NYROCA FULIGULA 289 



and rush overgrown round the shores. Where such pieces of water 

 are to be found, the Tufted Pochard may be obtained in no incon- 

 siderable numbers ; at the same time it is unusual to find it in 

 any but small parties and pairs, and single birds are more often to 

 be met with than even such. Sometimes, however, it does consort 

 in very large numbers, vide Hume, who says : — 



Single birds or small parties may be found on almost any 

 broads in which the water is tolerably deep in some places, but tbe 

 huge flocks in which they love to congregate are only met with on 

 large lakes, just as I have above referred to. 



At the Manchar Lake I saw two enormous flocks. I have 

 repeatedly seen similar flocks in old times at Najjafgarh and other 

 vast jhils in the Punjaub, the North-west Provinces, and Oudh ; 

 and I should guess that at the Kunkrowli Lake, in Oodeypore, 

 there must have been nearly ten thousand, covering the whole centre 

 of the lake." 



Such flocks as these are, however, only to be met with in the 

 provinces mentioned ; in the Eastern Provinces a flock of forty is 

 very large, and about all we may expect to meet with. 



Just as expert as are the rest of the pochards on or in the water, 

 it excels the majority of these — perhaps not A", baeri — in getting away 

 from it. It rises with less fluster, noise, and splashing than is 

 caused by the rising of other pochards, and also gets off the water 

 more quickly and gets more quickly into its stride, if I may use such 

 an expression. Indeed, when frightened, it flies at a great pace, 

 nearly equalling the pintail, and exceeding most other ducks. On 

 land, however, feeble as are other pochards, this, according to Finn, 

 is worse still. He says, in the ' Asian ' : — 



'■ On land it moves more awkwardly than any other Pochard 

 I know, hobbling as if lame in both feet." 



However abundant it may be, the Tufted Pochard does not, as a 

 rule, form a very large portion of a bag in a day's shooting. This 

 is due to the difficulty, first, in approaching the birds — for they are 

 decidedly wild and shy — and, secondly, in getting a shot when once 

 one has got within reach. If the bird does not escape at once by 

 diving, swimming, or flight, it is sure to dive before, at any rate, the 

 sportsman has time to get a shot, and once it has seen him and had 

 its first dive it is very problematical as to whether he will es'er get a 

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