8 INDIAN SPOETING BIRDS 



are not so widely distributed as the pintail or even the humble 

 shoveller, to say nothing of the teal, for they do not visit the 

 extreme south of India nor Ceylon, to say nothing of the islands 

 of the Bay. They come in about November and may stay on 

 as late as May, though March is the more usual month for their 

 departure. They are found in flocks of various sizes, and are not 

 naturally remarkable either for shyness or its opposite, though 

 after persecution they give trouble enough to the gunner. Like 

 mallard they rise smartly, and their flight is more rapid, and 

 somewhat teal-like both in style and sound. They sit rather 

 high in the water, and swim and walk with ordinary ability, 

 not infrequently coming ashore to feed ; among the items there 

 sought for Hume enumerates small moths and butterflies — rather 

 ethereal diet for a duck one would think, especially as so few 

 birds have been actually observed eating butterflies at all. 

 Water-insects and shell-fish are also partaken of, but the gadwall 

 is mainly a vegetarian feeder, especially appreciating w^ild rice 

 and paddy, even when half ripe. It is almost always an excellent 

 bird for the table. 



Gadwall like a certain amount of cover in the water they 

 frequent, but are not particular birds about their habitat ; their 

 visits to the rice- fields are made in the mornings and evenings, 

 and by day they retire to the broader waters to rest. They 

 seem confined to fresh water. Although not bad divers when 

 urged by necessity, they do not seem to dive for food; this, of 

 course, is what one would expect, but there exists an old state- 

 ment to the effect that the gadwall dived freely and frequently ; 

 this was probably founded on observation of some unusually 

 gifted individual bird. The gadwall's quack is more shrill than 

 that of the mallard, and weaker and sharper, and more often 

 used, according to Hume. This presumably refers to the 

 female ; the male, which is pretty noisy towards spring, has 

 a gruff, grunting quack, not at all like a mallard drake's note, 

 or indeed like that of most male ducks, though the shoveller and 

 clucking-teal have voices of somewhat the same type. 



Gadwall are not only thought highly of by sportsmen, but 

 seem to be popular in pond society ; they are found, according 

 to Hume, in the company of all sorts of other ducks, and are 



