NOTES ON THE WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. Ill 



to find, when within range, that I bad wasted my pains on that 

 " greedy gled." If, however, a carcase of any animal were lying 

 half in the water, it would attract the Crustacea, to which no duck 

 objects. I do not know any season at which this bird is anything 

 but a last resource for the pot, but it is sometimes shot for the sake 

 of its very handsome plumage. 



Of the true ducks, the European mallard (Anas boschas) is not, to 

 the best of my belief, found in the Deccan or Khandesh at all. When 

 any sportsman of those parts tells you he has killed so many 

 " mallards," he generally means the closely allied spot-billed duck 

 which is found here, with the shoveller, gadwall, and pin-tailed ducks 

 and the white-eyed duck (Aytlnja nyroca), which would be far better 

 named the white-winged cluck from its white speculum, the colour of 

 the eye being very far from constant. It is small, and not usually 

 considered a first-rate duck for the table, but this depends a good deal 

 upon its diet, which is, I think, a little miscellaneous. I have heard 

 single specimens highly praised by competent epicures. This bird, the 

 shoveller, and the blue-winged teal are perhaps the commonest 

 ducks of the region, and certainly make the longest visit. The 

 common or grey teal of Europe is also well known here, but 

 on the whole the country is a bad one for ducks. The mergansers 

 and the true shelldrake are not found here at all. 



Of the next tribe, the grebes, we have one, very common, . the 

 dabchicks, probably identical with the European bird, though some 

 naturalists separate it. At any rate it is similar in appearance and 

 habits. The Mahrattas call it " Pan-buddi" or " water-diver." It is 

 a great enemy of fry and spawn ; useless for any human purpose ; but 

 it gives life, often enough, to waters that show no other swimming bird. 

 It is sometimes shot as a " teal," a mistake which could not, I should 

 think, survive the first mouthful, but I have not tried. It is a per- 

 manent resident, and breeds in some quiet places. 



On large rivers and tanks one Occasionally sees the brown-headed 

 gull, and daily some species of fresh-water terns, very beautiful and 

 graceful. These eat an enormous quantity of small fish and Crustacea, 

 and moreover forage ashore, chiefly for grasshoppers. I have not 

 found the nests of any of them in this region, although one might 

 well expect them to breed on the sandbanks of the larger rivers. The 

 strange black and white skimmer (Rhpichops albicollis), which looks 

 something like a tern, is not, I think, found here, though it does 

 exist on the lower waters of our rivers beyond our boundary. 



