THE DUCKS, CORMORANTS AND GREBES. 185 



the water and most of them dive well. Some feed on 

 fishes and some on water-weeds, or insects, or snails. 

 Their habits in this respect have a practical interest 

 for us, because we feed on them and their taste in one 

 sense depends on their taste in another. 



The domestic duck is the type of the Natatores. 

 In a wild state the same bird is known to sportsmen 

 as the Mallard, which is abundant in Sind and the 

 Punjab, but rarely strays so far south as this. There 

 are several species of wild Ducks, however, which 

 visit us regularly, such as the Pintail, the Gadwall, 

 the Common and Garganey Teals, and the Shoveller. 

 The last is a coarse feeder and its flavour is variable, 

 but the other four are among the most tasty of the 

 whole tribe. They are all migratory birds, spending 

 the summer in Central Asia, or Europe, or even the 

 Arctic Regions. They arrive here in September or 

 October, and at first wander about in an aimless way, 

 settling on any water that seems to offer a chance of a 

 meal. Large flocks may be seen crossing our har- 

 bour in different directions, and of course they will 

 settle at times on the inundated parts of the Flats. 

 This is the native shikaree's opportunity. His idea of 

 sport is to bag a maximum of meat with a minimum 

 expenditure of powder and shot. So he gets up 

 before dawn, and, having marked a flock, wriggles 

 like a mudfish, under cover of a ridge of earth, or a 

 tuft of grass, till he gets within range, then sends a 

 heavy charge of large shot into the thick of them. I 

 have known of fourteen Ducks being bagged in this 

 way by a single shot. The wild Duck is no fool, 

 and a few sharp lessons of this kind soon teach the 

 survivors wisdom, which is the reason that there is 

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