening off the sitting
Duck. Sometimes it is placed under the
cover of a willow or a juniper bush, but
more often in the open, carefully hidden
in some hole in the rough ground, sur-
rounded by cranberries or bilberries
struggling amidst tufts of sedge or cotton-
grass. The hole is lined with dry broken
sedge, and as the eggs are laid an accu-

The Scaup Ducks. 345

mulation of down is formed sufficient to
keep them warm when the Duck leaves
them to feed."

The Scaup lays from six to nine eggs.
They are very similar in every way to the
eggs of the Pochard, and measure from
2*4 to 27 in length and from 1*65 to 175
in breadth. The down is dark brown with
pale or greyish white centres. The Scaup
breeds in June and July.

The adult male has the whole head,
neck, mantle and breast black, glossed
with green and purple, according to the
light in which the bird is held. The
upper part of the abdomen is white ; the
lower part white, mottled and vermicu-
lated with brown. The under tail-coverts
are black. The sides of the body are
white, very faintly vermiculated with grey.
The axillaries are white ; the under wing-
coverts, a mixture of brown and white.
The scapulars are pale grey vermiculated
with black ; the lower, concealed feathers,
plain black. The back and the upper
wing-coverts are dark brown vermiculated
with white ; the larger wing-coverts almost
plain brown. The outer primaries have
the inner web drab with a blackish tip,
the outer web blackish. The inner pri-
maries have the inner web drab, the outer

346 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

white or very pale grey, both webs tipped
with blackish. The outer secondaries are
pure white with broad, black tips ; the
inner, brown ; the innermost, speckled
with white. The rump and the upper
tail-coverts a»re black ; the tail dark ashy.

The adult female has a very broad
white, or pale rufous, band completely
encircling the bill, and a pale patch on
the ear-coverts. The head, neck, mantle
and breast are reddish brown, with the
edges of the feathers more or less paler,
and the feathers of the breast distinctly
margined with white. The upper part of
the abdomen [is white ; the lower part,
and the under tail-coverts brown, mottled
and vermiculated with greyish white.
The axillaries are white and also a great
part of the under wing-coverts. The sides
of the body are rich brown, mottled and
barred with greyish white. The back
and the scapulars are dark brown, very
irregularly and sparingly speckled and
vermiculated with grey. The upper wing-
coverts are plain brown. The quills of
the wing, both primaries and secondaries,
resemble those of the adult male, but the
innermost secondaries are not speckled
with white.

The male, in post-nuptial plumage, is

The Scaup Ducks. 347

said to resemble the female, but may be
separated by the head and neck being
darker, or blackish brown.

The young ducklings of both sexes
change from down into a plumage which
resembles closely that of the adult female,
but the white parts round the base of the
bill are suffused with brown. Young
males may be found during the winter in
all states of plumage intermediate between
that of the male and that of the female.
The early assumption of black feathers
on the head, and of black and white
vermiculations on the scapulars, serve to
indicate the young male.

Male : length about 20 ; wing nearly
9 ; tail 2\. Female : length about 18 ;
wing 8; tail 25. In both sexes the bill
is greyish blue or lead-colour ; the irides
yellow ; the legs and feet greyish blue or
leaden-grey. I cannot find any record
of the weight of this Duck.

20. THE TUFTED SCAUP DUCK.

Fuligula fuligula,) (LINNAEUS).

Outer primaries with the outer web
much darker than the inner; inner
primaries with the outer web white,
or much paler than the inner.

Axillaries white, or white mottled with
brown at the tips.

With a pointed crest of narrow feathers,
varying from one to two and a half
inches in length.

Tip of the upper mandible, as well as
the nail, black.

MALE :- Head glossy black ; sides of the
body white.

FEMALE :--Head brown, with a whitish
patch on either side of the base of the
upper mandible, and with indications of
similar patches on the forehead and
chin ; sides of the body brown.

VERNACULAR NAMES: — Dubaru, Ablac,
Rahwara, Hind. ; Turando, Sind ;
Malac, Nepal Terai ; Nella chilluwa,
Telugu; Neer-bathoo, ^dccm\.\Neer-Kolee,
Canarese.

THE Tufted Scaup Duck is found as a
348

The Scaup Ducks. 349

winter visitor, in greater or less abundance,
over the peninsula of India from Sind to
Bengal, and from the Himalayas down to
about the nth degree of north latitude.
It must undoubtedly occur in Assam and
the country to the south, but we have no
definite information on this point till we
come to Manipur, where Mr. Hume
observed it to be very abundant not only
on the Logtak lake but elsewhere. It
may, I think, without doubt be said to be
common over almost every part of Upper
Burma. It is so abundant near Mandalay
that in the large bag of Ducks and Geese
made by Capt. T. S. Johnson and his
party, and to which I have so often made
reference, there were 122 Tufted Ducks
out of a total of 562 birds. Major
G. Rippon informs me that this Duck
is found all over the Southern Shan States.
I did not meet with it in any part of
Lower Burma.

The Tufted Duck occurs over the
whole of Europe and Asia,, being found
in summer up to about the yoth degree
of north latitude* In winter it occurs
over a considerable portion of Northern
Africa, and Southern Asia, from the Red
Sea to China. It occurs as far south as
the Philippines and Borneo, and has even

350 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

been observed in some of the islands
of the Western Pacific Ocean.

The Tufted Scaup Duck arrives in
India as early as the middle of October,
but they are not generally distributed till
the beginning or middle of November.
Most of the birds leave again by the end
of March, but a few linger till nearly the
middle of April. Dr. Jerdon once shot
a specimen of this Duck in the Deccan
in June, but there is no reason to think
that the Tufted Duck ever remains to
breed in India, even in Kashmir.

The Tufted Duck is more of a fresh-
water Duck than the Scaup, being found
on the sea-coast in winter only, and at
other times inland on lakes and ponds.
They occur in very large numbers in
many parts of the Empire. Mr. Hume
says : — " At the Manchar lake, I saw
two enormous flocks. I have repeatedly
seen similar flocks in old times at the
Najjafgarh and other vast jhils in the
Punjab, the North-west Provinces and
Oudh ; and I should guess that at the
Kunkrowli lake in Oodeypore there must
have been nearly ten thousand, covering
the whole centre of the lake,'7

This species is seldom seen on rivers,
Its usual haunts are pieces of open water

The Scaup Ducks. 351

with plenty of submerged weeds and sur-
rounded by reeds. These Ducks feed
by day, constantly diving in search of
shells and all the minute forms of animal
life found in water ; they also bring up
branches and roots of weeds and eat
them, on the surface, at leisure. They
generally keep in the centre of ponds as
far from the banks as possible, and when
pursued they prefer very often to dive
rather than to fly away. Their powers
of diving are unrivalled, as may be judged
from the following incident, narrated by
Mr. Stevenson: — "They are very expert
divers, and the late Mr. Thomas Edwards
states that, having occasion to remove
some pinioned birds from a pond at
Thickthorn, he had the greatest difficulty
in capturing them by means of nets, with
which he succeeded in surrounding them.
One Tufted Duck he could see in the
clear water dive and swim round and
round to find an opening to avoid the
net, and attempt to go down into the
mud at the bottom of the lake, and grub
its way under the net like a rat. This
was done some eight or ten times by
the same bird, and the time it remained
under water was quite extraordinary."
Of the general habits of this Duck

352 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Mr. Hume remarks : — " This species has,
I think, an easier, smoother, and more
rapid flight than most of the other
Pochards, and rises much more rapidly
and with less fluster than these ; but still,
like these, it strikes the water once or
twice with its feet, and makes a loud
splashing sound when rising in numbers.
It swims rather v deep in the water and
very rapidly, and dives constantly, keeping
under water for a surprising time. When
you try to get near them in any slow
native boat, the fresh fowl seldom think
of rising, but swim and dive away from
you quite as quickly as the boat can go.
Even when a gun is fired they do not
always fly ; indeed I have seen a large
flock of several hundred birds disappear
as if by magic — all having dived as if
by one consent. ... At other times they
will rise before you are within a hundred
yards, and taking short flights, plump
down again suddenly into the water, stern
first, as if shot. . . . Though noisy enough
as they splash up in a crowd out of the
water, and recognisable at any time by
the sharp whistling of their wings as they
pass overhead, they are, in winter at any
rate, singularly silent birds when let alone.
When alarmed and flushed, they occasion-

The Scaup Ducks. 353

ally emit the regular grating Pochard call,
kurr, kurr> but not so loudly, I think, as
some of the other species.

" On land I have never once seen
them, but I should expect them to be
clumsy walkers like most of the other
Pochards."

The drakes of this species, when swim-
ming, often appear to have the greater
part of the wing white, whereas there is
in reality no white on the closed wing
except the small speculum. This effect
is due to the wing being nestled in, and
partially hidden by, the long and loose
white feathers of the sides of the body.
Sometimes the bird shakes its wings
and readjusts them outside these white
feathers, and then the wings appear, as
they really are, black. This procedure
can be easily watched with birds of this
species in captivity. These Ducks do
not appear to have the power to raise
their crest.

Of the breeding of the Tufted Scaup
Duck, Seebohm writes : — " The nest is
sometimes placed under a bush by the
side of a pond, sometimes amongst the
rushes, and often in the centre of the tufts,
tussocks or hassocks of sedge, which grow
to a height of two or three feet above

VOL. ii. 23

354 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

the water. It is a mere hollow, lined with
dry sedge or grass, and after the full
complement of eggs is laid, and the
duck has begun to sit, with down. The
number of eggs is usually ten or twelve,
but sometimes only eight are laid, and
occasionally as many as thirteen."

The eggs of this species resemble those
of the Pochard and Scaup, but are rather
smaller. They measure from 2*15 to 2*4
in length and from 1*55 to 1*65 in breadth.

The adult male has the whole head,
the crest, and the upper part of the neck
deep black, with a green or purple gloss,
according to the light in which the bird is
viewed. The lower part of the body, the
mantle, and the upper part of the breast
are black, with a smaller amount of gloss ;
the feathers of the breast margined with
white. The lower part of the breast, the
abdomen, the sides of the body, the
axillaries and the greater part of the under
wing-coverts are white ; the extreme lower
portion of the abdomen, the thighs, and
the under tail-coverts, black. The back
and the scapulars are black, very minutely
speckled with white. The upper wing-
coverts are plain brown. The rump and
the upper tail-coverts are deep black ;
the tail, dark brown. The outer primaries

The Scaup Ducks. 355

have the inner web drab with a blackish
tip ; the outer web blackish. The inner
primaries have the inner web drab, the
outer white or very pale grey, both webs
tipped with blackish. The outer second-
aries are pure white, with broad black
tips ; the inner, black ; the innermost,
very slightly speckled with white.

The adult female has the whole head,
crest and neck, the entire upper plumage
and the tail dark brown, almost black in
parts, the feathers of the back and scapulars
with broad rufous margins, very con-
spicuous just after the autumn moult, but
becoming narrower, or altogether dis-
appearing, as the winter passes. On either
side of the base of the upper mandible
there is a white patch, streaked with brown.
The feathers on the forehead and chin have
light-coloured bases, which form more
or less distinct patches on those parts.
The chest is brown with paler margins.
The breast is dull white, much mottled
with brown, and gradually passing into
the purer white of the upper part of the
abdomen. The lower part of the abdomen,
the thighs, and the under tail-coverts are
brown, each feather with a pale margin.
The feathers on the sides of the body
are rich hair-brown, margined with pale

356 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

rufous. The wings are precisely similar
to those of the male, except that the dark
parts are not of such a deep black.

Of the post-nuptial plumage of the
male, Mr. Dresser writes : — " The summer
plumage of the male, which, as in other
Ducks, is retained for a very short time,
differs from the winter dress in being
browner on the head and neck ; the back
and lower neck are as if powdered with
greyish white, but this powdering is in-
distinct ; the nuchal tuft is much shorter
than in the winter."

Ducklings in down, of both sexes, change
into a first plumage which resembles that
of the adult female, but is of a paler brown.
Young males soon begin to assume some
of the black feathers of the adult male,
especially on the head ; and the pale
patches at the base of the upper mandible
completely" disappear before the head is
entirely black.

Male : length about 17 ; wing 8 ; tail 2|.
Female : length about 15^; wing 7^ ; tail 2.
The bill is bluish, with the tip black ; the
irides yellow ; the legs and feet vary from
leaden to light greyish blue, with the webs
.black. In young birds, the irides appear
to be brownish white. Weight up to a
little more than 2 Ib.

THE GOLDEN-EYES.

THE Golden-eye is the sole Indian repre-
sentative of ,a very pretty group of Diving
Ducks which is found distributed over a
great part of the northern hemisphere.
The plumage of these birds is black and
white or brown and white.

In the Golden-eyes, the bill is very
short and gradually tapers towards the tip.
The legs are short and the feet large, as
is the case with all the Diving Ducks.
The head is not distinctly crested, but
the feathers of the crown and of the hind-
neck are considerably lengthened. The
sexes are differently coloured, but preserve
the same pattern of plumage. The dark
axillaries and the white speculum should
render these birds easy of identification
at all ages.

357

121. THE GOLDEN-EYE.

Clangula clangula, (LINN/EUS).*

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;

inner web drab, with a blackish

tip.

Axillaries uniformly blackish or brown.
The middle secondaries entirely white.
Head and upper neck dark, sharply

defined from the white of the lower

neck.

MALE :— Head black, with a white patch
on each cheek.

FEMALE :— Head chocolate-brown ; no
white patch on the cheeks.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Burgee, Punjab.

THE Golden-eye has been met with in
India on so very few occasions that it
may justly be looked upon as a very rare
visitor. It has only been observed hitherto
in Sind, the Punjab and the North-west
Provinces, but I have good reason to

* Clangula glaucion of the British Museum
Catalogue.

358

The Golden-eyes. 359

think that it will be obtained in Upper
Burma.

The first Indian-killed specimen of this
species appears to have been got by Sir
A. Burnes on the Indus river. Subse-
quently, Colonel Yerbury shot another
specimen on the same river. This bird
is preserved in the British Museum. Mr.
R. N. Stoker observed this species, and
shot several specimens, at Ghazi and
Hasanpur, on the Indus above Attock,
in December, and he has given full parti-
culars regarding these birds in " Stray
Feathers," voL x,, pp. 424 and 515.

The Golden-eye has occurred once only
in the North-west Provinces, where Dr.
Bonavia obtained a drake which had been
captured by fowlers near Lucknow.

When travelling on the upper reaches
of the Irrawaddy river between Sinbo and
Myitkyina, I frequently observed small
flocks of Ducks which I am strongly of
opinion were Golden-eyes. I was, how-
ever, always in a noisy paddle-steamer, and
these Ducks would never allow it to ap-
proach nearer than 300 or 400 yards, and
under these circumstances it is impossible
to be quite certain of the species. I hope
that sportsmen at Myitkyina, who may have
facilities for travelling about in canoes,

360 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

will be more fortunate than myself, and
settle the question of whether the Golden-
eye occurs in the upper Irrawaddy or not.

The Golden-eye is one of those Ducks
which has a very wide distribution, being
found over the greater part of the
northern hemisphere. In summer it
occurs up to, and within, the Arctic Circle,
and in winter it ranges down the American
continent to Mexico ; to Southern
Europe and Northern Africa ; and to many
parts of Southern Asia.

There is nothing on record regarding the
habits of the Golden-eye in the East, and
I shall therefore give my readers a number
of interesting notes extracted from the
writings of European authors.

Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey remarks : —
" The Golden-eye, like the Pochard, fre-
quents inland lakes in some numbers, but
is always a wary bird and difficult of
approach. The wings of this species are
so short and stiff in proportion to its
weight and size, and are forced to beat
so quickly to project its body, that a
distinct whistle may be heard as it flies
by. ... To get within shot of a number
of Golden-eyes is an unusual feat in open
water. The man, or men, and punt that
can do this need not fear failure with

The Golden-eyes. 361

other fowl. Scaup or Pochard that may
have been under water at the moment of
firing, after finishing their dive for food
at leisure, will startle the fowler by rising
close to him as he pushes up to gather
his cripples. Golden-eyes seem to know
when their companions are leaving the
surface in fright, and will at once spring
up and follow to join the rest. I never
knew them incautiously rise within range
after a shot, like the other species alluded
to."

The author of the " Birds of Somerset-
shire," Mr. Cecil Smith, has some excellent
remarks on the way the Golden-eye often
escapes after being wounded. He says :
—"The Golden-eye is a very expert
swimmer and diver, so much so, that, like
many others of this family, it is often a
work of considerable difficulty to recover
a winged bird if it falls into the water. . . .
In inland waters where there are rushes
and weeds these birds — and even the
Wild Duck, which is not nearly so much
of a diver — dive into some weedy part,
where they lie perfectly concealed, allow-
ing nothing but a very small portion of
the bill, just enough to admit air, to
appear above water : if there are no weeds
I have known them conceal themselves

362 Ma mi a I of the Ga me Birds of India .

in the same way under cover of any over-
hanging grass or unevenness of the bank ;
and so quietly do they rise for the purpose,
putting their bills above water, that even
in a still quiet pond hardly any circles are
made on the water by this operation to
attract attention. In the open sea, perhaps,
it is more difficult for them to escape in
this way, especially on a calm day ; but
still I am sure they do so occasionally,
making use of any little bit of floating
sea-weed to conceal themselves, or even
without any such help, if they make a
good long dive, they may still escape, so
small an object as the bill of a bird being
difficult to distinguish at any considerable
distance, especially if the bird happens to
get just in the glare of the sun upon the
water : of course in rough weather the
difficulty in seeing the bill of the bird is
considerably increased. In no other way
can I account for their sudden disappear-
ance ; just when I have almost been in
the act of putting out my hand to take
a wounded bird into the boat there is
a splash and a dive, and sometimes the
bird is never seen again : it certainly does
not die under water, or it would rise to
the surface and be easily seen."

Mr. John Cordeaux observes in his

The Golden-eyes. 363

"Birds of the Humber District":— "These
Ducks swim rather high in the water.
They are expert divers. A fine old male,
which I watched for nearly an hour on
the 26th January, 1869, swimming and
diving in our creek, remained immersed,
on the average, from forty-five to fifty
seconds, continuing on the surface between
each dive about twelve seconds, conse-
quently spending four-fifths of its time
under water."

Mr. Abel Chapman thus writes about
Golden-eyes in his work on Bird-Life of the
Borders : — " These, on first arrival, are
quite tame and easily approached in a punt,
before which they continue stupidly swim-
ming away even when within fair shot. But
a few weeks later, as soon as they have
acquired experience of the dangers of the
coast, Golden-eyes are among the wildest of
all wild fowl ; indeed, with the Mergansers
they are perhaps the only birds which, on
open water, it is wholly useless to try to
approach in a gunning punt. Golden-
eyes, when on the coast, spend the night
at sea, flying up in twos and threes into
the estuaries at the dawn ; and their haunts
are the deep-water channels of the harbour,
especially those with sandy or shingly
bottoms, where they continue diving

364 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

ceaselessly all day long. Their food con-
sists of shrimps, small shell-fish and
marine insects, besides, to a lesser degree,
the sea-grass and other vegetable matter.
This latter they often carry up from the
bottom and eat at their leisure on the
surface. I would not have thought them
sufficiently agile to catch any of the true
fishes, but one day last winter (Dec. 5th),
while watching a Golden-eye busily diving
among the ice on a small (inland) pool,

I was surprised to see it catch several fish.
Every third or fourth dive, it brought up
a small silvery fish — sticklebacks probably
— which it spent some time tugging at and
chewing on the surface before finally
swallowing."

Seebohm has the following general
remarks on the habits of this species :—

II The Golden-eye chooses for its breeding-
grounds a combination of forest, lake,
river and marsh, and when the ice drives
it southwards it prefers a similar locality ;
but if such be not easily found it whiles
away the winter months on the sea-coast.
It is remarkable for its noisy flight, its
rapidly moved wings whistling in the
wind as it passes overhead. It makes
also a great splashing in the water when
it rises, but does not readily take wing,

The Golden- eyes. 365

as it is a most expert swimmer and diver.
It is one of the shyest of Ducks, and very
difficult to shoot. It makes the same
grating sound when calling to its fellows
during flight as the Scaup and the Tufted
Duck. It is a clumsy walker on the land,
and lives almost entirely on the water,
feeding on nearly every kind of both
animal and vegetable food that its un-
rivalled powers of diving enable it to find
at the bottom : small fish, young frogs,
shell-fish, insects, the seeds and buds or
tender leaves of water-plants, nothing
comes amiss to. it.

" But the most remarkable fact in the
history of the Golden-eye is its habit of
occasionally perching on the bare branch
of some forest tree, and of discovering a
hole in the trunk, sometimes quite a small
one, but leading to a hollow inside, where
it deposits its eggs on the rotten chips of
wood without any nest, like a woodpecker.
These breeding-places are sometimes a
considerable distance from the ground.
In the valley of the Petchora I have seen
one at least five-and-twenty feet from the
ground; but one I saw in the valley of
the Yenesay was not more than half as
high. It has been seen to convey its
young one by one down to the water

366 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

pressed between its bill and its breast.
In many places the natives take advantage
of this choice of a nesting-site and put up
boxes with small entrance-holes in the
side. It is glad enough to avail itself of
these convenient situations, but generally
pays the penalty of its trustfulness by
having its eggs robbed by the hard-hearted
peasants. To rob a nest for the sake of
a museum that may give pleasure to
hundreds of students for scores of years
is one thing, but to do so for sport or food
is another. Where a hollow tree-trunk
cannot be found a hollow branch is often
selected, and in some parts of Germany,
where the forests are too well farmed
to admit of the existence of hollow
trees, the Golden-eye, according to Nau-
mann, breeds on the top of pollard
willows or even amongst the reeds on the
ground."

Referring to the nesting-boxes which
the peasants of Northern Europe hang up
for these Ducks to nest in, Mr. Dresser
remarks : — " These are frequently hung
up close to the peasants' huts ; and even
then the Golden-eye will nest in them.
The bottom of the hollow tree or nest-
box is neatly lined by the old bird with
down, and on this soft bed the eggs,

The Golden-eyes. 367

which vary in number from ten or twelve
to seventeen or even nineteen, are de-
posited. When hatched the young birds
are carried by the female in her beak
down to the ground or to the water, one
after another being taken down until the
entire brood is taken in safety from the
elevated nesting-place."

The British Museum contains a con-
siderable series of the eggs of this species.
The eggs are oval or sometimes elliptical,
with a smooth surface and a fair amount
of gloss. In colour they are a greyish
green of different shades, and they measure
from 2 'i to 2 '4 in length by 1*55 to 1*75
in breadth.

The down is pale lavender-grey with
paler centres.

The adult male has the head and upper
neck black, glossed with green and purple.
There is a large white patch on each
cheek. The lower neck, the upper part
of the mantle, the sides of the breast, the
breast itself and the lower plumage are
white ; the parts near the thighs being
more or less brown, and the long feathers
of the flanks margined with black on the
inner web. The lower part of the mantle,
the back, the rump and the upper tail-
coverts are black. The inner scapulars

368 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

are black ; the outer white, with the outer
webs partially margined with black. The
upper wing-coverts, round the edge of
the wing, are black. The remaining
coverts are white, the lower series with
concealed black bases. The inner webs
of the primaries are drab with black tips ;
the outer webs entirely blackish. The
first few outer secondaries are black, with
some white on their inner webs. The
others are white. The long, pointed,
inner secondaries are black. The tail is
dark brown, tipped paler. The under
wing-coverts and the axillaries are uni-
formly blackish.

In post-nuptial plumage, the drake re-
sembles the duck, but retains the pure
white upper wing-coverts of the winter
plumage.

The adult female has the head and
upper neck chocolate-brown, followed by
an imperfect white collar. The upper
part of the mantle, the chest and the sides
of the breast are dark slaty grey, each
feather with a whitish margin. The back
and the upper part of the rump are black-
ish brown, the feathers with grey margins.
The lower part of the rump and the upper
tail-coverts are plain blackish brown. The
tail is ashy brown. The breast and the

The Golden-eyes. 369

lower plumage are white, the part about
the thighs being brown. The feathers on
the sides of the body are ashy brown,
tipped with white. The axillaries and the
under wing-coverts are uniformly brown,
The scapulars are blackish brown, tipped
paler, and mixed with some white ex-
ternally. The upper wing-coverts are dark
brown, more or less edged and mottled
with white; the lower series have brown
tips and concealed black bases. The
primaries and the secondaries resemble
those of the male bird.

Young ducklings of both sexes change
from the down into a plumage which
closely resembles the plumage of the adult
female. During the winter and early
spring young males may be found in
every stage of intermediate plumage be-
tween that of the adult male and that of
the adult female.

Male : length about 18 ; wing 9 ; tail 4.
Female: length about 16; wing rather
more than 8; tail 3|. In the male the
bill is black ; in the female brown, with
some yellow towards the tip ; the irides
are yellow ; the legs and feet vary from
yellow to orange-yellow, with the webs
blackish. In some females and young
males there is a yellow bar across the

VOL. it. 24

370 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

middle of the bill. Weight up to about
if Ib.

Closely allied to the Golden-eyes are
the Scoters. They are marine Ducks,
but they sometimes also occur inland. No
Scoter has yet been known to visit India,
but in the course of time a straggler may
be picked up within our limits. I shall
indicate the species which occur in Asia.

All the Scoters resemble the Golden-
eyes in the pattern of the primaries, the
inner webs being drab, with a dark tip ;
the outer webs, entirely dark brown. The
axillaries are black or brown. The plumage
of the males is black, that of the females
brown, and it is varied in some species
by the presence of a small amount of
white on the head and wings.

THE COMMON SCOTER (CEdemia nigra).
— This species has no white whatever on
the plumage ; the male being glossy black
throughout, and the female brown, paler
beneath, and with the throat and the sides
of the head grey. The male has a large
black knob at the base of the upper man-
dible, and the space in front, yellow ; the
female has no knob, but the middle

The Golden-eyes. 371

portion of the upper mandible is yellowish,
much as in the male. N.-W. Asia.

THE AMERICAN SCOTER ((Edemia ameri-
cand). — Very like the Common Scoter.
The male has the knob on the bill yellow,
not black. The female appears to be un-
distinguishable from the female of the
Common Scoter. N.-E. Asia.

THE VELVET SCOTER ((Edemia fused).

THE EASTERN SCOTER ((Edemia carbo).
—These two species are very closely
allied, so much so that it is difficult
to separate them from mere description.
The Velvet Scoter, should it ever occur in
India, will probably be found in the north-
west part of the Empire. The Eastern
Scoter will be found in Burma and the
Shan States only. Both species may be
recognised at a glance, and separated
from the Common and the American
Scoter by the white patch on the second-
aries. The males of both species also
have the lower eyelid white ; and the
females have two whitish patches on the
side of the head. The Velvet Scoter
occurs in north-western Asia ; the Eastern
Scoter in north-eastern Asia, Japan and
China.

In this place should also be noticed : —

372 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

THE LONG-TAILED DUCK (Harelda
gladalis). — It occurs throughout a con-
siderable portion of Northern and Central
Asia, and has been obtained on the Caspian
Sea and in China. It may therefore
straggle into India. In the pattern of the
primaries and in the colour of the axillaries
it resembles the Golden-eye, but no portion
of the quills of the wing is white. These
characters will suffice to separate the
Long-tailed Duck from the Golden-eye
and all other Indian Ducks, at all ages.
The adult male has a large portion of
the plumage white ; and the central tail-
feathers are greatly lengthened. The
female has the plumage of a dull brown
colour and the middle tail-feathers are
not lengthened.

THE STIFF-TAILED DUCKS.

THE Ducks of this group are very widely
distributed over the world, but only one
species occurs in India.

The tail of all these Ducks is of very
remarkable construction, being composed
of eighteen very narrow stiff feathers
of considerable length. The upper and
under tail-coverts are, at the same time,
extremely short, so that the tail-feathers
become very prominent. The Indian
species, in addition to its curious tail,
has the base of the upper mandible
much enlarged, and the whole bill
coloured blue, so that its general appear-
ance is very grotesque.

The character of the plumage is barred,
and the two sexes are not very differently
coloured. The speculum is of the same
colour as the rest of the wing, which is
extremely small. The feet are very
powerful, the middle toe being quite
double the length of the tarsus. The
head is not crested. The bill is short

373

374 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

and wide, and somewhat broader near the
tip than at the base.

As the sexes in this Duck are so much
alike, it is improbable that the drake
should have a post-nuptial phase of plum-
age. On the other hand, it is possible
that the drake undergoes a partial moult
in the spring, as well as a complete moult
in the autumn.

122. THE STIFF-TAILED DUCK.

Erismatura leucocephala, (SCOPOLI).

Primaries nearly uniform drab brown,

with darker tips.
Axillaries white.
Under tail-coverts cross-barred.
Base of the upper mandible much

swollen.
Tail composed of narrow, stiff feathers,

projecting fully three inches beyond

their coverts.

MALE :—The whole head, except the

crown, pure white.
FEMALE :— Only the chin, the throat,

and a broad band under the eye white.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — None known.

THE Stiff-tailed Duck has been obtained
several times in India, but in places so
remote from each other that we may
safely predict that it will eventually be
observed over the whole of Northern
India.

The first Indian-killed specimen was
shot by Mr. F. Field. He says of this :
—" I shot this bird on the 28th of October

375

376 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

at the f old nullah,' about a mile from the
Civil Station of Loodhiana, Punjab. It
was sitting alone in a pool. I stalked up
close behind some reeds, and then showed
myself, expecting to see it fly. All it did
was to cock its little stiff, thin pointed tail,
and swim off in a quiet way for some ten
yards. Its appearance, while swimming
with its tail turned upward, was most
peculiar. I tried to frighten it into
flying, but it would not rise, so I shot it
while swimming."

The next recorded specimen was ob-
tained by Mr. W. N. Chill in the Najafgarh
jhil near Delhi. A third was also obtained
by this gentleman near the same locality
on the 28th of October of the same year.
He subsequently got two more Ducks of
this species near Faruknagger. Mr. Lean
of the 5th Bengal Cavalry shot a bird of
this species in the Pilibheet District.
Mr. T. Bomford was fortunate enough to
acquire a specimen of this Duck in
February at Multan Keengurh on the
bank of the Indus river.

In the British Museum there is a skin
of this species which was obtained at
Peshawar in March by General Kinloch,
and another at Delhi by Lieut. J. H.
Grant in January.

The Stiff-tailed Ducks. 3)7

Mr. F. Finn procured two specimens
of this Duck in the Calcutta market,
and he informs us that Capt. E. D. White
shot one between Lucknow and Bareilly
on the 22nd of January, in heavy
moult ; also that Capt. H. J. Sherwood,
obtained three specimens in December
in the Ganges Kadar, 20 miles south of
Roorki, and that Lieut. C. R. Bushe met
with one bird of this species at Sialkote,
Punjab, in February,

The distribution of the Stiff-tailed
Duck is very similar to that of the Marbled
Duck. It appears to be migratory, but
to no great extent. The birds that
visit India probably come from Turke-
stan. It occurs in Spain ; on both the
southern and northern shores of the
Mediterranean, straggling sometimes into
Central Europe, and is found through
Palestine and South-western Asia as far
as Turkestan. It is also said to occur in
Southern Siberia.

This Duck does not appear to be
common anywhere, and its history can
only be arrived at by the joining together
of fragmentary notes. Mr. A. B. Brooke,
writing of this bird in Sardinia, says : —
"They were not numerous, and seemed
to go singly or in pairs ; and I never saw

378 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

more than two together, more frequently
single birds. I watched a fine old male
one day, for a long time, feeding by
himself in the middle of a small lake,
but always safely out of shot ; he was
diving strongly and vigorously, dashing
himself under the water, where he re-
mained a considerable time. Their
peculiar attitude in the water, along with
their short, broad, pale-blue bill, gives
them a most quaint appearance."

Mr. J. Whitehead observed this Duck
in Corsica. He writes : — " The first of
these curious Ducks I shot on i4th April ;
it was a male. On the yth May, in
the same pond, I noticed two males and
three females. The males were rushing
after one another, every now and then
stopping short beside the females, and
hoisting their very peculiar tails straight
in the air, spreading out every feather to
its utmost, until the tails looked exactly
like a hand with all the fingers spread
out. They were still in the same place
on 28th May and, no doubt, had nests."

Canon Tristram tells us that on the
Halloula Lake, in Northern Africa, "we
found two nests of the White-headed Duck
(Erismatura mersa) among the sedge,
containing, the one three, the other eight

The Stiff-tailed Ducks. 379

eggs. These are very large for the size of
the bird, almost perfectly elliptical in shape,
and a line longer and wider than those
of the Velvet Scoter, of an extremely
rough texture, unlike that of any other
Duck, more resembling the egg of the
Bean-Goose, but far more coarsely grained,
and of a dull white colour. The habits
and flight of the bird are more like those
of a Grebe than a Duck ; it often saves
itself by diving, and remains under water
for a considerable time."

Writing of Transylvania, Messrs. Dan-
ford and Harvie Brown say :— " This
curious Duck, which we found in Mezoseg,
is not very common. We met with a
flock of nine or ten birds at a small reedy
lake near Zah ; but, owing to the difficulty
of paddling the wretched square-ended
canoes or punts (csonak), the only substi-
tutes for boats in the country, we found
great difficulty in getting near them, and
for some days only succeeded in shooting
one male, and that at very long range.
A couple of days before our departure,
however, we were more fortunate ; the
birds were tamer, and let us get a number
of long shots, by which we killed three
more males and a female. They never
attempted to leave the lake, but after a

380 Manual of tht Game Birds of India.

short rapid flight pitched again, generally
about the same place. They swam very
fast, keeping their stiff woodpecker-like
tails erect at right angles with the body,
and when wounded, though they dived con-
stantly, showed no disposition to escape,
like other Ducks, by hiding among the
reeds, but, on the contrary, avoided them.
The bill of the male, when newly killed,
is of a beautiful pure ultramarine, this
colour extending even to the interior of
the mouth. It soon fades, being merely
connected with a thin, easily moved mem-
brane ; and in twenty-four hours the bill
loses its brilliant appearance, turning to a
brownish grey."

Mr. F. Finn tells us that a captive
specimen in Calcutta floated low in the
water, but not submerged, and the tail
was kept more or less raised above the
level of the back.

The authors I have quoted regard-
ing the habits of this Duck, seem agreed
that this bird, when swimming, holds
its tail more or less erect, but we find
Mr. Abel Chapman telling us that the
tail of this Duck is carried under water
as a rudder. He and Mr. W. J. Buck
in their charming book, " Wild Spain,"
say : —

The Stiff-tailed Ducks. 38 1

" Presently the binocular rested on six
of the most extraordinary wild-fowl we
ever met with — gambolling and splashing
about on the water, chasing each other,
now above now beneath its surface like a
school of porpoises ; they appeared half
birds, half water-tortoises, with which the
lagoon abounds. We were well sheltered
by a fringe7 of sedges, and presently the
strangers entered a small reed-margined
bight, swimming very deep, only their
turtle-shaped backs and heavy heads in
sight. Here we crept down on them,
and as they sat, splashing and preening
in the shallow water, stopped three — two
dead, the third escaping, winged. They
proved to be a duck and drake of the
White-fronted Duck, Erismatura mersa —
heavily built diving-ducks, round in the
back, broad and flat in the chest, with
small wings like a Grebe, and long, stiff
tails like a Cormorant — the latter, being
carried under water as a rudder, is not
visible when the bird is swimming. The
enormously swollen bill of the drake —
pale waxen blue in colour — completed
as singular a picture of a feathered fowl
as the writer ever came across : they
were, in fact, no less remarkable in form
and colour, now we had them in hand,

382 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

than they had at first appeared in the
water."

The eggs of this Duck, of which there
is a large series in the British Museum
from Spain, Algeria, the Dobrudscha and
Southern Russia, are well described by
Canon Tristram in his note, above quoted.
I have only to add that many of the eggs
have a very pale tinge of green. They
are out of all proportion to the size of
the bird, and measure from 2*6 to 2*8 in
length, and from 1*95 to 2*05 in breadth.
Most of the eggs are truly elliptical, but
a few are slightly pointed at one end.

The perfectly adult male has the crown
of the head black. With this exception,
the whole head is white, followed by a
broad black collar which covers nearly
the whole neck. The upper part of the
breast, its sides, and the whole of the sides
of the body are closely cross-barred with
rich chestnut-brown and black. The
lower breast and the abdomen are brown,
each feather broadly tipped with satin-
white or very pale grey. These tips fail
to conceal the main brown portion of
the feathers, and the lower plumage presents
the appearance of being barred, in a very
irregular manner, with brown and grey.
The under tail-coverts are pale fulvous,

The Stiff-tailed Ducks. 383

cross-barred with black. The mantle is
reddish brown, closely vermiculated with
blackish. The back, the scapulars, and
the long flank-feathers, which reach
nearly to the tip of the upper tail-coverts,
are closely vermiculated and speckled with
black and pale fulvous. The rump is
cross-barred with black and grey. The
upper tail-coverts are chestnut ; the tail
blackish brown. The upper wing-coverts
are brown, speckled with fulvous. The
primaries are pale drab-brown, rather
darker on the outer web and at the tip
than on the inner web. The outer second-
aries are of much the same colour as the
primaries, but the inner, long secondaries
are much darker brown. The outer
web of all the secondaries is mottled
with fulvous. The axillaries are pure
white ; the under wing-coverts are mixed
ashy and white.

Younger males differ from the adult
males, above described, in having the
feathers of the crown brown, often tipped
with fulvous. The breast-feathers are
broadly tipped with very bright golden-
fulvous, without a trace of black bars.
The hindneck is dark brown, but the
other parts of the broad collar round the
neck are grey or fulvous, closely barred

384 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

with dark brown. The upper plumage is
of a richer fulvous, and the lower plumage
is often suffused with rich golden brown.
Males in this state of plumage often have
the upper tail-coverts barred as in the
female ; not chestnut, as in the adult
male.

The series of males of this species in
the British Museum, which bear dated
labels, were procured from December to
March, and the un-dated specimens appear
to be birds in ordinary winter plumage.
Many of these exhibit one or two tiny
white feathers mixed with the dark ones
on the crown. It is difficult to account
for the presence of these white feathers,
except on the supposition that in summer
the drake acquires a white crown, in place
of the dark one. That birds in this
plumage have not yet been observed is
not remarkable, seeing how little is known
of many of the common Ducks in
summer plumage. The Stiff-tailed Duck
is at all times a rare bird, occurs in countries
where observers are not numerous, and
the drake may well have been overlooked
in summer, even by those naturalists who
have found the nest.

The adult female differs from the male
chiefly in respect to the colour of the

The Stiff-tailed Ducks. 385

head. The whole of the forehead and
crown, to a point below the eye, are rich
brown. A broad white band runs from
the base of the upper mandible, on either
side, to the back of the head, followed
below by a broad brown band. The chin
and throat, and the whole space between
these brown bands, are pure white. The
hindneck is brown and the broad collar
round the neck is grey or fulvous, closely
barred with dark brown as in the male.
The other parts of the plumage and the
wings do not differ from the same parts in
the male, except that the upper tail-coverts,
are cross-barred like the rump, not plain
chestnut.

Male : length about 17 ; wing 6| ; tail 4.
Female : length about 16 ; wing 6 ; tail 3^.
The bill in old drakes is blue ; in females
and young males, dull plumbeous. The
irides are dark brown. The legs and feet
are bluish black. The weight of this Duck
does not appear to have been recorded.

VOL. ii. 25

THE MERGANSERS.

THE Mergansers or Saw-bills differ from
all other Ducks in having a narrow bill,
quite unlike that of an ordinary Duck,
and furnished on the margins of both
mandibles with a series of distinct sharp-
pointed, saw-like teeth, curving backwards.
The Mergansers have longer wings and
lighter bodies for their size than the
diving Ducks, and are more powerful
on the wing. They have the primaries
coloured as in the True Ducks, but the con-
trast between the two webs of each quill
is perhaps not quite so strong. Like the
Ducks also, the males have a post-nuptial
plumage, apparently very closely resem-
bling that of the female. The Mergansers
have strong feet, the toes being much
longer than the tarsus, and these birds
possess unrivalled powers of diving.

The Mergansers may be divided into
two minor sections : the Mergansers and
the Smews.

The Mergansers are of about the size of
an ordinary Duck. The bill is about the
386

The Mergansers. 387

length of the head, and extremely narrow.
The crown is furnished with a conspicuous
crest in both sexes. In the Goosander,
the crest of the male is thick and bushy,
and about one and a half inch in length \
that of the female is longer, some of the
feathers measuring two and a half inches
in length, and more pointed. In the
Red-breasted Merganser, the crest of the
male is very narrow and straight, and in
a measure double, the longest feathers
measuring about three inches. The female
has a much shorter crest, also narrow and
straight, the feathers seldom exceeding a
length of an inch and a half.

Mr. W. P. Pycraft has kindly drawn
my attention to the very peculiar formation
of the trachea in the Mergansers, by
means of which the sexes may be deter-
mined without dissection or regard to
plumage. The trachea of the male
Goosander has two enlargements ; that of
the female only one. In the male Red-
breasted Merganser, the trachea has one
enlargement ; that of the female has none
at all. These enlargements, or the absence
of them, can be easily felt by passing the
forefinger and thumb down the sides of
the neck of the birds, from the head to
the base of the neck.

388 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

The Smew is about the size of a Wigeon.
The bill is very small, and much broader
at the base than at the tip. The crown
of the head of both sexes is furnished
with a bushy crest, about one inch in
length.

The differences between the Goosander
of India and the Goosander of Europe
and Northern Asia are very small, and I
do not follow Count Salvador! in keeping
the two races distinct. The male of the
Indian bird has ordinarily broader black
margins to the inner long secondaries ;
the female has the crown of the head
tinged with grey.

More than thirty years ago, Gould
described a species of Merganser from
China. The bird is now in the British
Museum, and is the only specimen of
the species known. In the general colour
of its plumage, it resembles the female
of the Red-breasted Merganser. It is
obviously an immature male, and has
already acquired some black feathers on
the back and the double-barred wing of
the adult male. This species, named
Mergus squamattts by Gould, is remark-
able in that it has the sides of the breast
and the sides of the body pale buff, each
feather with a double crescentic black

The Mergansers. 389

band, one within the other, and parallel
to the margin of the feather. If this bird
really came from China, and Gould
expresses no doubt on the matter, it may
be looked for in Upper Burma and the
Shan States.

No other species of Merganser can be
expected to occur within our limits.

123. THE GOOSANDER.

Merganser merganser^ (LINNVEUS).*

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;
inner web drab, with a blackish tip.

Axillaries and under tail-coverts pure
white.

Margins of the bill furnished with saw-
like teeth.

No black band across the white of the
folded wing.

MALE:— Head black, sharply defined
from the white neck ; sides of the body
pure white.

FEMALE:— Head and neck chestnut-
brown, sharply denned from the body-
plumage; sides of the body grey,
freckled with white.

VERNACULAR NAMES :— None known.

THE Goosander is a permanent resident
in the Himalayas from Kashmir to Assam ;
and a not uncommon winter visitor to the
plains of the northern part of the Empire.

* Merganser castor and Merganser cqmatus of
the British Museum Catalogue.

399

The Merga users. 391

This Duck has been observed in so many
localities in the plains that it is unneces-
sary to trace its distribution in any great
detail, and I propose to indicate only a few
points which may be considered, so far as
we know at present, its southern limits.

The bird, said to be of this species,
which was procured by Mr. E. H. Aitken
in the Bombay harbour, from the fact
that it was found on salt water, was
presumably a Red-breasted Merganser.
Omitting Bombay, therefore, from con-
sideration, and commencing on the west,
we find this bird recorded from Dera
Ismail Khan and next from Ajmere. In
the Central Provinces it has been obtained
as far south as Raipur and Sambulpur.
It is fairly common in Chutia Nagpur as
far down as Singbhum, and it has been
observed in Bengal at Bancura and
Bardwan, not very far north of Calcutta.
This species is found throughout Assam
and the mountain streams of the ranges
of hills extending to Sylhet and Cachar,
and it is very abundant in the upper
reaches of the Irrawaddy river from Sinbo
to Myitkyina.

In the Himalayas this species is found
in summer at elevations above 10,000
feet. In winter it comes down to below

392 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

2,000 feet, and no doubt most of the birds
scatter themselves over the plains.

The Goosander occurs over the whole
continent of Europe and a great part of
the continent of Asia. In summer this
species is found within the Arctic circle.
In winter it moves down to Southern and
Central Europe and rarely to north-west
Africa. It occurs at that season in China
and Japan. In Central Asia and the
Himalayas it appears to be more or less
of a constant resident, moving vertically
according to season, or migrating short
distances only, as from the Himalayas,
for instance, to the neighbouring plains
of India.

In the plains, the Goosander arrives
about the end of November and leaves
in March.

The Goosander is a common bird in
the Upper Irrawaddy, and occurs in small
parties of from two or three to six. Owing
to my being obliged to travel about in
steamers, I never succeeded in shooting
one of these birds, but Commander A. C.
Yorstoun kindly procured one and sent
me the skin for identification. These
birds are by no means very wild, but they
generally keep out of gun-range. They
frequent the clearest parts of the river,

The Mergansers. 393

where the current is strong and the water
flows over a pebbly bottom. I have never
seen them near mud and weeds, and I
believe that they eat nothing but fish. They
dive incessantly and come up in the most
unexpected places. They dive both up
and down stream and remain a very con-
siderable time under water. Frequently
they sit fairly high on the water, but they
possess the power of submerging the
body, and when alarmed or wounded, or
swimming up-stream, little more than the
head and neck is visible above water.
From the backward position of the legs
of this Duck, it might be imagined that
it could hardly walk, but Mr. Finn
assures us that the Goosander walks as
well as most Ducks. The cry of this
species is usually a harsh croak, but
Mr. Booth describes the note of the
female and young birds as a low plaintive
whistle. The flesh of the Goosander, as
might be expected, is remarkably rank
and is not fit for the table.

The Goosander is almost invariably
found in fresh waters, and it is only in
very severe frosty weather that it goes to
sea. It has a preference for clear water
flowing over pebbles and rocks, and it is
seldom found far from forest-

394 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

I reproduce the following remarks on
the Goosander from Mr. E. T. Booth's
" Rough Notes " :— " An adult female
with her half-fledged brood resting quietly
in the bright sunshine on the unruffled
surface of one of the larger lochs, presents
a sight that would doubtless prove puzzling
to one unacquainted with the habits of
these singular birds. The female, ever
on the alert for the first signs of danger,
floats motionless with her head drawn
back and beak resting on the feathers of
the breast, the youngsters by whom she
is surrounded appearing to vary in colour
from a creamy salmon to a dull slate.
One moment half or three-fourths of the
brood show up the former conspicuous
tint, while shortly after a transformation
takes place and the colours are reversed.
A glance through a strong binocular at
once solves the mystery, and reveals the
half-fledged juveniles spreading themselves
out to enjoy the warmth of the sun.
From time to time a portion of the brood
turn over on their backs, remaining often
in this position for several seconds ; the
next minute a bird or two may be seen,
each with one foot flapping in the air and
paddling slowly round with the other ;
while engaged in these antics the bright

The Mergansers. 395

colours of the underpart are clearly exposed
to view. . . .

" Throughout the districts in which I
met with Goosanders during the breeding
season, the females appeared in some
instances to resort to situations for
nesting purposes at a considerable eleva-
tion on the hills. A cavity in a large
and partially decayed birch was pointed
out by a keeper as the spot from which
some eggs (previously seen in his pos-
session) had been taken. The old and
weather-beaten stump was on the out-
skirts of a thicket of birch, fir, and
alder, stretching from a swamp up a steep
brae, and within a mile of a loch on which
I have repeatedly watched two or three
broods. The tree was carefully examined,
and I noticed that down from the breast
of the bird was still clinging to the rotten
wood ; the general appearance also of the
rubbish in the hollow left little doubt as
to the truth of the statement. . . .

" Goosanders are blessed with a strong,
healthy appetite, their visits at times
proving exceedingly distasteful to the
custodians of lakes and rivers. When
wounded or alarmed, I have occasionally
remarked that an immense quantity of
fish was thrown up. After a shot with a

396 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

punt-gun, some winters back, on Heigham
Sounds, in the east of Norfolk, at a
number of these birds sitting with other
fowl at the edge of a wake on the ice,
scores of small rudd and roach were dis-
covered lying on the surface where the
flock had been resting. On the upper
waters of the Lyon, in Perthshire, while
concealed among the alders on the bank
of the river, I watched, at the distance
of only a few yards, eight or ten immature
birds diving for food in the shallows
among some large stones. At last the
party appeared satisfied, and paddled
slowly to some ledges of rock, apparently
with the intention of landing, when, offer-
ing a good chance, five were stopped with
the two barrels. The quantity of trout,
all perfectly fresh, that were shaken from
their throats would have more than half
filled a moderately sized fish-creel.

" When unmolested this species is by
no means shy ; in many of the Highland
glens I have seen them resting on the
stones by the river-side, within a short
distance of the road, paying little or no
attention to the traffic."

The nest of the Goosander has not yet
been taken in the Himalayas, and we owe
all we know regarding the breeding of this

The Mergansers. 397

bird to European writers. Mr. Robert
Read, writing to Dr. Sharpe, says : — " A
nest which I found in Perthshire was
in the head of a hollow wych-elm in a
steep wood sloping down to a large fresh-
water loch. It contained twelve eggs of
a buffish tint, the last laid being much
paler than the others. It consisted simply
of a mass of down of a pale lavender-
colour, almost white, with which was
mixed up a lot of chips and fine particles
of rotten wood."

Mr. Seebohm writes : — " The favourite
nesting-place of the Goosander is in a
hollow tree-trunk ; but in localities where
such sites are not plentiful, it shows con-
siderable fertility of resource and capa-
bility of adaptation to circumstances in
choosing the best substitute. On these
occasions, however, it often displays more
wit than wisdom. As the House-Martin
has discovered that under the eaves of
a roof a better shelter for its nest is to
be found than under an overhanging cliff,
so the Goosander immediately avails itself
of the wooden boxes which the Finns
fasten up in the trees to tempt them,
These boxes, or " holkar," are made with
a trap-door behind, so that the peasant
may daily rob the nest, and thus make

398 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

the too-confiding bird lay a score or more
eggs before the wary man thinks it prudent
to cease his depredations, and allow the
Goosander to sit upon the rest for fear
of spoiling his next year's harvest. If
these boxes be not provided, and no
hollow trees are available, the Goosander
finds a hole under a rock or a cleft in the
cliff, and has been known to utilise the
old nest of a crow or bird of prey in a
tree or the top of a pollard willow. "

The Goosander commences to build
its nest as early as the end of April, and
eggs may be found up to the middle of
June. The eggs are eight to twelve in
number. Most of the eggs are perfect
ellipses, rather elongated ; a few have one
end rather more pointed than the other.
The shell is smooth and fairly glossy.
In colour the eggs are a warm creamy
buff. They measure from 2*5 to 2^9 in
length, and from i *8 to i '9 in breadth.

The adult male has the whole head,
crest and upper neck, glossy black. The
lower neck, the upper part of the mantle,
the whole lower plumage, sides of the
body, axillaries and under wing-coverts are
white, tinged with salmon or pink during
life. The thighs and the sides of the
rump are white, vermiculated with grey.

The Mergansers. 399

The lower part of the mantle and the
upper back, together with the long inner
scapulars, are deep black. The lower back,
the rump and the upper tail-coverts are
ashy grey with dark shafts. The tail-
feathers are ashy brown with black shafts.
The winglet, or small quills on the edge
of the wing, are black. The upper wing-
coverts along the edge of the wing, and
those next the white scapulars, are grey
mottled with black. The remaining upper
wing-coverts are pure white ; the larger,
lower series with concealed black bases.
The primaries have the inner web drab,
its tip and the whole outer web dark
brown or blackish. The first four second-
aries have the outer web black, the inner
brown. The remaining short secondaries
are wholly white. The long inner second-
aries are white with a black margin, the
last one with the inner web almost entirely
black. The two innermost secondaries
are uniformly brown.

The male in post-nuptial plumage
resembles the female, but has traces of a
black ring round the neck and the normal
white wing of the winter plumage.

The adult female has the chin and
throat white tinged with rufous. With
this exception, the whole head, the crest

400 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

and- the neck are chestnut-brown, the
crown somewhat darker and tinged with
grey. The whole upper plumage, the
tail, the first and second series of upper
wing-coverts, and the scapulars are grey,
each feather with a black shaft. The
whole lower plumage is white ; the sides
of the breast and of the body more or
less grey, freckled in places with white.
The under wing-coverts and the axillaries
are white. The last series of the upper
wing-coverts are white with concealed
ashy brown bases. The primaries and
the outer secondaries resemble those of
the male, and there is the same white
speculum. The inner long secondaries
are ashy grey with dark brown margins.

Ducklings change into a plumage very
closely resembling that of the adult female,
and the crest seems to be fully developed
from the very first.

Young males commence to acquire the
adult plumage about February, and the
change goes on throughout the spring.
The parts first affected are the back and
the throat, which turn black by a change
of colour in the feather. The wings
probably remain unaltered till the autumn
moult.

The male is considerably larger than

The Mergansers. 401

the female. Male : length about 26 ;
wing n^; tail about 5. Female: length
about 24; wing io|; tail 4^. In both
sexes, the bill is vermilion or deep red,
with the nail blackish. The irides vary
from brown to deep red. The legs and
feet are red. Weight up to 3^ Ib.

VOL. ii. 26

12*. THE RED-BREASTED
MERGANSER.

Merganser serrator^ (LINNAEUS).

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;
inner web drab, with a blackish tip.

Axillaries and under tail-coverts pure
white.

Margins of the bill furnished with saw-
like teeth.

With one or with two black bands
across the white of the folded wing.

MALE :— Head black, sharply defined
from the white neck; two black bands
across the white of the wing ; sides of
the body vermiculated with black.

FEMALE :— Head and neck more or less
rufous, not sharply defined from the
body-plumage ; one black band across
the white of the wing; sides of the body
brown, margined with grey.

VERNACULAR NAMES :— None known.

THERE are only two properly authenticated

instances known of the occurrence of the

Red-breasted Merganser within the limits

402

The Mergansers. 403

of the Indian Empire. The first specimen
was shot by Colonel Yerbury in the
Karachi harbour, and the wings of this
bird are now in the British Museum.
The second specimen is in the Indian
Museum, Calcutta, and we are informed
by Mr. F. Finn that this bird was obtained
in the Calcutta market. It must, there-
fore, have been caught somewhere in
Bengal.

There is no reason to think that the
Red-breasted Merganser is an excessively
rare bird in India, but being entirely a
sea-coast species, it is, no doubt, seldom
observed.

The Merganser which was supposed,
by an error, to have been shot by Captain
E. Bishop at Manora Point, Karachi, was
in reality shot outside our limits. Captain
Bishop, writing to Mr. Cumming on
February 2ist, 1890, says: — "The Mer-
ganser presented by me to the Karachi
Museum was shot at Charbar, Mekran
Coast, and not at Karachi, as stated in
Mr. Murray's work."

The bird of this group which Mr. E.
H. Aitken obtained in the month of
December in the Bombay harbour, from
the fact of its being found on the sea-
coast, was most probably of the present

404 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

species, and not a Goosander. It was
an immature bird, and the determination
of these birds, when young, was not such
an easy matter some years ago as it is now.

The Red-breasted Merganser ranges all
over the northern hemisphere, being found
in summer from the 5oth degree of north
latitude up to, and within, the Arctic
circle. In winter it is found in Southern
Europe, and a considerable portion of
Southern Asia from the Black and
Caspian Seas to China and Japan, and
it occurs at this season in the greater part
of the United States of America.

The Red-breasted Merganser at the
breeding season frequents fresh-water lakes
and rivers which are not very distant from
the sea ; but at other times it is essentially
a salt-water bird, being almost invariably
found on the sea-coast and in the estuaries
of rivers. It prefers those parts of the
coast which are rocky.

This species is not usually seen in large
flocks, except in winter. At other times
it is found in small companies, or even
in couples. Its habits do not differ in
any important respect from those of the
Goosander, but, being a sea-coast bird,
it appears to find a good deal of its food
among the sea-weed. As a rule the flesh

The Mergansers. 405

of this species is as unpalatable as that
of the Goosander, but at times it is said
to be free from any fishy flavour.

These birds have a quick and powerful
flight, but they rise from the water with
a considerable splash and generally fly
low. They possess the power, like the
Goosander, of sinking the body in the
water at will, till only the head and neck
are visible.

The following extracts will, I trust,
enable my readers to form a good idea
of the general habits of this species in
Europe.

Writing of this species in his " Bird-
Life of the Borders," Mr. Abel Chapman
says : — " Exquisitely graceful in form and
plumage, it is yet so wholly useless when
killed, that no professional fowler would
waste a charge of powder and shot over
them. The Mergansers are, nevertheless,
the most timid, wild, and utterly in-
accessible of all the wild birds of the sea.
So keen and alert is their vision, and so
hateful the human race, that they will
not, wittingly, allow the presence of
a punt on the same square mile of sea
as themselves ; it is, in fact, often ludicrous
to observe the immense distances at which
their almost irrational timidity bids them

406 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

decamp. Spending the night at sea, they
enter the estuaries at dawn, and for the
period of daylight succeed in setting at
naught all the arts and stratagems of man
— to them indeed, and to the Golden-eyes,
belongs alone of all their watchful tribe
the credit of out-manoeuvring and nullifying
the most elaborate devices of their arch-
enemy. They systematically enter waters
which are as free and open to punts as
to themselves, remain there for their own
purposes all day, and, evading every artifice
to outwit them, leave again at night for
the open sea, without losing the number
of their mess. Of course, in punting year
after year, a stray chance does turn up at
intervals to work in a successful shot, but
as a rule Mergansers and Golden-eyes are
more than a match for the most skilful
fowler that ever went afloat.

" The only shots I have known at
Mergansers from a punt have occurred
either when they are caught sunning
themselves round a bend in a curving
sand-bank — this is a habit they often
indulge in at midday, when a dozen may
often be seen basking together — or in a
narrow 'gut' where a punt can creep
up unseen. They rarely, however, trust
themselves in such dangerous spots, and

The Mergansers. 407

if they should happen to find themselves
hemmed in, in a cul de sac^ will attempt to
dive back past the punt rather than fly
over ' dry ' land (or what Mergansers
may regard as such). They feed entirely
on shrimps and small fish, and are quite
uneatable. There are, however, few more
beautiful objects than a newly-killed
Merganser drake. As he lies on the fore-
deck — the weird, half-uncanny expression
in his blood-red eye still undimmed ; the
slim, snake-like neck and glossy head,
adorned with its long double crest — one-
half standing straight out backwards, like
the ' toppin ' of a Peewit, the other
pointing downwards toward the back (not
pendent, as invariably represented in books) ;
then the lovely but evanescent salmon
hues which tinge his breast — all these
points, together with the bold and brightly
contrasted plumage, combine to form as
beautiful an object as any that Nature has
produced."

Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey quite cor-
roborates this account of the wanness of
the Merganser. He says : — " Of all wild-
fowl, except perhaps Golden-eyes, they are
the most restless and wary ; never quiet,
always swimming, diving, and flying, and
to no apparent end. I never yet saw one

408 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

at rest with head down, and bill tucked
under the wing. They are ever on the
look-out, and though there may be hun-
dreds on all sides, they cannot be ap-
proached within a long shot, without the
best of luck and care. Any fowler who
can now and then push his punt within
shot of these birds may rest assured that
he is most favourably equipped for shoot-
ing. It is the best of practice for a
beginner. He will be surprised how tame
Duck and Wigeon will afterwards appear.
All Mergansers, from their piscivorous
habits, are unfit for food, but offer from
time to time such tempting shots that it
is not in mortal to pass them by."

Dr. Saxby, referring to the nesting
habits of the Red-breasted Merganser in
Shetland, says : — " Although they often
lay amongst long grass, they seem to
prefer the shelter of a roof of some kind,
and thus it is that the eggs are most
commonly found under rocks, in rabbit-
burrows, and even in crevices in old walls ;
but, whatever may be the situation chosen,
the nest always consists of a hollow
scraped in the ground, and lined to a
greater or less extent with down, feathers
and dead plants, the amount of material
being increased as incubation proceeds."

The Mergansers. 409

In addition to the sites mentioned
above, this species is said to breed also
in holes of trees like the Goosander.

The Red-breasted Merganser nests in
May or June, and lays as many as twelve
eggs. The eggs are not unlike those
of the Goosander, but are smaller and
generally of a darker creamy-buff colour,
often slightly tinged with green. They
measure from 2-4 to 2*8 in length, and
from i "6 to 1*85 in breadth.

The adult male has the whole head,
crest and upper neck deep, glossy black.
The lower neck is white, with a black
longitudinal band on the hinder part.
The chest and the sides of the mantle are
rufous, streaked with black. The lower
plumage is pure white, except the sides
of the body, which are vermiculated with
black. The axillaries are white, and the
under wing-coverts largely so. The middle
portion of the lower hindneck, the mantle,
the back and all the long inner scapulars
are deep black. The lateral feathers of
the back, near the junction of the wing
with the body, are much lengthened and
have the central portion pure white. The
outer scapulars are white. The rump and
the upper tail-coverts are vermiculated
with ashy grey and black. The tail is

410 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

ashy brown. The first series of upper
wing-coverts, along the margin of the
wing, is brown ; the second or middle
series is white. The third series is white,
with partly concealed black bases, the
portion visible forming a black band across
the white of the wing. The primaries are
drab on the inner web, the tip black ; the
outer webs are entirely black. The first
four secondaries are blackish, with some
white at the tip of the inner web. The next
six are white, the base of the outer web
black, the base of the inner web brown.
The visible portions of the black bases
of the outer webs form a second black
bar across the wing. The next second-
aries are white, margined with black • the
innermost secondaries are plain brown.

With regard to the post-nuptial plumage
of the male, Seebohm remarks : — " Males
in moulting-dress closely resemble males
in first plumage, but have the dark mark-
ings on the breast and flanks slate-grey
instead of brown." Yarrell says that
" old males from early spring till their
autumn moult begins, lose the rich glossy
green of the head and neck, which de-
generates into an obscure brown, while
the fine chestnut colour of the breast
entirely disappears." Lastly I quote from

The Mergansers. 411

Mr. Dresser. He writes : — " In the plu-
mage that the male of this species assumes
for a short time during the summer, it
resembles the female, but is distinguish-
able by its larger size, the different colour
of the abdomen and of the scapulars."
These descriptions are conflicting, and I
regret that I have seen no specimens of
this Merganser, in post-nuptial plumage,
to enable me to clear up the question.

The adult female has the crown and
the crest deep reddish brown ; the sides
of the head and of the neck, chestnut
mottled with white ; the chin, throat and
foreneck, white mottled with chestnut ;
the hindneck reddish brown. The whole
upper plumage, the first and second series
of upper wing-coverts and the scapulars
are dark brown, each feather margined
with ashy. The tail is ashy brown. The
lower plumage is white, the sides of the
body brown with greyish margins. The
axillaries are white; the under wing-
coverts nearly entirely so. The outer
feathers of the larger series of upper wing-
coverts are white, tipped with black, and
with blackish bases, partially concealed.
The visible portions of the bases of these
coverts do not, however, form a black
bar across the wing, as in the male, owing

4 1 2 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

to the coverts immediately above them
being brown, not white. The primaries
and the outer secondaries resemble those
of the male, the concealed black bases
of the latter forming, as in the male, a
broad black bar across the wing, below
the white wing-coverts. All the inner,
long secondaries are dark brown.

Ducklings change from down into a
plumage resembling that of the female.
The young drakes do not appear to
assume the full plumage of the old drake
until the second autumn.

Male : length about 25 ; wing 9^ ;
tail 3|. Female: length about 22^;
wing 8 1 ; tail 35. The male has the
bill deep vermilion, with the ridge dusky.
The legs are also deep vermilion. In
the female the bill and legs are paler red.
In both sexes the irides are blood-red ; in
the young they are yellow. The weight
is said to run up to about 2 Ib.

125. THE SMEW.

Mergus albellus, ( LINNAEUS).

Outer web of the primaries blackish ;

inner web drab, with a blackish tip.
Axillaries and under tail-coverts pure

white.
Margins of the bill furnished with

saw-like teeth.
With two white bands across the black

of the folded wing.

MALE : — Crown of the head white ; with
some black bars on the sides of the breast.

FEMALE :— Crown of the head chestnut ;
with no black bars on the sides of the
breast.

VERNACULAR NAMES \-Nehenne, Hind. ;
PJhalow, Oudh.

THE Smew appears to be a fairly common
bird, in winter, in the northern parts of
the Empire. So far as we know, this
species is not a resident in the Himalayas,
but merely crosses these mountains on
migration. The Smew is found in the

413

414 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Punjab, Sind and Northern Guzerat ; also
in the North-west Provinces and Oudh.
It also occurs in Bengal, where Dr.
Blanford met with it near Raniganj ; and
in Orissa, whence it is recorded by Dr.
Jerdon. There are several skins of this
species in the British Museum that were
procured by Falconer in Bengal.

I can find no notice of the occurrence
of this species in any part of the Empire
east of Bengal, but there is apparently
no reason why it should not occur
commonly in Assam and thence down
to Upper Burma.

The Smew in summer is found through-
out Northern Asia and over a great part
of Northern Europe, up to the Arctic
circle. In winter it migrates as far
south as the Mediterranean, the Black
and the Caspian Seas, India, China and
Japan.

The Smew arrives in Northern India
in November and leaves again in March.
The birds that visit us are mostly immature,
and only a small proportion consists of
old males and females.

Although the Smew, in most parts of
its range, frequents alike salt and fresh
water, here in India it seems to be ex-
clusively a fresh-water species, being

The Mergansers. 4 1 5

found on tanks and lakes of considerable
extent and on the larger rivers. It is
generally found in flocks, amounting
sometimes to as many as forty, but more
frequently not exceeding a dozen or
twenty.

Little has been written by European
authors regarding the habits of this species,
and I shall here reproduce some of Mr.
Hume's excellent notes on the Smew
as observed in India in winter. He says :
—"As a rule, they are wary birds, and
difficult to approach. They keep in deep
water, far away from any cover, and you
can only shoot them from a boat. They
can swim faster than any ordinary up-
country native boat can be propelled, and
faster than one can paddle a punt when
lying down. They keep a very sharp
look-out, never diving en masse, but some
always watching while the rest are under
water, and, as a rule, the moment they
see any boat they swim away. ... If you
wait, as one does with most other fowl,
till you can make certain what they are,
they see you, and away they go swimming
with little but their heads and necks
visible, faster than you can paddle. But
at times, I presume when they have
never previously been fired at, you can

416 Ma'tual of the Game Birds of India.

get wfthin shot without difficulty in a
punt, ' md even by a little management in
a common native boat, and you can
always get a shot by sailing past them at
about forty yards distance.

" They swim and dive splendidly, and
if only a single boat is after them, they
will constantly stick to the water even
after being fired at, rising perhaps at the
moment, but dropping within fifty yards,
and instantly diving to reappear from fifty
to a hundred yards beyond the place at
which they vanished. They come up
scattered, but all swim converging on one
point, and in a few minutes are swimming
away in a close lump, just as before you
fired. But if two or three boats hem
them in, they generally rise, and, if the
place is small, disappear — if large, circle
round and light again a couple of miles
off. They spring out of the water with
ease, and fly with great rapidity, quite as
quickly and easily as the Common Teal,
but almost silently, and with less of a
perceptible wing-rustle than any species
I know. This is probably due to their
very narrow, pointed, somewhat curved
wings, by which they can be instantly
recognised when flying. They are very
active, restless birds, almost always busy

The Mergansers. 417

swimming and diving. I have never seen
one on land, but I once saw a number
asleep on the water about midday in
March.

" They feed entirely under water. . . .
No Duck can touch them at diving : even
Grebes and Cormorants — and I have
watched both perform the same manoeuvre,
— are scarcely so rapid in their movements
under water. They use their wings in
diving, though they do not spread them
fully, so that you must not judge of their
performance by birds with wings injured
above the carpal joint; but where the
injury is merely on the carpus, sufficient
to prevent flight, but not otherwise
serious, their diving is a thing to watch."

Mr. E. T. Booth, in "Rough Notes,"
thus describes, the manner in which the
Smew pursues and captures its prey : —
" Several times this active little diver
returned to the surface, having evidently
met with no success, as after looking
wistfully round he instantly plunged again.
At last, with an unusual flutter, causing
a perceptible ripple on the water, the
hungry bird dashed up to within thirty
yards of the punt, making frantic but
apparently vain efforts to swallow a fish
protruding at least a couple of inches

VOL, ii, 27

4i 8 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

from his bill. With distended throat and
widely-opened mandibles, he swam round
and round in circles, stretching forward
his neck, and repeatedly dipping his bill
below the surface for the distance of two
or three yards ; from time to time he
lifted his head in the air with a resolut-
shake. After these antics had been con-
tinued for some five or six minutes, the
bird seemed to have satisfactorily disposed
of his troublesome capture, and rising
half out of the water commenced flapping
his wings in the most vigorous manner.
This was a chance not to be lost, and a
charge from the punt-gun at about sixty
yards laid this diminutive wanderer from
the north dead as a stone on the water.
On examination the stomach was found
to contain one fresh roach of such
dimensions that, when the small gullet
of the bird was considered, it appeared
a mystery how the little glutton succeeded
in getting it down. There were also the
bones of another fish of the same species,
several minute shells and stones, and
some fibrous grassy roots ; the latter were
probably portions of the weed torn up
from the bottom when the shells were
swallowed."

The nest of the Smew has been found

The Mergansers. 419

in Northern Europe on more than one
occasion. Mr. Wolley's account of the
breeding of this bird is unfortunately
much too lengthy to be reproduced here,
but Mr. Seebohm gives us a description
of the breeding haunts of the Smew in
Russia which I shall quote. He says : —
" Harvie-Brown and I were fortunate
enough to secure eggs of the Smew in
North-east Russia. A few miles to the
south of the Arctic circle, in the valley
of the Petchora, is the small town of
Haberiki, containing about a dozen houses.
The timber for about a mile round has
been cleared, but beyond the country
consists of alternate lake, swamp, and
forest. Grand old pines and larches, with
stems three or four feet in diameter,
conceal charming little alder and willow-
fringed pools, and fallen trunks, covered
with moss and lichen, provide excellent
cover for watching the Ducks swimming
fearlessly in these little paradises. The
Smew is the greatest ornament of these
picturesque little spots, but is not quite
so common as Teal, Wigeon, and Pintail.
We did not succeed in taking the nest
of the Smew ; but having commissioned
some of the villagers to bring us eggs
and down of Ducks, we were delighted

420 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

to receive a clutch of what looked like
Wigeon's eggs, with pale grey down. The
man who brought it knew the bird well,
and told us that he had taken the eggs
from a hollow tree."

Some of these eggs brought by Mr.
Seebohm from the Petchora are now in
the British Museum. They are nearly
elliptical in shape, very smooth and
glossy. They are of a pale cream colour,
and measure from 1*9 to 2*05 in length,
and from 1*42 to 1*52 in breadth.

The Smew generally breeds in the
month of July, and lays seven or eight
eggs, which are placed in the hollow of
of a tree or in one of the boxes hung
up by the villagers for the use of the
Golden-eye.

The adult male has a large, black
patch in front of, and below, the eye ;
and a short black band on either side
of the back of the head, the two bands
not quite joining behind. With these
exceptions, the whole head, the neck, and
the lower plumage, with the axillaries,
are pure white. The sides of the body
are very delicately vermiculated with
grey. The under wing-coverts are partly
white and partly black. The upper
part of the mantle is white with some

The Mergansers. 421

of the feathers tipped with dusky. The
back and the upper part of the rump are
deep black. A narrow, crescentic black
band springs from the upper back, and
passes along the side of the breast. Many
of the feathers at the shoulders are white
with broad black tips, and some of these
are concealed by the folded wings. The
lower part of the rump and the upper
tail-coverts are deep ashy with darker
shafts. The tail is greyish brown. The
inner scapulars are chiefly white, the
outer, ashy brown. The lesser upper
wing-coverts, near the edge of the wing
and next the scapulars, are black, edged
with whitish. The middle series of
coverts is pure white. The large coverts,
or third series, are black with narrow
white tips. The inner webs of the
primaries are drab, the tips and all the
outer webs black. All the short second-
aries are black, tipped with white. The
first long secondary has the outer web
white margined with black ; the remaining
secondaries are ashy grey.

The drake in post-nuptial plumage
closely resembles the female, but may
be recognised by the black-tipped feathers
on the shoulders and sides of the breast.

The adult female has a large blackish

422 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

patch, surrounding the eye, reaching to
the bill in front, and to the side of the
throat below. The forehead, the crown,
the crest and the sides of the head are
chestnut. The chin, the throat, the
foreneck and the whole lower plumage,
with the axillaries, are pure white, the
breast tinged with ashy and with a
brownish band across the base of the
foreneck. The sides of the body are
ashy brown ; the under wing-coverts, a
mixture of white and brown. The whole
upper plumage and the scapulars are
dark ashy brown, the back and rump
almost black, and every feather margined
paler. The tail is ashy brown. The
whole wing, in every feature, resembles
that of the adult male.

Ducklings change from the down into
a plumage resembling that of the adult
female, but the face is chestnut like the
crown, there being no trace of any dark
patch on that part of the head. The
white upper wing-coverts are also margined
with grey or brown, and the feathers
of the crown and crest are tipped with
black. According to Macgillivray, the
drake does not assume the full plumage
of the adult till the third autumn.

Male: length about 17! ; wing 8; tail

The Mergansers. . 423

3|. Female: length 16 ; wing 75 ; tail
35. The bill is bluish grey, with the nail
whitish. The irides are brown or reddish
brown in the young bird, red in the
adult. The legs and feet are bluish grey
with the webs dusky. Weight up to

THE SNIPES.

THE Snipes, which include the Wood-
Cocks, the True Snipes and the Painted
Snipes, form a small section of the large
group of Waders (Limicokz). In addition
to the characters assigned to them at
the beginning of this volume, they may
be recognised by their peculiar plumage,
which is chiefly composed of black, buff
and rufous. The Snipes in general are
remarkable for their abundance, the sport
they afford, and the excellence of their
flesh for the table.

In the Wood-Cocks and True Snipes
the sexes are alike ; in the Painted Snipes
the sexes differ in colour. Many of the
Snipes have tails of peculiar construction,
the outer feathers being frequently very
narrow and pin-like. Snipes have but
one moult a year, and they undergo no
seasonal change of plumage. They vary
individually in proportion to the degree
in which the margins of the feathers get
worn down. The eyes of the Snipes are
424

The Snipes. 425

very large and placed far back in the
skull. The birds feed chiefly by night.

Snipes are represented over nearly the
whole world. The characters of most
importance in separating the species are
the general colour of the primaries ; the
colour of the outer web of the first
primary ; the marks on the crown of the
head; the colour and shape of the tips
of the outer secondaries; and lastly the
number and shape of the tail-feathers.
Snipes' tails, however, are frequently
imperfect in some respect or other, and
too much reliance must not be placed on
this character.

The bill of the Snipes is very sensitive,
and there can be little doubt that the
food is found chiefly by touch. The
closed bill is inserted into the soil again
and again till a worm is felt. Having
discovered a worm, it becomes necessary
to seize it and draw it up to the surface.
It is obvious that the long, thin bill
of a Snipe is very weak, and that it
would not be possible to open it against
the pressure of the surrounding soil, in
order to grasp the worm. The Snipe,
however, and some other Waders, possess
the remarkable faculty of being able to
raise the terminal portion of the upper

426 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

mandible, without opening the whole bill
The two mandibles thus become a very
serviceable pair of forceps. When a
Snipe, therefore, finds a worm, the tip
of the upper mandible is raised, and
the worm seized and drawn out.

The tip of the upper mandible is raised
by means of a pair of muscles attached
to some of the bones of the jaw. If a
freshly-killed Snipe, or a wounded bird,
be taken, and its jaws slightly squeezed
together, laterally, by a pressure of a finger
and thumb, the tip of the upper mandible
can be raised and closed as often as
required, and the whole process of seizing
a worm can thus be witnessed. The tip
of the upper mandible can be raised
about a quarter of an inch.*

The Snipes may be divided into three
groups : —

WOOD-COCKS.— The sexes alike; the
bill straight, the terminal portion pitted
with small depressions ; the marks on the
crown of the head transverse ; the primaries
marked with notches of rufous ; the bill
much longer than the tarsus.

* For a fuller explanation of this singular
formation of the Snipe's bill, the reader is
referred to an interesting paper on the subject
by Mr. W. P. Pycraft, in the Ibis (1893, P- 360-

The Snipes. 427

TRUE SNIPES. — The sexes alike; the
bill straight, the terminal portion pitted
with small depressions ; primaries plain ;
the bill much longer than the tarsus.

PAINTED SNIPES. — The sexes dissimilar ;
the bill curved near the tip, the terminal
portion smooth, not pitted with small
depressions ; primaries much variegated
with bars and spots ; the bill about equal
to the tarsus.

126. THE WOOD-COCK.

Scolopax rusticula ( LINNAEUS).

Bill straight ; the terminal half pitted.
Primaries notched with rufous on the

margins of both webs.
With cross-bars on the hinder part of

the crown.
Tail-feathers soft and broad, black, with

the tips, on the under side, silvery

white.

Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — Sim-titar, Tu-
tatar, Hind. ; Chinjarol, Chamba ;
Sham-titar, Sham-kukra, Kumaon ;
Kangtruk, Manipur ; Wilati-chaha,
Chittagong.

THE Wood-Cock is a summer resident on
the Himalayas, at or above 10,000 feet
elevation, from Kashmir to Assam. In
winter this bird descends to the lower
valleys of the Himalayas, and spreads
itself over the entire Empire and Ceylon.
It probably, however, does not reach the
Andamans and Nicobars. With this excep-
428

The Snipes. 429

tion, there are few tracts from which this
species has not been recorded. It is
commoner in the hills than in the plains,
but it is found everywhere at times, almost
down to the level of the sea in Burma,
and probably also in other Provinces.

The Wood-Cock is widely distributed
throughout Europe and Asia, breeding as
far north as the Arctic circle in Norway
and Sweden, and up to about the 6oth
degree of latitude in Asia. In the winter
it is found as far south as the Mediter-
ranean, Persia, India, Burma and China.
This species is a permanent resident in
many parts of the world, particularly on
certain ranges of mountains, and it is also
found all the year round in the Azores,
the Canaries and Madeira.

The Wood-Cock is erratic in its migra-
tions, and in many portions of the Empire
is only a chance visitor, which may be met
with at any time in the cold weather. In
the parts which they regularly visit, they
may be looked for in November. They
return north in March. As suggested by
Messrs. Hume and Marshall, it is prob-
able that all the Wood-Cocks that visit
the plains of India are natives of the
Himalayas, for the reason that all Indian-
killed birds are persistently smaller and

430 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

lighter than the birds of Central and
Northern Asia or those of Europe.

During the day the Wood-Cock is to
be found in woods and bush-jungle, where
it lies quiet and concealed. Under
ordinary conditions it feeds entirely at
night, and then frequents the margins of
streams and pools where the ground is
soft. By preference, no doubt, this bird
chooses running water, but it seems to be
very often satisfied to feed near ditches,
ponds, and swamps. For instance, Captain
Williamson found these birds fairly abun-
dant near Toungoo, on the margins of
jhils, and from the holes in the mud
made by the bill, it was obvious that
they had been feeding there.

The Wood-Cock is generally found
singly or in pairs, although a good number
of birds may sometimes be found not far
distant from each other. In India, it is
said to be very tame and confiding, being
unwilling to rise, and, when on the wing,
only flying a few yards before settling
again. This is very different from the flight
of a Wood-Cock in Europe, where this
bird often rises in such a manner as to
afford a most difficult shot.

Except at the time of " roding," referred
to further on, the Wood-Cock is a silent

The Snipes. 431

bird. It feeds by preference on worms,
for which it probes the mud with its long,
sensitive bill, but it is also partial to
beetles and other insects. Their feeding-
grounds can generally be detected at
once by some well-known signs, either
holes bored in the mud, or some other
peculiarity. Thus, Mr. Cordeaux remarks :
— " Woodcocks evince a great partiality
for some favourite plantation or spot in
a cover ; they are also very partial to oak-
woods ; and their presence may be detected
by examining the ground under the trees,
as in their search for food they turn over
the dead leaves, laying them with great
regularity, but the other side up."

The little pointed feather of the Wood-
Cock's wing, so much in request amongst
painters, is the outermost primary covert,
and lies at the root of the first large
primary. This feather is about one inch
long, narrow, stiff, pointed, and differently
coloured to the other primary coverts.
It is brown, with pale indentations on
both webs, and a whitish tip. The other
primary coverts are black indented with
chestnut.

In spring, the Wood-Cock has a curious
habit, which is thus described by See-
bohm : — " The Woodcock does not drum

43 2 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

like the Snipe ; but, during the breeding-
season, like that bird, the male forgets for
a time his skulking habits, and flies back-
wards and forwards, uttering a peculiar
note, which, though unquestionably pro-
ceeding from the throat, must be regarded
as analogous to the drumming of the
Snipe. This peculiar habit of the Wood-
cock is described as ' roding,' and is
indulged in early in the morning and late
in the evening in the pairing-season,
sometimes before it reaches its breeding-
grounds, but more often after its arrival
there. This * roding ' continues for about
a quarter of an hour, during which two
peculiar notes are uttered, sometimes
singly, and sometimes one following the
other."

In Sweden, the Wood-Cock is shot
while " roding," and Mr. Ekstrom, as quoted
by Mr. Dresser, remarks : — " During the
first days of spring the Woodcock com-
mences ' roding ' the instant the sun has
sunk below the horizon, but at a more
advanced period somewhat before its final
disappearance, and continues until night-
fall In the morning it begins ' roding '
whilst still quite dark, and ceases
previous to its being full daylight. When
the bird c rodes } there is always an

The Snipes. 433

interval between each tour and retour,
which is more observable in the evening,
when it goes and returns three several
times. The first time it always flies high,
and generally with rapidity; the second,
its flight is but little above the tree-tops,
and commonly slower; the third time
still nearer the ground, and yet more
leisurely ; but it is then, especially in
early spring, too dark to take proper aim.
One ought, therefore, always to fire when
it makes its appearance for the second
time."

When flying about in this extraordinary
manner, the plumage is puffed out and
the flight is rather slow.

The Wood-Cock has another peculiar
habit. The female, and probably the
male also, carry the young birds about,
one by one, either to remove them from
danger, or to take them to neighbouring
feeding-grounds. The young bird is
grasped between the thighs, and is further
held in position by the pressure of the
bill of the parent bird and by the feet.

Professor H. Littledale witnessed an
instance of this habit of the Wood-Cock
in Chamba. He says : — " To my delight,
up flew a woodcock about five yards from
me. She had a young one — the men

VOL. ii. 28

434 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

said two young ones, but I could not see
two distinctly myself — in her claws pressed
close under her ; and she flew slowly and
heavily for about ten yards, then rested
above a bramble which the young one
seemed to catch hold of with its claws,
or become entangled in, The old bird
fluttered for quite half a minute over it
before she could pull the little one clear
and fly a few yards further down, when
she alighted, but rose again when I sent
a man to try to catch the young one."

The Wood-Cock probably breeds
throughout the Himalayas at considerable
altitudes. The account of the finding
of a nest of this species by the late Mr.
A. Anderson in Kumaon is no doubt
well known to all Indian sportsmen, and
I need not reproduce it in full here. It
was at an altitude of 10,000 feet, on
July 2nd, that he found the nest and
four eggs. These latter were deposited
in a slight depression in the damp soil,
and embedded amongst a number of wet
leaves, the smaller ends of the eggs point-
ing inwards, and also downwards into
the ground.

Many other Indian sportsmen have
found the eggs of the Wood-Cock in the
Himalayas, but I shall only quote the

The Snipes. 435

following interesting note by Mr. B. B.
Osmaston, from the pages of the Bombay
Natural History Society's Journal. He
was in the Tons Valley, and he says : —

"On June i7th, as I was leaving their
favourite haunts, I flushed a Woodcock
in thick herbage at my feet, which only
flew a few yards and then fell fluttering
to the ground again. My heart beat fast,
for I thought that at last I had certainly
found the long-sought-for treasure; but
no such luck, for I soon saw instead of
eggs, three tiny chicks only a day or two
old, quite unable to fly, but most clever
at running and hiding themselves. I then
turned my attention to their mother, who,
all the time I had been inspecting her
brood, had been going through the
strangest of antics with outspread wings
and tail, and making a continuous sort
of grating, purring noise. She allowed
me to approach within a few feet, and
then, with an apparent effort, half-fluttered,
half-ran away."

In Europe the Wood-Cock breeds as
early as the commencement of March.
The nest is generally placed on the out-
skirts of a wood, and invariably on the
ground. The eggs are four in number.

The eggs of the Wood-Cock vary much

436 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

in shape. Some are pyriform, but the
majority are short, broad ovals, very blunt
at the smaller end. The ground-colour
varies from greyish white to pale buff.
The surface-markings, consisting of small
blotches and spots, are sepia or yellowish
brown, and the underlying markings are
generally very large blotches of pale grey-
ish brown or pale purple. Both sets of
markings are more thickly disposed at
the thick end of the egg than elsewhere,
and form, in many cases, a well-marked
cap. The shell has a fair amount of
gloss. The eggs measure from i'6 to
i *9 in length, and from 1*25 to 1*42 in
breadth.

The plumage of the Wood-Cock is
too varied to admit of any very minute
description. The intensity of the mark-
ings vary a good deal according to age
and season.

The forehead and front part of the
crown are ashy, generally plain, but some-
times mottled. A black band connects
the eye and the base of the bill. The
hinder part of the crown is black, crossed
by two or three narrow rufous bars. The
back is largely blotched with black and
mottled with rufous. The scapulars and
the long inner secondaries are barred

The Snipes. 437

and otherwise marked with black, rufous
and ashy. The rump and the upper
tail-coverts are rufous, very irregularly
barred with black. The tail-feathers are
black, indented at the margins with
rufous, and broadly tipped with ashy
grey above and silvery white below. The
upper wing-coverts are firmly barred with
black and deep rufous. The first primary
has the outer web very distinctly margined
with creamy white, and there are a few
fulvous marks between this margin and
the web. The inner web is brown, with
a series of small pale rufous notches on
the margin. The other primaries and
all the short outer secondaries are brown,
with very distinct triangular rufous notches
on the outer web, and somewhat similar
but paler notches or short bars on the
margin of the inner web. The chin is
white. The throat and the cheeks are
whitish with interrupted black bars. The
whole lower plumage is pale rufous, very
regularly cross-barred with black. The
under tail-coverts have these bars more
or less diagonal, and have, in addition,
an arrow-head-shaped black spot near
the tip. The under wing-coverts and
axillaries are very firmly barred with pale
rufous and black. |

438 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

The young bird differs from the fully
adult in several respects, but only two are
very noticeable and need be referred to
here. In the young the outer web of the
first primary has no pale margin, and is
as plainly marked with rufous notches as
the outer web of the other primaries.
The marks on the margins of the tail-
feathers, instead of being notches as in
the adult, are more of the nature of bars
and reach almost to the web.

Indian birds are rather smaller than
European ones. The sexes do not differ
much, if at all, in size. Length about
14; wing about 7^5; tail 3; bill, from
gape, varying up to 3*3. The bill is dark
brown, paler at the base of the lower
mandible ; the irides are brown ; the
legs and feet are grey or plumbeous.
Weight usually not exceeding 12 oz. in
Indian, but reaching to 16 oz. in Euro-
pean birds. Tail of twelve ordinary
feathers.

127. THE WOOD-SNIPE.

Gallinago nemoricola (HODGSON).

Primaries plain.

Tip of the first secondary quill falling
beyond the tips of the primary coverts
by about three-quarters of an inch.

Outer web of the first primary entirely
brown, like the inner web.

Outer tail-feathers narrow and stiff.

Sexes alike.
VERNACULAR NAMES :—.&z;2-<:^0M Nepal.

THE Wood-Snipe is restricted, so far as
is at present known, to the Indian Empire.
In the summer, it is found in the Hima-
layas from Dalhousie and the Ravi river
on the west to Sikhim on the east, at
elevations ranging from 6,000 to 10,000
feet. It seems improbable, however, that
Sikhim should be its eastern limit; and
this Snipe will, no doubt, be hereafter
discovered in summer on the Himalayas
in Bhutan and Assam.

In winter this species finds its way

439

440 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

south to all the hill ranges of the pen-
insula and even to Ceylon, and on mi-
gration it is met with on the plains. Its
western limit is altogether unknown ; but
I conjecture that it will prove to be
roughly a line drawn from Dalhousie to
Baroda.

This Snipe is probably commoner in the
eastern portion of the Empire than in
the Indian peninsula itself. It has been
obtained in the Dibrugarh district of
Assam, in the Garo and Khasi hills, and
in Manipur. Both Mr. A. E. English
and Captain J. Donovan procured
numerous specimens at Maymyo, to the
east of Mandalay. Major G. Rippon
informs me that this species has been
shot at Toungyi and at Bampone in the
Southern Shan States, and Lieut. J. H.
Whitehead writes to me that he has shot
it at Kengtung. The late Mr. W.
Davison observed this Snipe at the ex-
treme southern end of Tenasserim.

The Wood-Snipe leaves the Himalayas,
on migration south, about the end of
October ; but from the fact that this Snipe
has been observed in the Khasi hills and
in Manipur in September, it is extremely
probable that it may be/ a constant resi-
dent in some of the numerous hill-ranges

The Snipes. 441

of the Indo-Burmese countries or the
Shan States. The shape of the wing
indicates it to be a poor flyer, and that
the days of its migrations are numbered.
I cannot find any note regarding the
date on which this bird leaves the plains.
In fact, this Snipe is everywhere so un-
common that very little is really known
about its habits.

The Wood-Snipe is found in swampy
places near the edge of the jungle, often
solitary, sometimes in small companies,
as mentioned by Captain Baldwin. It
rises with a croaking note, flies slowly, and
affords a very easy shot. It is probably
a nocturnal feeder, and during the day
it appears to retire to some quiet shelter,
under a bush or tuft of grass, near water.
As the result of the examination of the
contents of the stomach of several of
these Snipes, Mr. Hume is of opinion
that they do not feed as much on worms
as do the Wood-Cocks. Their food
appears to consist more of insects of
various kinds. Captain Baldwin states
that the Wood-Snipe is a most excellent
bird for the table; but Mr. Ditmas, on
the other hand, states that it is much
inferior to the Pin-tail in flavour, and the
meat coarser in texture, Of the habits

44 2 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

of the Wood-Snipe during the breeding-
season we know nothing.

Mr. Hume tells us that Mandelli's
native shikaris took four clutches of the
eggs of this species near Darjiling during
the latter part of June, and he adds that
Mandelli gave him some of these eggs.
In the course of writing the Catalogue
of the Eggs contained in the Collection
of the British Museum, I have carefully
gone through all the eggs of the Snipes,
and there are certainly no eggs of the
Wood-Snipe to be found in the Hume
Collection. ,

On the other hand, although Mr. Hume
omits all mention of the Solitary Snipe
from his "Nests and Eggs," and states
in the " Game Birds " that he has never
seen the eggs of that species, there are,
nevertheless, three eggs of the Solitary
Snipe in the Hume Collection, one of
which is marked " 869. Gallinago solitaria,
Native Sikhim, 18.6.79." These eggs agree
exactly with other eggs of the Solitary
Snipe from Western China, taken by Mr.
A. E. Pratt, and undoubtedly authentic.

Under these circumstances I am inclined
to think that Mandelli's reputed eggs of
the Wood-Snipe were afterwards discovered
to be the eggs of the Solitary Snipe, possibly

The Snipes. 443

by the identification of a skin, or by some
information subsequently received.

The account of the breeding of the
Wood-Snipe contained in " Nests and
Eggs" and the " Game Birds" must,
therefore, be viewed with doubt, and I
do not quote it.

The Wood-Snipe has the forehead and
the crown of the head deep black, with
an indistinct pale buff longitudinal streak
down the middle of the crown. There
is a broad whitish band from the bill,
passing over the eye ; below this a broad
black band connecting the eye with the
bill. The chin is white. The throat and
sides of the head are whitish with blackish
spots and streaks, and a black band
covers a part of the cheeks. The neck
all round is buff, blotched with black.
The back is black. The inner scapulars
are black, with a broad buff margin to
the outer web. The outer and longer
scapulars are barred and tipped with buff.
The upper part of the rump is dark brown,
barred with dull white ; the lower part,
and the upper tail-coverts, dull rufous
barred with brown, and the outer feathers
of the coverts tipped with white. The
broad median tail-feathers are black,
terminated with chestnut, a wavy black

444 Manual of .the Game Birds of India.

bar and a whitish tip. The lateral feathers
are ashy, barred with brown and tipped
whitish. The lesser and median upper
wing-coverts are irregularly barred with
dark brown and buff. The greater and
primary coverts are dark brown, tipped
with white. The primaries and the outer
secondaries are plain, dark brown, with
slightly paler tips. The inner long
secondaries are barred with black and
dull chestnut. The chest and breast are
fulvous, mottled with black ; the sides of
the body are fulvous, barred with black ;
the abdomen and thighs are dull white
barred with brown ; the under tail-coverts
are barred with brown, fulvous, and white.
The axillaries are ashy brown, obliquely
barred with white ; the under wing-coverts
are regularly barred with ashy brown and
white.

The sexes do not differ much in size.
Length about 12 ; wing 5^; tail about 2 ;
bill about 2^. The bill is brown, darker
on the terminal third of its length ; the
irides are brown ; the legs are plumbeous
or greenish. Weight usually up to a little
more than 6 oz.* There are eighteen

* Mr. J. W. Ditmas states that a Snipe of this
species, shot by him in the Wynaad, weighed

The Snipes. 445

tail-feathers, of which the six middle ones
are soft and broad, and six on each side,
stifFer and gradually diminishing in width
and length, the outermost feather being
about one-tenth of an inch wide.

128. THE SOLITARY SNIPE.

Gallinago solitaria (HODGSON),

Primaries plain.

Tip of the first secondary quill reaching

closely to the tips of the primary

coverts.
Outer web of the first three primaries,

and the tips of all the primaries,

distinctly margined with white.
Outer tail-feathers narrow and stiff.

Sexes alike.
VERNACULAR NAMES :— None known.

THE Solitary Snipe inhabits the Himalayas
from Kashmir to Assam, being found in
summer at elevations ranging from 9000
to about 15,000 feet. In the winter it
descends to the valleys, below 6000 feet,
and to the plains in the immediate vicinity
of these. At this season it has been
observed also on the Garo and Khasi hills
and at the head of the Assam valley, and
a specimen was met with near Benares
by Mr. A. Guthrie in September.

Mr. F. W. F. Fletcher, of the Rockwood
446

The Snipes. 447

Estate, Nellakotta, Nilgiris, was fortunate
enough to shoot this species recently in
Southern India, thus extending its range
most unexpectedly. In the Asian of
February 8th, 1898, he wrote: — "Some
little time back, when shooting near
Devala, S.-E. Wynaad, with Mr. W.
Hamilton, we bagged a good specimen of
the Himalayan Solitary Snipe (Gallinago
solitarid). I say 'we' advisedly, as the
prize was only discovered amongst our
bag after the day's shoot was over, and
I do not therefore know to whose gun it
fell."

The Solitary Snipe, which has been
divided into several subspecies without
any good grounds, occurs in Eastern
Siberia, Japan, China, and a considerable
portion of Central Asia, as far as Western
Turkestan. It appears to be chiefly a
vertical migrant, changing elevation
according to season and making short
excursions into the neighbouring plains.
It breeds in the mountains of Western
China, and there is no reason why this
species should not be found commonly
in parts of Upper Burma and the Shan
States.

Dr. Scully says :— " The Solitary Snipe
is not uncommon in the valley of Nepal

448 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

from October to the beginning of March,
being represented in larger numbers than
either the Woodcock or Wood Snipe. It
is found at the foot of the hills all round
the valley, on sloping grass-covered ground,
in the nullahs or small streamlets running
down from the hills. It is as often found
in pairs as singly, and does not seem ever
to seek the shelter of bushes or forests.
Its flight is slower and heavier than that
of either the Pintail or Common Snipe."

Except the above, little has been written
about the habits of the Solitary Snipe,
since the issue of Messrs. Hume and
Marshall's "Game Birds." I therefore
shall quote largely from this excellent
work. Mr. Hume, relating his experi-
ences, writes: — "They do not seem to
care much for cover. I have constantly
seen them along the margins of little
streams, in bare rocky ravines and
valleys, where there were only small
corners and nooks of turf and mossy
swamp, and no cover a foot high. I
have no doubt found them in small
open swamps in the middle of jungle,
but they stick to the grass and low
rushes, and I never myself observed them
in scrub or ringal jungle. I have known
Wood-Snipe and the Eastern Solitary

The Snipes. 449

Snipe flushed within a short distance of
each other ; but, as a rule, the Wood-
Snipe is to be seen only in tiny swamps
or morasses, partly or wholly surrounded
by thick cover— the Solitary Snipe in little
swampy places on open grassy hill sides,
or along the margins of rocky-bedded,
bare-banked streams.

" The Solitary Snipe has a much higher
range in summer, and does not go nearly
so far south in winter.* In the Himalayas
at all seasons it is at least ten times as
numerous as the Wood-Snipe. It is just
as commonly met with in twos and threes
as singly, whereas (in the hills at any rate)
the Wood-Snipe is always solitary.

"The flight of the Wood-Snipe, and
the shape of its bill, are ' wood-cocky,' of
the Solitary Snipe, both are 'snipey.'

" The latter rises, flies, twists, and pitches
precisely like a Pintail Snipe, but is some-
what less rapid and agile in all its move-
movements than this, and a fortiori than
the Common Snipe.

" The Wood-Snipe, so far as my experi-
ence goes, rises invariably silently; the
Solitary Snipe goes off with a loud ' pwich '

* This statement is nowy however, hardly
accurate. Both species occur in Southern India,

VOL. II. 29

45° Manual of the Game Birds of India.

— a harsh screeching imitation of the note
of the Common Snipe.

" They feed, to judge from those I have
examined, chiefly on small insects and tiny
grubs. I have found a mass of minute
black coleoptera in the stomachs of two or
three ; of one I find noted ' minute shells '
There is always a quantity of gravel or
coarse sand in the gizzard.

"They are excellent eating, but not
I think quite equal to any of the other
Snipes, the best of which are certainly the
Jacks. There is not much on these latter,
but what there is, is delicious.

" The breeding season commences in
May, when the males are to be often
heard and seen in the higher portions of
the hills, soaring to a considerable height,
repeatedly uttering a loud, sharp, jerky
call, and then descending rapidly with
quivering wings and outspread tail, pro-
ducing a harsh buzzing sound something
like, but shriller and louder than, that
produced by the Common Snipe, and
this though they do not descend as
rapidly as this latter."

In treating of the Wood-Snipe, I have
explained what seems to me to have been
a mistake made in the identification of
the eggs of a Snipe taken by Mandelli's

The Snipes. 45 1

men in Native Sikhim in June. These
eggs are referred to the Wood-Snipe by
Mr. Hume in the note he gave me for
the second edition of the " Nests and
Eggs," and also in the " Game Birds " ;
but one of the three eggs in the Hume
Collection is marked as being that of
the Solitary Snipe, and all three eggs
agree exactly with five other eggs of the
latter species, taken by Mr. A. E. Pratt
in the pine-forests above Ta-chien-lu in
Western Sze-chuen.

The eggs of this Snipe are very distinct
from the eggs of the other Snipes, so far
as they are known to me. The ground-
colour is pinkish buff. The surface-
markings consist of very large blotches
and some small spots and specks of rich
reddish or chocolate-brown. These are
most frequent on the larger half of the
egg, where they are often confluent and
form a large cap. The underlying blotches
and spots are dull purple. The eggs are
much pointed at one end and rounded at
the other, and have little or no gloss.
They measure from 1*7 to r8 in length
and from 1*25 to 1*3 in breadth.

The Solitary Snipe has the upper
plumage delicately marked and cross-
barred throughout, the pale markings

452 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

being white or nearly so ; and there are
none of the large black patches on the
back and scapulars which characterise the
Wood-Snipe.

The forehead and crown are dark brown,
mottled with rufous, and with an inter-
rupted whitish band down the middle of
the latter. There is a broad brown band
connecting the eye and the bill, and above
this, on either side of the forehead, a
whitish band running from the upper man-
dible backwards to the eye. The whole
upper plumage, and the lesser and median
upper wing-coverts are very beautifully
barred with black or brown, chestnut, and
whitish, the scapulars having a broad
whitish margin to the outer web. The
upper tail-coverts are rufous grey, the tip
of the longer feathers cross-barred. The
middle eight tail-feathers are black, termi-
nated with chestnut, a wavy black bar, and
a whitish tip. The remaining narrower
feathers are white, with broad black bars.
The greater upper wing-coverts are brown,
margined with white at the tip. The
primaries and the outer secondaries are
dark brown, conspicuously margined with
white at the tip ; the first three primaries
with the margin of the outer web also
white. The inner secondaries are richly

The Snipes. 453

barred with black and chestnut, and
notched with white on the outer web.
The chin is white. The sides of the head
and the throat are white, streaked with
brown. The foreneck and chest are
wood-brown, the feathers edged with
white. The remainder of the under
surface is white, barred with brown on
the sides of the body and breast. The
abdomen is white, and the under tail-
coverts only slightly barred. The axillaries
are diagonally barred with white and dark
brown. The under wing-coverts are regu-
larly and very distinctly barred with dark
brown and white.

In young birds, the outer secondaries
are freckled with rufous near the tip, the
frecklings sometimes extending to the
inner primaries. The outer web of the
first primary is more or less freckled
between the web and the white margin.

The sexes are of much the same size.
Length about 12^; wing about 6|;
tail 2§; bill about 2|. The bill is
yellowish brown, with the terminal third
black ; the irides are dark brown ; the
legs and feet are olive or greenish.
Weight up to 8 oz. The number of
tail-feathers varies considerably, and is
said to be as many as twenty-eight in

454 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

some birds. Usually the tail-feathers are
eighteen in number ; the eight in the
middle being broad, soft, and of the usual
character ; the lateral ones narrow, short
and stiff, the outermost feather being
about one-tenth of an inch in breadth.

129. THE COMMON SNIPE.

Gallinago gallinago ( LINNAEUS).

Primaries plain.

Tip of the first secondary quill reaching

closely to the tips of the primary

coverts.

Outer web of the first primary white.
With white margins to the tips of the

outer secondaries, one-tenth of an

inch, or more, in width.
With a longitudinal pale band on the

crown.
All the tail-feathers soft and broad.

Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAMES: — Chaha, Hind.;
Bharka, Bharak, Nepal ; Chegga,
Khada-Kuchi, Bengal ; Tibud, Pan-
lawa, Mahrati ; Mor-ulan, Ulan, Tamil ;
Muku-puredi, Telugu ; Kcsswatuwa,
Ceylon ; Kada-Kecho, Orissa ; Cherayga^
Assam ; Check lonbt, Manipur ; Myay-
woot, Snite, Burmese.

THE Common or Fan-tail Snipe occurs
as a winter visitor in every portion of the
Empire, including Ceylon, the Andamans,

455

456 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

and the Nicobars. It is very unequal in
its distribution. Roughly speaking, it is
the commonest Snipe in the peninsula
of India, from the Himalayas down to
the Godavari river. Elsewhere in the
peninsula, and throughout the eastern
portion of the Empire, it is far less
common than the Pin-tail Snipe. But
exceptions to this general statement occur.
In some parts of Upper Burma, and at
certain times, the Common Snipe is pre-
dominant, and some bags are composed
entirely of this species. Sometimes the
bags are composed of equal quantities of
the two Snipes. In Lower Burma the Pin-
tail is undoubtedly the commoner species
at all times. In Tenasserim the Common
Snipe becomes very rare. At the extreme
east of the Empire, Lieut. J. H. Whitehead
informs me that the Snipes killed at
Kengtung are mostly Pin-tails, from
which I gather that the Common
Snipe also occurs in that locality, but
less commonly.

Outside our limits, the Common Snipe
has a very wide range, being found in
summer throughout Northern Europe and
Asia up to about the yoth degree of
latitude, and breeding as far south as the
Alps, Southern Russia, Turkestan, and

The Snipes. 457

the Himalayas. In winter this species
is found over a considerable portion of
Northern Africa, in Arabia, Persia, India,
and the Malayan countries as far as the
Philippine Islands.

Many Snipes of this species appear to
summer in the Himalayas, or are perhaps
resident there, coming down to lower
elevations in the winter, but there is no
precise information on this point.

Although the Common Snipe has been
shot in India as early as the third week
of August, it does not usually arrive in
considerable quantities till the commence-
ment of September. Most of these birds
return north in March, but in some
favourable localities a few birds remain
on till April or May or even, very occa-
sionally, till June. ,

The winter habits of the Common
Snipe in India are so well known, or can
be so easily investigated, that I do not
propose to say much about them. The
young sportsman will find that, in the
course of a week's shooting, he will learn
nearly all that there is to learn about
Snipes and their ways in India.

The distribution of the Common Snipe
is determined chiefly by the nature of the
ground. The extremely sensitive bill of

458 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

this bird points to the fact that it finds its
food in the ground not on it. Consequently
the Common Snipe is found only where
the ground is soft. It will also be found
that this Snipe prefers open country and
avoids jungle, and it is therefore almost
invariably found on large bare marshes
or in extensive plains of paddy-fields.
When these dry up, the Common Snipe
moves to other marshes. A night's rain
may bring them back again.

The Pin-tail is much less dependent on
ground and rain-fall. Its bill is much
harder and less sensitive, showing that
it does not depend ao much on touch
for finding its food. It is perhaps as
fond of soft ground as the Common
Snipe ; but when the ground dries up it
does not move to any great extent, but is
content to take up its quarters in some
adjoining grass-land, where it is able to
subsist on insects that are found on
vegetation or on the surface of the ground.
It will be noticed that the Pin-tail wanders
about much less than the Common
Snipe.

A Snipe cannot stand in more than
two inches of water, nor can it probe for
worms in ground which is at all sub-
merged. Consequently certain wet fields,

The Snipes. 459

although presenting the same general
appearance from day to day, may at
times attract Snipes in large numbers,
and at other times, owing to a slight
increase of water, be quite unsuitable
for them.

The habits of the Common Snipe in
summer may be observed in Kashmir,
but no Indian sportsman has hitherto
written about them at that season, and,
consequently, we must consult European
writers.

A curious habit of the Common Snipe,
chiefly, if not entirely, practised at the
breeding season, is that of perching on
trees, fences, etc. Messrs. Seebohm and
Harvie-Brown write : — " We were not a
little surprised when we first became
acquainted with the arboreal habits of
the Snipe at Habariki, and saw one of
those birds perched, seventy feet from
the ground, on the topmost upright twig
of a bare larch, where, one would have
thought, it could scarcely find sufficieut
foot-hold. With its head lower than its
body and tail, it sat there,, uttering at
intervals the curious double ' clucking '
note, tjick-tjuck, tjick-tjuck, whilst others
of the same species were ' drumming '
high in air over the marsh. To put it

460 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

all beyond a doubt, Harvie-Brown shot
one in this peculiar position."

Another habit of this Snipe, and one
which, in a modified form, seems common
to all the Snipes, is that of " drumming " or
" bleating " at the breeding season. One
sound produced by the Snipe is un-
doubtedly vocal, the other is produced by
the action of the wings or tail, or of both
combined. Opinions are much divided
with regard to the mode in which these
sounds are produced, and many theories
have been propounded. Of all the ac-
counts I have read, the one which seems
to me to be the most complete in all
respects has been given us by Mr. F. Boyes,
of Beverley, in the Field of the gth
July, 1898. I reproduce it in full. Mr.
Boyes writes : —

" In the correspondence which has
taken place in your columns respecting
the ' drumming ' of the snipe, it has
appeared to me that your contributors
have confused the vocal notes of the bird
with that most peculiar sound which it
makes by the aid of its tail and wings.
What is known to naturalists as the ' drum-
ming ' or ' bleating ' of the snipe is that
sound which the bird makes when on the
wing and whilst it is descending rapidly

The Snipes. 461

and obliquely through the air. Let me
describe the ' drumming ' of the snipe.
We enter the marsh, and before we have
gone very far we become conscious of
a series of clicking sounds like jick-
juck, jick-juck, jick-juck) rapidly repeated,
which apparently proceed from some
creature on the ground. We follow these
up, and as we draw near, what should
rise just in front of us but a veritable
common snipe, which, after flying some
distance, rises up in the air uttering the
same peculiar notes which first attracted
our attention. As we watch it rising up-
ward it is repeating these vocal notes all
the time, but after attaining a sufficient
altitude it suddenly turns, and with wings
shaking or trembling, and tail widely spread,
the feathers of which seem to be turned
somewhat sideways and are distinctly seen
to be vibrating, the bird shoots rapidly
and obliquely downwards for some dis-
tance, and it is then — whilst it is making
this sudden swoop — that the peculiar sound
called ' drumming ' is heard. Those who
have heard this peculiar sound in the
distance, say, on a still summer's evening,
with the birds in the sky invisible, may
well be excused for likening the sounds
to the bleating of a lamb on some distant

462 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

upland. That the sound is produced by
the vibration of the feathers in their rapid
passage through the air is unquestionable,
for a similar sound can be produced by
striking a boy's thin wooden sword rapidly
downward, the resistance of the air causing
it to vibrate and give out a peculiar sound
similar in tone to that of the bird ; and
those who have spent much time in the
.marshes must have heard at one time or
another the wind playing through the broad-
leaved sedges, and, catching a leaf at a
particular angle, make it produce a sound
of a like character. I need scarcely say
the ' drumming ' is never produced except
when the bird is on the wing and descend-
ing, but the vocal sounds, tinka> tinka,
tinka, are often uttered whilst the bird
is sitting on the ground or on a post or
sod wall. One correspondent states he
has never been able to make out whether
both cock and hen birds make the ' drum-
ming,' but he fancies it is only the cock
bird. I am not aware that any naturalist
has stated that the hen bird ' drums ' as
well as the male, but I think I can settle
this point in the affirmative, for one day
I visited a very small strip of bog, and
almost immediately rose the cock bird,
which commenced to ' drum ' above and

The Snipes. 463

around me in a short time. I flushed the
hen off her nest of three eggs, and as she
left it she dropped the fourth egg, which
broke in its fall, and the bird, continuing its
flight, struck itself against some posts and
rails, and fell stunned to the ground, but
soon recovered and flew away. I marked
it, and afterwards went and put it up. All
this time the male was ' drumming ' over-
head, and no other snipes were in the
neighbourhood. The female now joined
in the ' drumming ' and the two were
1 drumming ' for some time, and then
they both alighted on the tops of posts,
and allowed me to walk quite near them,
nodding their heads at me all the while.
In this instance, at any rate, I think there
can be no doubt whatever that both male
and female were ' drumming,' as I walked
the small strip of bog out over and over
again without flushing another snipe."

The Common Snipe breeds in Kashmir,
but the eggs have not been taken by any
competent observer, and there are no
eggs of this species in the Hume Collec-
tion with the exception of three taken at
Yarkand. The late Mr. Brooks, however,
satisfied himself that the Common Snipe
bred in Kashmir, and we can have no
better authority for the statement.

464 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

In Europe the Common Snipe begins
to nest in the middle of April, but in
Kashmir apparently not till May. The
nest is a depression in the ground, lined
with a little grass, and is usually placed
near a swamp amongst rushes or high
grass. The eggs are almost always four
in number, and placed, like the eggs of
all the Waders, with the points towards
the centre of the nest. The eggs are
sharply pyriform, and are only slightly
glossy. The ground-colour varies a good
deal : from pale greenish to buff or brownish
olive of various shades. The surface-
markings are large spots and blotches of
dark brown or chocolate-brown, usually
more dense at the larger end of the egg
than elsewhere, where they are often
confluent. The underlying markings are
purplish grey. A large number of eggs
measure from 1*5 to 172 in length, and
from 1*05 to i '2 in breadth.

Several instances are recorded of the
breeding of this or the Pin-tail Snipe in
the plains or hill-ranges of the Empire,
as indicated by the capture, as I under-
stand, of young Snipes recently hatched.
I have had no opportunity of examining
any of these young birds ; nor do the eggs
ever appear to have been found.

The Snipes. 465

The general colour of the upper
plumage of the Common Snipe is black
and buff, evenly distributed, and not in
large patches, as in the Wood-Snipe.
The forehead and crown of the head are
black, sometimes mottled with buff. A
broad buff band runs from the bill
down the middle of the crown. A
black band connects the eye with the
bill, and above this there is a buff band.
The chin is whitish. The sides of the
head are pale buff, mottled with brown.
The sides of the neck and the hindneck
are buff, streaked with brown. The back
is black, the long, lateral, pointed feathers *
very broadly margined with buff on the
outer web, these margins forming two
very conspicuous broad bands down the
sides of the back. The scapulars are
black, margined and irregularly barred
with rufous buff. The lower part of the
back is brown, the feathers tipped with

* Many writers state that the two broad buff
bands on the back of a Snipe, so characteristic
of these birds, are formed by the margins of the
outer scapulars. This is quite incorrect. The
bands are formed by the margins of certain long,
pointed feathers, which spring from either side
of the upper back. The outer scapulars are
margined with buff in a much smaller degree.

VOL. II. 30

466 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

white. The rump and the upper tail-
coverts are barred with pale chestnut and
black. The tail-feathers are black with
the terminal portion chestnut mottled
with black. Each feather has a pale tip
and an irregular black bar in front of it.
The outer tail-feathers are more or less
white barred with black. The lesser and
median upper wing-coverts are brown,
tipped and margined with pale buff or
dull white. The greater coverts are
brown conspicuously tipped with white.
The outer web of the first primary is
white; the inner web is brown. The
other primaries are brown with a very
narrow white tip. The outer second-
aries are brown with a broad white tip.
The inner secondaries are irregularly
barred with black and pale chestnut.
The foreneck and breast are dull buff,
streaked with brown. The sides of the
body are barred with brown. The
abdomen and the thighs are pure
white ; the under tail-coverts are buff,
irregularly marked with black. The
auxiliaries are white, rather obliquely barred
with black; and the under wing-coverts
are white irregularly banded with black,
except on the central portion, which is
plain white.

The Snipes. 467

In this species the^ sexes do not vary
much in size. Length up to 1 2^; wing
about 55 •; tail 2|; bill about 2|. The
bill is greenish brown for two-thirds of
its length from the base, then horny,
brown ; the irides are brown ; the legs
and feet are brownish green. Weight up
to rather more than 45 oz. The tail-
feathers are fourteen in number (occasion-
ally sixteen), and all of them are of the
ordinary kind, soft and broad, the laterals
not narrowed nor stiff.

Allied to the Common Snipe is the
Great, or Double, Snipe (Gallinago
major)) which is not unlikely to be found
to occur within our limits as a chance
visitor. In this species, the three outer
feathers of the tail, on either side, are
narrower than the others, being about
three-tenths of an inch in width. They
are pure white, with just one or two small
black bars at the base of the outer web.
The larger upper wing-coverts are tipped
with white. This Snipe is rather larger
than the Common Snipe. These cha-
racters should suffice for the separa-
tion of this species from all other Indian
Snipes.

130. THE PIN-TAIL SNIPE.

Gallinago stenura (KUHL).

Primaries plain.

Tip of the first secondary quill reaching

closely to the tips of the primary

coverts.
Outer web of the first primary brown,

like the inner web.
White margins to the tips of the

secondaries never wider than the

thickness of a small pin, or altogether

absent.
With a longitudinal pale band on the

crown.
Outer tail-feathers narrow and stiff.

Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAMES : — The same as those
used for the Common Snipe.

THE Pin-tail Snipe is found, during the
winter, over nearly every portion of the
Empire, including Ceylon, the Andamans
and Nicobars, except in the North-west.
From all that I can gather, it would
appear that a line drawn from the head
468

The Snipes. 469

of the Gulf of Cutch to the western part
of Garhwal, in the Himalayas, represents
the limit of the distribution of this Snipe.
West of this line it is absent or extremely
uncommon ; east of this line it is more
or less common and met with in varying
quantities. In the peninsula of India
this Snipe is 'less abundant as a rule
than the Common Snipe ; in the
eastern part of the Empire the reverse
is the case. As remarked in the account
of the Common Snipe, the Pin-tail is
found at Kengtung in the Shan States,
where probably Swinhoe's Snipe will also
be found.

The Pin-tail is found in summer over
the eastern part of Asia up to the Arctic
Circle, and from the Yenesei river to
the Pacific Ocean. In winter it visits
India, Burma, China and the islands of
the Malay Archipelago.

The Pin-tail arrives in India and Burma
about the middle of August, and by the
end of that month it is quite common.
In November the numbers of this Snipe
are reduced (I am speaking of Lower
Burma),, probably by the migration of
some of the birds farther south. In
January, owing to the drying up of
the land, no large numbers of this Snipe

470 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

are to be met with, and by February few
birds are left. Single specimens may,
however, be shot here and there up to
the commencement of May.

Except in the matter of food and choice
of feeding-grounds, this and the Common
Snipe do not differ much in habits. It is
true that the two birds are said to have
quite distinct notes on being flushed, and
that the flight of the Pin-tail is said to
be heavier and more direct than that of
the Common Snipe, but opinions on even
these common matters of observation are
considerably divided. Personally I have
been unable to distinguish between the
two species when alive.

It is curious how, when the hot weather
comes on in Burma, the Pin-tail will
frequently be found lying up in grass far
from any water, and on ground which is
baked hard. At such times, I believe,
the birds are only sleeping or resting, but
it is nevertheless remarkable that such
hot, dry spots should be chosen for the
purpose.

Large bags of Snipe, chiefly consisting
of Pin-tails, are commonly made in Lower
Burma. The largest number brought to
bag, that has come to my knowledge, is
one hundred and seven couple and a half

The Snipes. 471

by one gun, some few miles north of
Rangoon. In the Shan States, seventy
one couples have been obtained by one gun
near Fort Stedman, and very large bags
are sometimes made in the Kyoukse
District in Upper Burma, where the rice-
fields are under constant irrigation during
the dry weather.

The late Mr. H. Seebohm observed this
Snipe in summer, and writing in the Ibis,
said : — " The first Wader which arrived at
our winter quarters on the Arctic Circle
was the Pin-tailed Snipe. We shot a
couple on the 5th of June, three days after
the ice began to break up on the great
river. Three days later they were exceed-
ingly common on the oases of bare grass
which the sun had been able to make in a
few favourable situations in the midst of the
otherwise universal desert of melting snow.
I could easily have shot a score a day if
I had had cartridges to spare. They used
to come wheeling round, uttering a loud
and rather shrill cry (some idea of which
may be gathered by the sound of the word
peezh, long drawn out) ; then they used
to drop down with a great whirr of wings,
and with tail outspread — an operation
which seemed so engrossing that they
appeared seldom to discover, until they

472 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

were on the ground, that they had chosen
a spot to alight within twenty yards of
a man with a gun. It was amusing to
see them find out their mistake. Some-
times as soon as they caught my eye they
would take wing and fly quietly away;
but more often they would hurry off as
fast as their legs would carry them, and
hide behind a tuft of grass or a bush.
I never heard the Pin-tailed Snipe * drum,;
as the Common Snipe often does, when
wheeling round and round at a consider-
able height in the air; nor did I ever
hear the tyik-tyuk so characteristic of the
Common Snipe. I think the Pin-tailed
Snipe is much easier to shoot than our
bird. The flight seems to me slower and
less zigzag."

Perhaps Mr. Seebohm was too early
in such high northern latitudes to witness
the peculiar habits of this Snipe at the
breeding season. They are thus described
by Colonel Prjevalsky, who refers to this
Snipe under the name of G. heterocerca.
He says : — " It breeds in tolerable numbers
on the Ussuri, but is still more plentiful
during migration, about the loth of April
and in the end of August.

" In the latter half of April the birds
choose their nesting-localities in the thinly

The Snipes. 473

overgrown marshes, and their peculiar
courting commences. Rising into the air,
similar to our G. scolopacina, and des-
cribing large circles above the spot where
the female is sitting, it suddenly dashes
downwards with great noise (which is
most likely produced by the tail-feathers,
like that made by our species, and some-
what resembles the noise of a broken
rocket). As the bird approaches the
ground the noise increases, until it has
got within a hundred yards, when it
suddenly stops the sound and quietly
flies on, uttering a note something like
tiriC) Uric, tiric. Courtship lasts until
the middle of June, and is mostly heard
or seen in the mornings and evenings,
but occasionally in the daytime, and even
at night in the clear weather."

The eggs of this Snipe have not been
described, and it is doubtful if they have
ever been taken by any naturalist. The
extracts above quoted were written some
twenty years ago, and I believe that,
since that time, no further light has been
thrown on the breeding of this Snipe.

The Pin-tail Snipe has the plumage
so similar to that of the Common Snipe
that it is unnecessary to describe it
separately. The points of difference

474 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

between the two species may be thus
summarised :• — •

COMMON SNIPE.— The outer web of the
first primary white ; the outer secondaries
tipped with white to the extent of one-
tenth of an inch, and frequently more;
the under wing-coverts irregularly barred,
and with a central patch wholly white;
the outer tail-feathers soft and not much
narrower than the others ; the bill about
275 in length from the forehead to the
tip.

PIN-TAIL SNIPE. — The outer web of the
first primary brown like the inner ; the
outer secondaries with very narrow white
tips or none at all, never broader than
the thickness of an ordinary small pin ;
the under wing-coverts very regularly
barred throughout, without any plain
white central patch ; the outer tail-feathers
extremely narrow and stiff, the outermost
being about one-twentieth of an inch
wide near the tip ; the bill generally less
than, and seldom exceeding, 2*5 in length,
from the forehead to the tip.

With the exception of the bill, the
dimensions of the two species are much
alike, except that the total length varies
of course in the same way as the bill.

The Snipes. 475

The tail-feathers when complete are
twenty-six in number. Of these eight,
or even ten, may be termed soft and
broad. The others rapidly narrow and
become stiff, the outermost feathers re-
sembling a stout pin.

The bill of the Common Snipe, in
addition to being longer, is also much
broader near the tip and covered with
more numerous pits than in that of the
Pin-tail Snipe.

The weight of the two species is much
the same, but the Pin-tail, according to
Messrs. Hume and Marshall, is, on the
average, a trifle lighter than the Common
Snipe.

Allied to the Pin-tail Snipe is Swinhoe's
Snipe (G. megala\ which extends, accord-
ing to season, from Siberia to the Malay
Archipelago, and is extremely likely to be
met with in Burma and the Shan States.
It differs from the Pin-tail only in the
structure of its tail, which has twenty
feathers instead of twenty-six. But the
tails of Snipes are very often imperfect,
and the process of counting the number
of feathers in the tail tedious ; so that
it will be sufficient for the purpose of
discriminating the two species to notice

476 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

that, whereas in the Pin-tail Snipe the
outermost tail-feather is no thicker than a
stout pin, and those next to it of much
the same character; in Swinhoe's Snipe
the outermost tail-feather is from 'i to '15
of an inch wide, and that those next to it
gradually increase in width till the sixth
feather from the outside is one-quarter of
an inch in width.

131. THE JACK-SNIPE.

Linmocryptes gallinula (LINNAEUS).

Primaries plain.

Tip of the first secondary quill extending

beyond the tips of the primary coverts

by about one-quarter of an inch.
Basal half of the outer web of the first

primary whitish.
Outer secondaries with the tips of both

webs obliquely cut to a sharp point.
Tail-feathers of the ordinary kind,

though rather narrow and pointed ;

the middle pair one-quarter of an

inch longer than the next pair.
No longitudinal pale band on the

crown.
Axillaries white, slightly mottled with

brown, never barred.

Sexes alike.

VERNACULAR NAMES :-— It is very doubtful
whether any native names apply specially
to this Snipe.

THE Jack-Snipe is found over the whole
peninsula of India, from the Himalayas

477

478 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

to the extreme south, and also in Ceylon.
It has not yet been obtained in the
Andamans and Nicobars, and probably
does not occur in those islands. To the
east, it ranges from Assam down to Pegu
and to the latitude of Moulmein, but I
cannot discover that it has ever been shot
in the Shan States.

The Jack-Snipe is a winter visitor to
the Indian Empire, arriving in some parts
as early as the end of August, and it does
not leave certain suitable localities till
April.

This Snipe, in summer, is found in
Northern Europe and Asia up to, and
within, the Arctic circle, from the Atlantic
to the Pacific Oceans. In winter, it
migrates to the British Isles, Central and
Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Pales-
tine, Persia, India, Burma, and China.

Jack-Snipes are irregularly distributed
over the Empire, and nowhere do they
occur in such large numbers as the Com-
mon and Pin-tail Snipes, except very late
in the season, when, as recorded by
Messrs. Hume and Marshall, they some-
times out-number the other Snipes in
Upper India.

The Jack-Snipe in winter is, on the
whole, a solitary creature, and it is seldom

The Snipes. 479

that any considerable number of these
birds will be shot in the course of one
day's shooting. In Upper Burma, where
the Jack is fairly common, six may occa-
sionally be bagged in one day.

This Snipe is fond of quiet spots and
corners, where some concealment is
afforded by bushes and grass. Although,
like other Snipes, this bird habitually feeds
at night, it also feeds a good deal in the
morning and evening. Its bill is very
sensitive, and no doubt its chief food is
worms, and consequently it is found on
ground which is moist and soft. It lies
very close and frequently refuses to rise.
Its flight is feebler than that of the
Common Snipe, but it is of the same
zigzag nature. It flies no great distance
as a rule, and is in the habit of dropping
suddenly. After alighting, it squats, and
is very easy to mark down. It seldom
utters a note.

I shall now quote Mr. Booth, who, in
his " Rough Notes " has some interesting
remarks on the Jack- Snipe. He says : —
" During the long protracted and bitter
frost of that terrible winter [1855], I was
handed over to a keeper in my father's
service to be initiated into the art of
shooting Jack-Snipes — ' broken in,' as the

480 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

old man termed it. As the plan he
followed was decidedly effective and, to
the best of my knowledge, original, it may
not be out of place to devote a few lines
to a description of his mode of tuition.
A Jack-Snipe, my instructor truly argued,
was almost invariably missed through
firing too quickly, both barrels being
usually discharged before the bird is five-
and-twenty yards from the muzzle of the
gun. This error was expressly pointed
out, and I was forced to repeat aloud ' One,
two, three, four, five, six/ after the Snipe
rose on the wing, before bringing the gun
to the shoulder. The first lesson being
duly impressed on my mind, the anti-
quated muzzle-loader was placed in my
hands and practice next attempted. . . .
It is hard on thirty years since I profited
by these lessons ; but even now the well-
remembered ' One, two, three,' etc., fre-
quently rises to my lips when the inevitable
Jack appears, and ill-luck invariably
attends the bird that is patiently waited
for.

"The Jack, unlike its larger relative
the ' Whole ' Snipe, is seldom wild and
unapproachable. I never met with them
gathered into flocks, flying and settling
in company after the manner of those

The Snipes. 481

birds. Ten or a dozen up to even forty
or fifty may frequently be found scattered
over a small space ; but on rising on wing
the company break up and separate. . . .
" The difficulty of finding and putting
up these strange birds is well known to
all sportsmen ; without a steady dog
accustomed to their habits, large numbers
must invariably be passed over. Jacks
may frequently be detected squatting on
the moist ground, the attention usually
being attracted by the eye or the yellow
stripes on the back. On one occasion,
while cautiously making my way across
a waving bog, over which my weight was
causing the water to rise rapidly to a
depth of three or four inches, I noticed
three floated off the short herbage and
rushes on which they were squatted and
swept down to my feet by the force of
the current before they attempted to take
wing, one of the birds being carried by
the rush of the water a distance of three
or four yards. The poor little fellow
made no attempt to swim, the legs being
kept perfectly still, and the head remain-
ing drawn back between the shoulders,
with the beak pointed forwards, in the
position into which they subside when
danger approaches."

VOL. ii. 31

482 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

Colonel Hawker gives the following
directions regarding Jack-Snipes : — " To
kill /tf£/£-snipes, a pointer that will stand
them is the greatest possible acquisition,
as they always lie so very close that you
are liable to walk past them. These little
snipes are easiest killed in a light breeze,
or even calm weather, as in a. gale of
wind they fly more like butterflies than
birds. Nothing teases a poking shot
worse than jack-snipes ; but to one who
has the knack of pitching and firing his
gun in one motion, they are, generally
speaking, not much worse to shoot than
other small birds, except in boisterous
weather.

"The jack-snipes are the best eating
of all the tribe. ... As with pheasants,
the hen is the best for the table, the cock
the prettiest bird for a present."*

Wolley's account of the nidification of
the Jack-Snipe, as quoted by Hewitson,
still continues the best, and in fact the
only one. The eggs of this Snipe, in
the British Museum Collection, fifteen
in number, are all from Lapland and
Finland, and most of them were taken

* I do not know how Colonel Hawker dis-
tinguished the cock from the hen of this species.
The plumage of the two sexes is quite the same.

The Snipes. 483

by Wolley. He says : — <l I scarcely like
to tell you about the Jack-Snipe, anything
I can say must be so poor an expression
of my exultation at the finding of this
long-wished-for egg. It was on the
1 7th of June, 1853, in the great marsh
of Muonioniska, that I first heard the
Jack-Snipe, though at the time I could
not at all guess what it was; an extra-
ordinary sound, unlike anything I had
ever heard before, I could not tell from
what direction it came, and it filled me
with a curious surprise ; my Finnish
interpreter thought it was a Capercally,
and at that time I could not contradict
him, but soon I found that it was a small
bird gliding at a wild pace at a great
height over the marsh. I know not how
better to describe the noise than by
likening it to the cantering of a horse in
the distance, over a hard, hollow road ;
it came in fours, with a similar cadence,
anoMike a clear yet hollow sound. The
same day we found a nest which seemed
to be of a kind unknown to me. The
next morning I went to Karto Uoma with
a good strength of beaters. I kept them,
as well as I could, in a line, — myself in
the middle, my Swedish travelling com-
panion on one side, and the Finn talker

484 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

on the other. Whenever a bird was put
off its eggs, the man who saw it was to
pass on the word, and the whole line
was to stand whilst I went to examine
the eggs and take them at once, or
observe the bearings of the spot for
another visit, as might be necessary.
We had not been many hours in the
marsh, when I saw a bird get up, and
I marked it down. . . . The nest was
found. ... A sight of the eggs as they
lay untouched raised my expectations
to the highest pitch. I went to the spot
where I had marked the bird, put it up
again, and again saw it, after a short low
flight, drop suddenly into cover. Once
more it rose a few feet from where it had
settled. I fired ; and in a minute had
in my hand a true Jack-Snipe, the un-
doubted parent of the nest of eggs ! . . .
In the course of the day and night I
found three more nests, and examined
the birds of each. . . .

"The nest of the lyth, and the four of
the 1 8th June, were all alike in structure,
made loosely of little pieces of grass and
equisetum not at all woven together, with
a few old leaves of the dwarf birch,
placed in a dry sedgy or grassy spot close
to more open swamp. ... It was not

The Snipes. 485

long after I heard it that I ascertained
that the remarkable hammering noise in
the air was made by the Jack-Snipe."

The eggs of the Jack-Snipe are very
large for the size of the bird, more so
than in the case of the other birds of this
group. In colour and shape, they resemble
the eggs of the Common Snipe. They
measure from i '45 to i '65 in length and
from 1*05 to i '13 in breadth.

In the adult bird, the forehead and
the crown are black, mottled with rufous.
There is no central pale band down the
middle of the crown, but this latter is
bounded on either side by a very distinct
buff band, extending from the upper
mandible to the back of the head. A
shorter black band runs between the buff
band and the eye. A broad black band
connects the bill and the eye ; below this
there is a pale fulvous streak extending
from the bill to the ear-coverts, and below
this again another black band ends in a
large black patch behind the ear-coverts.
The sides of the head, where not covered
by the bands above mentioned, and the
whole of the sides of the neck, are dull
white streaked with black. The hindneck
and the upper part of the mantle are rufous
grey, mottled with black and white. The

486 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

middle of the back is black glossed with
purple, the long feathers on the sides of
the back black glossed with green, the
outer webs of all the feathers rich buff,
forming two broad stripes for the whole
length of the body. The scapulars are
black glossed with green, margined and
irregularly barred with rufous buff. The
lower back and the rump are black, many
of the feathers with narrow white margins.
The upper tail-coverts and the tail-feathers
are black with broad buff margins, and
some of the former have the whole outer
web buff. The lesser and median upper
wing-coverts are black, margined with
pale rufous. The greater coverts and the
primary coverts are black with whitish
tips. The primaries are black with very
narrow white tips, the base of the outer
web of the first dull whitish. The outer
secondaries are black with broad white
tips, the ends of the two webs of each
feather obliquely cut and forming a point.
The long inner secondaries are richly
marked with black and buff.

The throat is dull white, mottled with
brown. The foreneck, the breast and
the sides of the body are dull rufous,
streaked with brown. The whole abdo-
men is white, and the under tail-coverts

The Snipes. 487

are white with brown shaft-streaks. The
axillaries are white with a few brown
mottlings, and the under wing-coverts are
white, very irregularly barred with brown.
Length about 8| ; wing 4^ ; tail 2 ;
bill i|. The bill is horn-colour, becoming
black towards the tip; the irides are
brown ; the legs and toes are pale olive-
green. Weight up to 35 oz., according to
Mr. Booth ; but the heaviest bird re-
corded by Messrs. Hume and Marshall
only weighed 2\ oz. The tail is com-
posed of twelve ordinary soft feathers,
which, however, are rather narrow and
pointed.

132. THE PAINTED SNIPE.

Rostratuia capensis (LINNAEUS).

Bill curved downwards towards the tip.
Bill, tarsus and middle toe about equal

in length.

Primaries variegated with bluish grey,
black and buff.

MALE : — With no white scapular feathers.

FEMALE : — At all ages with some narrow,
pointed, white scapular feathers, par-
tially concealed.

VERNACULAR NAMES: — Ohari, Nepal;
Kone, Konchatta, Kol. (Singhbhoom),
Baggarji, Bengal ; Tibud, Pan-lawa,
Mahr. (Ratnagiri) ; Mail-ulan, Tamil ;
Rajakceswatuwa, Ceylon.

THE Painted Snipe occurs in every
portion of the Indian Empire, except
perhaps in some parts of the Himalayas.
It extends, however, to Kashmir. This
species is also found in Ceylon, but it
has not yet been recorded from the
Andamans or Nicobars.

This Snipe appears to be only a rainy-
season visitor to the drier parts of Central,

The Snipes. 489

North-western and Northern India, but
elsewhere it seems to be a permanent resi-
dent, moving about a good deal, of course,
in search of suitable feeding-grounds.

In the eastern part of the Empire the
Painted Snipe is very unequally distributed.
Major G. Rippon, referring to Upper
Burma, informs me that he considers it
more abundant there than in India, but
in Lower Burma it is far from common,
and south of Moulmein it appears to
be extremely rare. It ranges far away
to the east, however, for Lieut. J. H.
Whitehead informs me that he has obtained
this bird at Kengtung.

The present species is found over a large
portion of Africa and in Madagascar. It
has been observed in Asia Minor and
Afghanistan. Thence it extends, through
India and Burma, to China and Japan,
the Malay peninsula and the Malayan
islands, as far as the Philippine group.

The Painted Snipe is generally found
on marshy ground, which is covered with
abundance of grass or other low cover,
and it will seldom be seen on bare land.
The bill of this Snipe is not sensitive,
and is moreover curved, so that it is not
able to probe the soil for worms as
ordinary Snipes do. Its food, therefore,

49° Manual of the Game Birds of India.

consists chiefly of insects, and perhaps
vegetable matter, and its flesh is very
inferior for the table.

Painted Snipes are usually found in
couples or small groups. They are tame
and confiding, and allow a near approach
before rising on the wing. The flight is
slow and heavy. This Snipe, as a rule,
flies but a short distance and settles quickly.
It is not easy to flush it a second time.

A curious habit of this Snipe, common
perhaps both to the male and female,
may be often observed at the breeding
season and also, according to Blyth, when
the bird is surprised. It consists in the
display of its beautiful plumage, the wings
and tail being spread out to their full
extent, the breast pressed to the ground
and the bill raised.

The late Mr. J. Wood-Mason has
pointed out that the windpipe of the male
of this species is formed differently to
that of the female, the consequence being
that the two sexes utter very different
notes. The note of the female has been
described as a "low, regular, hoarse, but
rich, purring call," and again as a " low,
mellow, single soft note," frequently
repeated. The male utters a sharp squeak
at irregular intervals.

The Snipes. 491

The Painted Snipe breeds at various
periods of the year, according to climate
and locality. I cannot do better than
quote what Mr. Hume has written on
this subject. He says : " Reviewing the
evidence now available, I should say
broadly that the majority bred once
during the height of the rains and once
during the middle of the cold season ;
but practically in one place or another
this species has been found breeding in
almost every month in the year ; and
while I have no doubt that they have two
broods a year, I think it possible that,
under favourable conditions, they may
have more."

The nest is a pad of grass or rushes,
some six inches in diameter, placed on
the ground. The eggs are four in number.
They are generally oval in shape, some-
times rather pointed at one end or
pyriform. They have comparatively little
gloss. In colour they are buff, thickly
blotched, spotted and streaked with deep
black. These marks are frequently con-
fluent, and cover about half the surface of
the egg. The shell-marks, which are
faint and indistinct, are purplish grey.
The eggs are comparatively small for the
size of the bird and measure from 1*29

49 2 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

to 1*5 in length, and from "89 to 1*05 in
breadth.

The male has a broad buff band extend-
ing from the forehead over the middle of
the crown to the back of the head. On
either side of this band there is another,
black mottled with white ; and another
band again, dark brown. The eye is
surrounded by a buff ring, which is con-
tinued back as a band over the ear-
coverts. The whole hindneck is ashy
brown, barred with black, the feathers
very narrowly tipped with white. The
mantle and back are similar, but with the
black bars fewer in number and much
broader, and the pale tips more con-
spicuous ; the outer feathers of the back
broadly margined with buff on the outer
web. The scapulars are ashy brown,
blotched with black and narrowly tipped
with white. The rump is bluish grey,
barred with narrow black lines and slightly
mottled with white. The upper tail-
coverts are bluish grey, barred with black,
and some of the feathers with large,
double spots of buff. The tail-feathers
are bluish grey with narrow wavy black
bars, and broad buff bands. The upper
wing-coverts are bluish grey, but this
colour is in many places almost obliterated

The Snipes. 493

by large buff spots and patches, which are
bordered above by a black bar. The
primaries are bluish grey, marbled with
black and white on the inner web, and
marked with black blotches and round
buff spots on the outer web. The outer
secondaries are similar, but the black on
the outer webs is confined to the base
of the quills. The inner secondaries are
olive-brown, much marked with black.
The sides of the head and the throat are
white streaked with brown ; the chin
nearly entirely white. The foreneck is
brown, mottled with white and bounded
below by a black gorget. The lower
surface, from the gorget to the tail, is
pure white. The sides of the breast are
olive-brown, marked with black and white,
and separated from the black gorget by
a white band. The axillaries are white,
the tips of the longer ones barred with
ashy. The under wing-coverts are bluish
grey, barred with black ; the central
feathers plain white.

The adult female differs from the male
in the following respects : — The circle
round the eye and the band over the ear-
coverts are white. The upper wing-coverts
and the long inner secondaries, in fact
the whole aspect of the closed wing, is

494 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

olive-green, with a russet tinge, closely
barred across with black. A band under
the eye is black. The sides of the
face, the throat, the upper part of the
foreneck and a broad collar round the
neck are pale chestnut. The lower fore-
neck and the upper part of the mantle are
plain black, and the patch on the sides of
the breast are nearly uniform black. The
chief difference, however, lies in the female
having the outermost scapular feathers very
narrow, pointed, and pure white.

The young birds of both sexes resemble
the male in plumage, but the females may be
known at all ages by the presence of some
white scapular feathers. Females in every
phase of plumage between that of the
male and that of the adult female are very
common in collections. The plumage of
the male hardly varies at all from youth
to old age.

In this species the female is rather
larger than the male. The length of the
male is about 10; wing about 5; tail
about i|; bill about if. The bill and
legs are olive-brown ; the i rides are brown.
The bill is subject to considerable varia-
tion in colour. Weight up to about
6J oz. The tail is composed of fourteen
ordinary feathers.

APPENDIX.

SINCE the issue of Part I. of this work,
two additional species of Pheasant have
been observed within the limits of the
Indian Empire. One of these is an un-
described Silver-Pheasant, the other is a
well-known Chinese Pheasant of great
beauty. The first I shall term —

72A. WICKHAM'S SILYER-
PHEASANT.

Gennaus wickhami, n. sp.

MALE :— The mantle, back, and the visible
portions of the closed wings black, finely,
but irregularly, vermiculated and speckled
with pale buff; the feathers of the rump
and the upper tail-coverts plain black,
without vermiculations, but very broadly
fringed with white.

FEMALE :— Not known.
VERNACULAR NAMES \-Yit, Burmese.

A MALE of this species was sent me- by
my friend Mr. P. F. Wickham, last year,

495

496 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

from the Chin-Hills in Burma. He
writes : — " The bird I send was shot
at Minken, about ten miles south of
Falam, and at an elevation of about 5000
feet ; this I should say was the limit of
height to which this Pheasant extends, and
I have not seen them, or heard of them,
in the higher thickly-wooded peaks where
the Tragopans live. I have shot them
generally in nullahs where the jungle is
thick but with Chin clearings near at
hand. I have seen them myself perch
in trees when put up by dogs ; but they
are persistent runners, although when
once put up, they fly a long way before
settling again."

When describing the Chin-Hills Silver-
Pheasant in the first part of this manual,
I expressed an opinion that that species
would prove to be the Silver-Pheasant of
the whole of the Chin-Hills. This, how-
ever, is not the case. We now see that
there is one species which inhabits the
valley of the Chindwin river, and another
the heights of the Chin-Hills. It will
probably be many years before anything
is known accurately about the distribution
of the two species.

Wickham's Silver-Pheasant may be dis-
tinguished from all other Silver-Pheasants

Appendix. 497

by the characters given above. It only
remains to be added that the forehead,
crown and crest, as well as the whole
lower plumage, is glossy black. The
hindneck is vermiculated like the mantle.
The tail-feathers are black, the middle
pair freckled with buffish white on both
webs, the others on the outer web only.

Length of male about 24 ; wing 9^ ;
tail ii. The skin of the face is crimson.

The second species to be brought to
notice is

6lA. LADY AMHERST'S
PHEASANT.

Chrysolophus amkerstia, (LEADBEATER).

THIS fine Pheasant is found in the
mountains of Western China and Eastern
Tibet. Quite recently a male specimen
of this species was obtained on the Burmo-
Chinese frontier by one of the officers
attached to the Boundary Delimitation
Commission. This bird was forwarded
to Mr. Rowland Ward, who sent it to
the Museum of Natural History for inspec-
tion, and thus it came to my knowledge.
I understand that it was shot on the
VOL. ii. 32

498 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

frontier, either in the Myitkyina or the
Bhamo District.

The male of this species is a wonderful
creature, and requires but little description.
The crown of the head is glossy green,
mottled with red, and the long pointed
crest is of a bright chestnut-red. A large
mantle or cape of broad feathers springs
from the back of the head, under the
crest, and covers the sides and back of
the neck. These feathers are white,
margined with black at the ends, and the
longer feathers are quite five inches in
length. The back and scapulars are deep
bronze, all the feathers with a black margin.
The primaries are pale brown margined
with white ; the outer secondaries black ;
the inner secondaries and all the upper
wing- co verts purple. The rump and the
upper tail-coverts are buff, the bases of all
the feathers black but more or less con-
cealed ; the tail-coverts are tipped with
orange-red. The tail-feathers vary from
white to hair-brown, and are much barred
in various ways with black. Four feathers
of the tail-coverts on each side are much
lengthened and might be mistaken for
lateral tail-feathers. They are tipped, for
a distance varying from one to three inches
with orange-red. The chest is bronze-

Appendix. 499

green with crescent-shaped black tips, and
the lower plumage is white. Length
about 50 ; wing rather more than 8 ; tail
about 36 ; tail-feathers 18 in number.
The bare skin about the eye is blue.

The female is a brown bird, and bears
a close general resemblance to the females
of many other species of Pheasants. The
tail of eighteen feathers distinguishes the
female of this species from the Barred-
Backed Pheasants and all others which
have sixteen tail-feathers. There remains
Stone's Pheasant, which occurs in the
same locality. From the female of this, the
female Lady Amherst's Pheasant may be
distinguished at once by the coarse black
and buff cross-bars which cover the mantle,
the back, the scapulars, the upper wing-
coverts, the inner secondaries, and the
whole lower plumage except the middle of
the abdomen ; and by the much longer tail,
measuring about fourteen inches. The
tail, as in the True Pheasants, is straight,
pointed, and much graduated.

Seeing that Lady Amherst's Pheasant has
now been found on the Burmese frontier,
there is no reason why the Golden Phea-
sant (Chrysolophus pictus) should not also
occur within our limits. The male has
the crest of pointed feathers, about four

500 Manual of the Game Birds of India.

inches in length, the lower back, the
rump and the upper tail-coverts golden-
yellow. The mantle or cape is orange,
barred with black. The feathers of the
upper back are dark green, edged with
black. The scapulars are crimson, and
there is a good deal of chestnut on the
wings. Nearly the whole lower plumage
is crimson. Some of the upper tail-coverts
are lengthened and crimson. Length
about 40 ; wing nearly 8 ; tail about 27.

It will probably be difficult to dis-
tinguish the female Golden Pheasant from
the female Lady Amherst's Pheasant. The
females of both species are much alike, but
they are badly represented in the British
Museum, and the few specimens available
have, for the most part, been bred in
captivity, and may not, therefore, be quite
the same as wild birds. If the sportsman
should be fortunate enough to get a hen
pheasant of this group (with eighteen tail-
feathers and nearly the entire plumage
cross-barred with black and buff) he is
recommended to preserve the skin and
to send it to the British Museum for
identification.

END OF PART II.

INDEX.

A.

acutdt Dafila, 223.
JEx gakriculata, 135.

africana, Nyroca, 318.
albellus, Mergus, 413.
albifrons, Anser, 48.
albigulare, Nettion, 158.
albigularis, Polionetta,

158.

americana, CEdemia, 371.
amhersticB) Chrysolophus,

497-
Anas boscas, 257.

— pcecilorhyncha, 150.
angustirostris,Mannaron-

ettd) 273.
Anser albifrons, 48.

— anser, 42.

— brachyrhynchiiS) 65.

— erythropus, 53.

fabalis, 74.

indictis, 59.

mentalis, 77.

middendorffi, 76.

— neglectus, 75.

— serrirostriSy 76.
anser, Anscr, 42.
Asarcornis leucoptera, 139.

— scutulata, 139.

B.

daer/, Nyroca, 328.
bewicki, Cygnus, 36.
boscas, Anas, 257.
brachyrhynchus, Anser, 65.
Branta ruficollis, 78.

C.

Candida, Coscoroba, 14.
capensis, Rostratula^ 488.
carbo, CEdemia, 371.
caryophyllacea, Rhodo-

nessa, 284.
Casarca, 80.

— casarca, 92.

rutila, 92.

casarca, Casarca, 92.
castor, Merganser^ 390.
C^a ulelasm us streperus,

234-
Chrysolophus amhersticc,

497-,

pictus, 499.

circia, Querquedula, 190.
Clangula clangula, 358.

glaucion, 358.

chuignla, Clangula, 358.
clypeata, Spatzela, 246.
cotnatus, Merganser, 390.

502

Index.

Comb-Duck, The, 7, 103.

Duck, The Small Whist-

Comb-Ducks, 20.

ling? 7, 112.

The, 101.

— The Spot-bill, 8.

cormita, Tadorna, 81.

-The Spotted-billed, 8.

coromandelianus, Netto-

The Stiff-tailed, 9,

pus, 127.

375-

Coscoroba Candida, 14.

— The Tufted, 9.

Cotton-Teal, 20.

- The Tufted Scaup

The, 125.
The Indian, 8, 127.

9. 348-
The White-eyed, 9.

crecca, Nettium, 172.

— The White - faced

cygnoides, Cygnopsis, 77.

Stiff-tail, 9.

Cygnopsis cygnoides, 77.

— The Wild, 9, 257.

Cygnus bewicki, 36.

Ducks, Grey, 20.

davidi, 37.

— Marbled, 21.

— musicus, 35.

— Pink-headed, 21.

olor, 26.

— Scaup, 22.

Stiff-tailed, 23.

D.

- True, 21.

Whistling, 20.

Dafila acuta, 223.

— The Falcated, 169.

davidi, Cygnus, 37.

- The Grey, 147.

Dendrocycnafulva, 120.
— javanica, 112.

The Marbled, 272.
- The Pink - headed,

Duck, The Andaman, 8,

282.

158.

- The Scaup, 334.

The Brahminy, 7.

— The Stiff-tailed, 373.

— The Burrow, 7.

— The True, 168.

- The Comb, 7.

The Whistling, no.

- The Falcated, 8, 202.

— The Wild, 171.

- The Grey, 8, 150.

Dun-bird, The, 9.

The Large Whistling,

7, 120.

E.

- The Long-tailed, 372.

Erismatura leucocephala,

— The Mandarin, 135.

375-

- The Marbled, 9, 273.

erythropus, Anser, 53.

— The Pink-headed, 9,

E u n etta fa lea ta, 202 .

284.

— The Pintail, 8.

F.

— The Scaup, 9, 337.

/abatis^ Anser^ 74.

Index.

503

f alcata, Eunetta, 202.

Goose, The Grey, 7.

ferina, Nyroca, 309.

— The Grey Lag, 7.

formosum, Nettium, 182.

The Large White-

Fuligulafuligula, 348.

fronted, 7, 48.

— marila, 337.

The Pink-footed, 7,

fuligula, Fuligula, 348.

65-

fulva, Dendrocycna, 120.

The Red - breasted,

fusca, (Edemia, 371.

78.

The Small White-

G.

fronted, 7, 53.

Gad wall, The, 8, 234.

- The Swan-bill, 77.

Gadwalls, The, 170.

The White-fronted, 7.

galericulata, s£x, 135.
Gallinago gallinago, 455.

Goose-Teal, The White-
bodied, 8.

major, 467.

H.

— megala, 475*

— nemoricola, 439.

Harelda gladalis, 372.

— solitaria, 446.

— stenura, 468.

I.

gallinago, Gallinago, 455.

indicus, Anser, 59.

gallinula, Limnocryptes,

477-

J.

Garganey, The, 8, 190.
Garganeys, The, 169,
Garrot, The, 9.

Jack-Snipe, The, 10, 477.
javanica, Dendrocycna,

Geese, The True, 38.

112.

— True, 19.

L.

Gennaus wickhami, 495.
glacialts, Harelda, 372.

Lag-Goose, The Grey, 7

glaucion, Clangula, 358.
Golden-eye, The. 9, 358.

42.
leucocephala, Erismatura

Golden-eyes, 22.
- The', 357.

375-
Limnocryptes gallinula

Goosander, The, 10, 390.

477-

Goose, The Barred-headed ,

M.

7, 59.
- The Black-backed, 7,

major, Gallinago, 467.

103.

Mallard, The, 9, 257.

- The Chinese, 77.

Mareca penelope, 210.

- The Dwarf, 7.

marila, Fuligida, 337

504

Index.

Mar-mar onetta angustiros-

O.

tris, 273.

megala, Gallinago, 475.

(Edemia americana, 371.

melanonota, Sarcidiornis,

— ttzrfo, 371.

103.

fuscat 371.

mentalis, Anser, 3, 77.

«^fl, 370.

Merganser castor, 390.

0/0/", Cygnus, 26.

comatus, 390.

merganser, 390.

P.

serrator, 402.

merganser, Merganser,

penelope, Mareca, 210.

390-

Pheasant, Lady Amherst's,

Merganser, The, 10.

497-

The Red-breasted,

— The Golden, 499.

10, 402.

p ictus, Chrysolophus, 499.

Mergansers, 23.

Pin-tail, The, 8, 223.

The, 386.

Pin-tails, The, 170.

Mergus albellus, 413.

Pochard, The, 9, 309.

squamatus, 388.

The Eastern White-

middendorffi, Anser, 76.

eyed, 9, 328.

music-us, Cygmis, 35.

The Red-crested, 9,

N.

299,
The Red-headed, 9.

neglectus, Anser, 75.

— The Scaup, 9.

nemoricola, Gallinago, 439.

The Tufted, 9.

Netta, 296.

The Western White-

— rufina, 299.
Nettion albigulare, 158.

eyed, 9, 318.
- The White-eyed, 9.

Nettium- crecca, 172.

Pochards, 22.

— formosum, 182.

— The, 296.

Nettopus coromandelian us,

pcscilorhyncha, Anas, 150.

127.

— Polionetta, 149, 150.

mgra, CEdetma, 370.

Polionetta, 149.

Nukhta, The, 7.

— albigularis, 158.

Nukta, The, 103.

— pacilorhyn cha , 1 49,

Nyroca, 297.

150.

Nyroca africana, 318.

— zonorhync/ia, 148.

Nyroca baeri, 328.

— ferina, 309.

Q

nyroca, 318.

V-

uyroca, Nyroca. 318.

Querquedula circia, 190.

Index.

505

R.

Snipe, Swinhoe's, 475.

Rhodonessa caryophyllacea,

- The Common, 10,

284.

455, 474.

Rostratula capensis, 488.
ruficollis, Branta, 78.

- The Double, 467.
The Eastern Solitary,

rufina, Netta, 299.
rusticula, Scolopax, 428.
rutila, Casarca, 92.

10.

The Fantail, 10.
The Great, 467.

— The Himalayan Soli-

.
Sarcidiornis melanonota,

tary, 10.
— The Jack, 10, 477.

103.

- The Painted, 10, 488.

Scaup, The, 9.

The Pin-tail, 10, 468,

Scaup Duck, The, 337.

474-

- The Tufted, 348.

The Solitary, 10, 446.

Scaup Ducks, The, 334.

The Wood, 10.

Scolopax rusticula, 428.

Snipes, i, 2.

Scoter, The American,

— Painted, 427.

37i-

The, 424.

- The Common, 370.

— True, 427.

— The Eastern, 371.

solitaria, Gallinago, 446.

- The Velvet, 371.

Spatula clypeata, 246.

Scoters. The, 370.

squamatus, Mergus, 388.

scutulata, Asarcornis, 139.

stenura, Gallinago, 468.

serrator, Merganser, 402.

streperus, Chaulelasmus,

serrirostris, Anser, 76.

234.

Shiel-drake, The, 7.

Swan, Bewick's, 25, 36.

— The White-winged, 8.

— The Mute, 7, 26.

Sheld-Duck,The Common,

Swans, 19.

7.8f.

- The, 24.

- The Ruddy, 7, 92.

Sheld-Ducks, 19.

T.

- The, 79.

Tadorna, 79.

Shelldrake, The, 7.

— cornuta, 81.

— The Ruddy, 7.

tadorna, 81.

Shoveller, The, 8, 246.

tadorna, Tadorna, 81.

Shovellers, The, 170.

Teal, The, 169.

Silver-Pheasant, Wick-

- The Baikal, 8, 182.

ham's, 495.

The Blue-winged, 8>

Smew, The, 10, 413.

190.

VOL. II.

33

Index.

Teal, The Bronze-capped,
8.

- The Clucking, 8, 182.

— The Common, 8, 172.

— The Cotton, 8.
The Crested, 8.

- The Larger Whist-
ling, 7.

- The Marbled, 9.

The Oceanic, 8.

The Whistling, 7.

Whistling, in.

W.

Water Fowl, i, 2, 13.
Whistling-Teal, The, 7.
— The Large, 7.

Whooper, The, 25, 35.

ivickhami, Gennceus, 495.

Wigeon, The, 8, 210.

Wigeons, The, 169.

Wood-Cock, The, 10, 428.
I Wood-Cocks, 426.
I Wood-Duck, the Indian,
8, 139-

The White-wmged, 8.

Wood-Ducks, 20.
- The, 136.

Wood-Snipe, The, 10, 439.

Z.

zonorhyncha, Polionetta>
148.

Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylcsbury.

14 DAY USE

RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED

This book is due on the last date stamped below, or

on the date to which renewed.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.

Oatesf £.*&

^aiiia

^*-j*mij
"CASE

tQp591

A manual of
birds of In

the game

din

15022
v.2

BfOLOGY
LIBRARY

G

ter \

^•1

r fi

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY