WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 45 
than to fly; swims low, with its tail raised, and is said 
to be unable to walk, but this I doubt, though I have 
only had a cripple to study ; at any rate, the Austra- 
han Musk-duck (Biziura lobata) which is one of the 
Stiff-tailed group, walks well enough, but with the 
gait and semi-erect attitude of a Cormorant. This 
bird resembled a Grebe in its remarkable tameness 
and in its constant pluming of its feathers. It builds 
among reeds or grass, and lays seven to nine eggs, of 
white colour and remarkably rough coarse surface. 
The male has no bulb in the windpipe, as was long 
ago recorded by Pallas. 
The Red-crested Pochard. 
Netia rufina, BLANFORD, Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, 
Vol 1V sip. 450: 
VERNACULAR NAmEsS.—Lal-chonch, Lal-sir, H. ; 
Hero-hans (male), Chobra-hans (female), Beng. ; 
Dumar (male), Sanwa (female), Nepal ; 
Ratoha, Sind. 
This species differs more from any of the other 
Pochards than these do from each other, and on that 
account is placed in a separate genus, though it is far 
less distinct from them than are the Golden-eye and 
Stiff-tail, and had better, I think, have been left in the 
same group. It is the biggest of the Pochards, and 
further remarkable for its large powerful bill, with the 
sides tapering or at least parallel, and the ridges lining 
it few and large, the ends of those belonging to the 
upper chap showing when the bill is closed. It is more 
shghtly built than Pochards in general, and has the 
head-feathering thick and full, especially in the male, 
which is altogether different in plumage from the female. 
The young resemble her. The red or orange colouring 
on the bill and feet is characteristic. 
