3o8 DUCK GROUP 



in November, and may thus be l•el,^'lrded as the supreme development 

 of the breeding-dress ; the original non-breeding dress having probably 

 been altogether lost. The duck is rather smaller than the drake, 

 has no black collar, and is rather duller in colour, with a tendency 

 to white on the head. Young birds are still more ding)' ; the downy 

 chick resembles that of the sheldrake. A couple of feet is the average 

 length of the full-grown drake of this species. 



The brahminy is a duck whose breeding- range is restricted to 

 the warmer parts of the north temperate zone, inclusi\e of the 

 Mediterranean countries, and Western and Central Asia. During the 

 breeding-season these handsome ducks are very numerous on the great 

 lakes, such as the well-known Pangong and Tso-Morari, of Ladak and 

 Tibet. From these breeding-places the brahminies migrate south in 

 winter to the plains of India, the Irawadi valley, China, Japan, and, 

 rarely, Ceylon. October is the month in which these birds make their 

 appearance in the plains of India, whence they depart again for the 

 lands beyond the Himalaya in the following March in the southern 

 districts of the peninsula, although lingering a few weeks longer in 

 the Punjab and other northern provinces. To the British Isles the 

 brahminy can be considered only as a rare and occasional straggler, 

 and up to the year 1892 only some sixteen records of its occurrence 

 (exclusive of a few which are known to have been based on the escape 

 of captive specimens) appear to have been chronicled. These sixteen 

 records are spread over all three kingdoms. In 1892, on the other 

 hand, very considerable flights of these ducks reached the Briti.sh 

 Islands, flocks of from ten to fourteen head, and, in one instance, as 

 many as a score, having been observed in several parts of the country 

 between June and September. Xo satisfactory explanation of this 

 remarkable immigration has hitherto been given ; the theory that the 

 birds had lost their way being scarcely admissible. 



May and June are the breeding-months of the brahminy, which in 

 winter is a familiar bird to residents in the plains of India, where it is 

 to be seen, generally in pairs, on sand-spits and banks in all the larger 

 river-valleys, as at this season it but seldom takes to the water. Indeed, 

 when out shooting, the metallic two-.syllabled alarm-cry of these birds 

 is almost constantly striking the ears of the sportsman ; and the bird 

 may almost be regarded as an integral feature of an Indian winter 

 landscape. Its food consists largely of grass and the tender shoots of 

 cereal crops, which are grazed in goose- fashion, but also comprises 

 shell-fish and crabs. The flesh is of very inferior quality. 



All the members of the duck-tribe are very prone to interbreed 



