INDIAN DUCKS AND THEIR ALLIES. 599 



this valuable information. The faot is, that though you may, at times, 

 see it dibbling about in 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, di\ang, for an hour at a 

 time, with 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 changed 

 however by emergency) lie in thick masses coiled along the sur- 

 face." 



This is certainly my experience, and I noted in the Sunderbunds 

 how very much this duck kept to the open, central portions of the 

 huge bheels, feeding there on and amongst the aquatic plants, 

 especially on a long, trailing, moss-like weed which grew several feet 

 under water. Moreover, I have found in their stomachs the roots of 

 plants which do not grow except in fairly deep water. They not only 

 dive well and for long periods, but they also dive to no inconsiderable 

 depths ; and that it is a pleasure to them to dive is shown by their 

 constant diving when at play, chasing one another both above and 

 below the surface. 



They feed both by day and night, but mainly in the early mornincr 

 and evening ; and though the very much greater portion of their diet is 

 undoubtedly aquatic, yet they have been known to feed on young 

 crops on dry land. Of course, like all or nearly all ducks, they rest 

 during the hottest hours of the day, selecting quite open, deep water 

 for that purpose, when it is available. They have the credit of beino- 

 awkward and feeble on land, but that very close observer, Mr. F. Finn, 

 says that it comes ashore more often than the other Pochards and walks 

 better also. 



No duck varies much more than does this one in the qualit}^ of its 

 flesh, when at its best very few ducks indeed are better for the table 

 but at its worst the "White-eye itself is but little more rank and coarse. 

 This variability is, undoubtedly, due to its wide range of feedino-. 

 Naturally they are principally vegetable feeders, and when feedino- on 

 water plants and young crops, their flesh is naturally excellent ; but 



