'214 INDIAN UUCKS 



yards or so, then jiitehed and commenced swimming away, so that I 

 was able to kill one on the water, and the other as it rose, from where 

 I stood. Of course, birds that have been shot at a bit go clean awa\' 

 at the first alai'm. On these creeks they associate with the conmion 

 whistling teal, and I have watched the two species in close company 

 on the water, though the Oceanic Teal separate from the others when 

 put up. The only thing I noticed about them, which I do not think 

 has been recorded, is that they have a 'quacking' note as well as a 

 low wliistle. One day a party of eight or ten, at which some shots 

 had been fired, after wheeling round and round for some time, pitched 

 on a narrow channel, within thirty \ards of me, as I stood concealed 

 in the bushes on tlie bank. I watched them for some minutes, when 

 another pair, fi'ightened by some distant shots, came scurrying over ; 

 the birds on the water all twisted their heads up, and set up a loud 

 quacking call-note, which they kept up for some minutes. The new- 

 comers circled round several times, but probably seeing the top of my 

 tojjec, concluded not to join their companions in their fancied security. 

 The flight of this teal is fairly fast. Occasionally, when they have 

 been kept on the wing for some time, a party will stoop down to the 

 surface of a creek as if they meant to pitch, and then change their 

 mind and rise again. When exercising this manoeuvre, they fly past 

 at a tremendous pace. The white wing-bar, in this species, is most 

 conspicuous when the bird is on the wing. 



" Winged birds promptly swim for the nearest cover, into which 

 they scuttle ofl' at a great pace, and are generally lost without a dog. 

 One I shot swam steadily along in front of a Pathan convict, who 

 was swimming after it in the capacity of a retriever, and, though 

 hard pressed, made no attempt to dive until it reached the bank, 

 where it was caught. One of the ofiicers stationed here has a live 

 bird in captivity, which was pinioned by a shot some months ago. 

 It thrives well on paddy, but has not become very tame. It spends 

 most of the day asleep, with its head resting in the plumage of the 

 back. The local sportsmen have christened them Gibberies. 



" They are rather difficult birds to skin, being very fat, and 

 having, for a duck, rather a tender skin. They seem to average 

 about 15 ozs. in weight." 



To this note Mr. Butler adds the following information, which he 

 has kindly sent me in a letter : — 



" On December the 2nd I was snipe-shooting at a village called 

 ' Onikhet.' Walking down a band which was overgrown with rank 

 grass, I almost put my foot on an Oceanic Teal, which fluttered away 

 in front of me, trailing its wings and feigning lameness. Of course, 1 

 thought I had got a nest at last, hut a ripiiling movement in the grass 



