ICii; INDIAN DITCKS 



they are quite coimuon," and they are found, though not fre- 

 quently, on the Brahmapootra. -I have no record of their occur- 

 rence on the Megna, Surma, Barak, or any other of this network of 

 rivers, though it is probable in the extreme that they may be met 

 with here and there on any of them. 



This appears to be entirely a fresh-water duck, and this would be 

 sutiicient to account for its comparative absence from the Sunder- 

 bands and their tidal and brackish waters. Whether it occurs on 

 the Chilka Lake — also of brackish water — I cannot say. 



The Spot-Bill is, in every sense of the word, one of the finest and 

 most game of o\u ducks. Even larger on an average than the 

 Mallard, it fully rivals that bird for the table, and is, I think, more 

 uniform in its good condition ; this no doubt is due to the fact that 

 it has not to overtax its strength in long migrations. It is a strong 

 flyer, though not so quick in rising and not so speedy in getting under 

 way as is the Mallard. When it first rises, Hume compares it to an 

 old hen, such a noise and flurry does it make, but the pace it puts 

 on once it is fairly started compensates for its slowness at first. It 

 is, perhaps, an easier bird than most of its size and weight to bring 

 down when hit, owing to its plumage being rather less dense than 

 that of many other ducks. Even when brought down, however, it is 

 not necessarily brought to bag at once, as it is a most expert diver, 

 and is one of those ducks which dive and grasp the weeds imder the 

 water, and so keep hidden below the surface ; more often, though, 

 it rises, but only higli enough to allow of the tip of the bill pro- 

 truding. Hume, Butler, and otlrers have recovered birds quite dead, 

 drowned through holding on to the weeds a little too long below the 

 water. If winged, so as to render diving either painful or impossible 

 (a twisted wing prevents most ducks from diving), it will make for 

 the nearest cover ; indeed W oods informed lue that he has found that 

 the majority of those he has wounded without killing outright have 

 taken tliis means of trying to avoid capture ; at the same time, he 

 adds that they both dive and swim well. 



Most writers agree that the voice of the Spot-Bill and of the 

 Mallard are very much alike ; but Hume considers that the quack 

 of the former is the more sonorous. I cannot say that 1 have noticed 

 any difference between the two. 



