254 INDIAN DUCKS 



however, I think they generally come in by October, and I have 

 seen a pair about the lUth of that month, while a few odd birds have 

 been recorded in September. 



In some parts of India they arrive in flocks of thousands ; Hume 

 writes in one place of "flocks of many thousands, and acres of water 

 paved with them " ; again, " I rowed into a flock of this species, 

 several thousands in number." Eeid also, after saying that though 

 (in the Lucknow division) he had come across them in small parties, 

 as a rule, of a dozen or so, yet " one morning in December I came 

 across countless numbers on a jheel in the Fyzabad district closely 

 packed and covering the whole surface of the water, with their red 

 heads moving independently, while the breeze kept their crests in 

 motion ; a distant spectator might have mistaken them for a vast 

 expanse of beautiful aquatic flowers." 



As a general thing, therefore, it would seem that Eed-Crested 

 Pochard like to congregate in very large flocks, and it is only when 

 the country is not very well suited to their wants that they split up 

 into small parties ; under these circumstances very small flocks and 

 even pairs and single birds may be sometimes seen. 



They are open-water birds by choice, frequenting large sheets of 

 water, unobstructed by surface weeds, reeds, or water-plants, except 

 about the shores or banks. Of course, where they are most common, 

 a few birds may be met with in almost any kind of water, but it is 

 rare for any large flock to be found on vegetation-covered swamps, 

 small dirty jheels, &c. 



They are splendid swimmers, and regularly play about on the 

 water with one another where undisturbed, and as divers they are 

 even better than as swimmers, though the White-eye may excel them 

 in this respect. 



Legge says :— 



" This handsome Pochard, though belonging to the family of 

 diving ducks, which are mainly characterized by their wehhed or 

 lobed hind toes, is said by those who have observed its habits not to 

 dive for its food, but to feed, like ordinary ducks, in shallow water, 

 with its neck stretched down and body turned up." 



This, too, is what Dresser says, but would appear to be distinctly 

 contrary to what most observers have noted ; what Hume records 



