138 ANATID/E. 



according to Savi ; and it is said to be found in Africa, even 

 as far south as the Cape. It has been found in Persia, Asia 

 Minor, at Trebizond, and in the countries about the Cauca- 

 sian range. Mr. Strickland says it is frequently to be seen 

 in the poulti*y shops at Smyrna, but owing to the Turkish 

 practice of cutting the throats of birds as soon as shot, he 

 was unable to obtain a perfect specimen. Messrs. Dickson 

 and Ross say this species is abundant at Erzeroom, frequents 

 marshes during the day, but feeds late in the evening and 

 early in the morning in corn and stubble fields. Arrives 

 there about the middle of March, and departs at the end of 

 November ; rarely seen in the water. Said to breed in the 

 marshes. Great numbers on the Lake of Van in August. 

 Native name, Ahngoof. Colonel Sykes includes this species 

 in his Catalogue of the Birds of the Dukhun. 



The food of this duck consists of aquatic plants and their 

 seeds, insects, and the fry of fish. Latham says it makes its 

 nest in the craggy banks of the Wolga, and other rivers, or 

 in the hollows of the deserted hills of marmots ; forming it 

 after the manner of the Shieldrake, and it is said to make 

 burrows for itself in the manner of that bird ; builds some- 

 times in the shaft of an old well that is not used, and has 

 been known-also to lay in a hollow tree, lining the nest with 

 its own feathers. They pair, and the male and female sit 

 by turns. They lay eight or nine white eggs. When the 

 young come forth the mother will often carry them from the 

 place of hatching to the water, with the bill. Have been 

 attempted to be domesticated, by rearing the young under 

 tame Ducks, but without success, as they remain wild, effect- 

 ing their escape the first opportunity ; and if the old ones 

 are taken and confined, they lay their eggs in a dispersed 

 manner, and never sit. The voice of the bird when flying 

 is not unlike the note of a clarionet : at other times it cries 

 like a Peacock, especially when kept confined ; and now and 



