INDIAN DOCKS AND THEIR ALLIES. ^ ' 6.01 



dawned, an^i 1 could soon seo a dense m:tss of fowl . . . probahh 

 fully a quarter of a mile ott' . . . Lving down I puddled towards 

 them. Very soon a fresh north-east wind sprang uj) agaiust nu'; ijuitc a 

 sea rose. I wjis perpetually grounding, and they were swinmiinjj away 

 steadily against the wind, so that it was bright su light before I got 

 within i!OU yards, and then I could see they were all rod-cro^ts. I 

 had now got into deeper wafer, and went as bard as I could without 

 sjdashing ; but they swam steadih away, and I must have gone 

 fully h.t If a mile before I had gained 100 yards on them. 8till they 

 had not shown the slightest signs of suspicion (and T knew their ways 

 well), but were swimming gaily on en masse-, head to wind, as 

 they often will on windy mornings. On 1 s\ent. I had a long 

 heavy English swivel, carrying a pound of shot (No. 1 I had in); 

 there were between two and three thousand of them as closely 

 packed as they could swim. I was certairly within seventy yards of 

 the hindermost birds ; I calculated to get within about forty yards of 

 these and fire over their heads into the centre of the flock. They 

 were close-packed and backs to me, so there was little to gain, and 

 possibly a great deal to lose by flushing them. I was within fifty _\ards, 

 when again I grounded : bad I even then fired at once, 1 must have 

 made a very large bai2, but I thought I kiiew that this was only tlie 

 point of a mound, and I \vasted some precious niomen's struggling to 

 get over it with the paddles. The nearest birds mn.'^t have been 

 seventy yards distant before, seeing I was hard and last, I snapped 

 an ammunition cap on a little pi^-toj 1 always carried for the purjiose, 

 and raked them as they rose. The next instant there was a whole 

 line of birds fluttering on the water, seven dead and twentv -one winoed. 

 I recovered everyone of them, but it was noon before I bagged the 

 last ; and if I had had a desperate hard six hours' work, I hardly 

 remember any six hours which I more thoroughly enjoyed." 



This duck breeds throughout the southern countries of Europe, in 

 parts also of Northern Africa and in the more northern parts of its 

 Asiatic habitat, as far south as Shiraz in Persia. In Europe it is found 

 breeding occasionally in Northern Germany, France, &c. ; but its true 

 breeding haunts are further south. In Central Germany it is common. 

 Hume, referring to the nests taken by Dr. Baldamus remarks : — 

 " Dr. Baldamus who has taken many nests in Central Germany, all 

 3 



