462 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XII. 



In its arrival it appears to be later than most ducks, even in its 

 extreme North West point of entry it does not appear to be seen in 

 any numbers until late in October or early November and as it works 

 South and East it of course gets later and later. Its departure would, 

 on the other baud, seem to take place at much the same time as that of 

 other birds of its order, i.e., in April, a few remaining until the last few 

 days of May in very late years. 



Little has been added to our knowledge of the habits of this Teal 

 since Hume wrote concerning it as follows : — 



" In Sindh where I had abundant opportunities of observing it, I 

 found the Marbled Teal invariably associated in large parties. Its 

 favourite haunts were broads, thickly grown with rush, in which it fed 

 and sported, Gom])aratively 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 by chance, it is at the moment outside of the rushes or 

 similar cover in the open water, it scuttles into concealment, as a coot 

 would do, and if in cover already, remains there perfectly quiet, until 

 the boats push within 60 or 70 yards of it ; then it rises, generally one 

 at a time, and even though fired aL, not unfrequently again drops into 

 the rushes within a couple of hundred yards. When there has been 

 a good deal of shooting on a lake and almost all the other dncks, and 

 with them of course &ome of these are circling round and round, high 

 in the air, you still keep, as you push through the reeds and rushes, 

 continually flushing the Marbled Teal, and the broad must be small, or 

 the hunting very close and long continued to induce all the Marbled 

 Teal to take wing. Of course where there is a little cover (though 

 there you never meet with this dack in large numbers) they rise and 

 fly about with the other ducks, but their tendency in these resjiects 

 is rather coot-like than duck-like. Individuals may take wing at the 

 first near shot, but the great majority of them stick to cover as long as 

 this is possible ; and on two occasion I saw very pretty shooting, boats 

 in line pushing up a wide extent of rush-grown water, and the Marbled 

 Teal 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 Pochard, both of which 

 when disturbed, cling a good leal to cover, would be flushed, but there 

 was not one of these to te i of the Marbled Teal 



