194 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



Mr. Hume thus writes in the " Game 

 Birds " : — ^" I have very seldom seen them 

 in the day feeding in fields, but I know 

 that at nights they come in some parts 

 of the country in such crowds into paddy- 

 fields as to destroy acres of crops at one 

 visit. Along the Mekran coast, and in 

 many places along the Sindh and Bombay 

 coasts, you find them in secluded salt- 

 water creeks, where they seem just as 

 much at home as in inland waters. 



" They are not very wild or w^ary ; it 

 is generally easy enough to get shots 

 at them with a little precaution ; they are 

 easy to work up to in a punt, but they 

 are yet not tame and familiar like the 

 Common Teal, and do not, like this, 

 habitually affect pools where men con- 

 stantly come and go, and in close proximity 

 to human habitations. Generally they 

 keep in flocks ; rarely less than a dozen 

 are found together, and most commonly 

 from fifty to several hundreds are seen 

 in a bunch. Few fowl sit closer or 

 straggle less, few offer more effective big- 

 gun shots. 



" Their flight is rapid — though less so 

 than that of the Common Teal — direct, 

 and with far fewer sudden turns and 

 twists. They rise rapidly and easily from 



