302 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



pieces." Referring to the erroneous state- 

 ment made by Mr. Dresser, that this Duck 

 does not dive but feeds hke the Mallard 

 by merely bobbing the front part of its 

 body under water, Mr. Hume continues : — 

 "The fact is, that though you 7nayy at 

 times, see it dibbling about the water hke 

 Teal and Shovellers, or again feeding 

 as he describes, its normal habit and 

 practice is to dive, and I have watched 

 flocks of them, scores of times, diving, for 

 an hour at a time, with a pertinacity and 

 energy unsurpassed by any other wild 

 fowl. Examine closely their favourite 

 haunts, and you will find these to be 

 almost invariably just those waters in 

 which they nmst dive for their food. 

 Deep broads, where the feathery water- 

 weed beds do not reach within several 

 feet of the surface, not the comparatively 

 shallow ones, where the same weeds (the 

 character of their leaves, however, changed 

 by emergence) lie in thick masses coiled 

 along the surface. . . . Though constantly 

 seen feeding by day, when in suitable 

 situations, they also feed a good deal 

 during the night, and those whose day 

 quarters happen for the time to be waters 

 that yield little food, leave these at dusk 

 for more prolific haunts. Perhaps they 



