142 INDIAN DUCKS 



in Cachar, and not common in East Sylhet, where the rivers are too 

 muddy, and are wanting in suitable sandy banks and chiirs. In 

 South and West Sylhet it is much more common, for there the 

 rivers begin to widen out into fine clear streams. 



In Orissa it is not uncommon to find this bird on the salt liack- 

 waters and pools, and even on the shore itself, Jt is very common 

 on the C'hilka Lake, and 1 have seen it on the brackish tidal waters 

 of the Sunderbands. 



Except in mid-winter, it is to be met with in considerable 

 numbers in the lofty valleys of the Himalayan rivers, in Kashmir, 

 and at other equally lofty elevations, and from thence down to the 

 level of the plains. In Kashmir it appears to be met with more 

 or less throughout the cold season, but, probably, deserts the higher 

 valleys of the Himalayas during the coldest period. 



Nidification. — The Ruddy Sheldrake, though a migrant to the 

 plains of India, is yet amongst the few ducks which breed within 

 our limits, as it frequents many of the lofty valleys of the Hima- 

 layas for this purpose. It has not been found to breed there below 

 10,000 feet, and Hume sa,ys its nest has been taken as high as 

 16,000 feet. 



In Mesopotamia, Tomlinson and Thornhill record its breeding 

 in burrows in banks of the Tigris and in low sand-hills. The 

 latter records one taken from a deserted jackal's burrow twenty 

 feet in. 



In Southern Russia, Asia Minor, and Central Asia, the normal 

 site chosen by this duck is either the deserted liurrow of some 

 animal, or a natural crevice or hole in a mountain side or bank, 

 sometimes on level ground. In the Himalayas, the Brahminy 

 breeds, more or less, in company, though the nests may be some 

 distance apart. They are here generally placed in holes or crevices 

 in the high cliffs overhanging streams or lakes, generally close to. 

 but at other times some distance from, them. The nest-holes are 

 often at very great heights from the ground, and as the nestlings 

 have been seen on the water when very young indeed, it follows 

 of necessity that they are taken there by their parents. 



The Ladakhis say that they are carried in the feet ; and this, I 

 think, must be the case, though Hume, on the contrary, considers 



