DUCKS. 



343 



bronzy green speculum formed by their outer webs, except at the tips. The beak 

 and legs are leaden and blackish. In size, this bird corresponds closely with the 

 ordinary sheldrake. Some of the favourite breeding-places of the Braminy are the 

 great lakes of the Tibetan Highlands, such as the Pangkong and Tsomorari, on the 

 former of which the writer has seen them in numbers. In such regions these 

 birds build in clefts or cavities of rocks ; but in other districts the nests are more 

 commonly placed in burrows and other holes, while in Mongolia they have even 

 been known to be situated in the fireplaces of deserted villages. Visiting the 

 country during the winter in myriads, Braminys at that season are to be met with 

 on every piece of water in India ; and, as Mr. Hume observes, no object is more 

 familiar in river scenery " than a pair of these ducks, standing or squatting, side 

 by side on the banks, or on some chur [island] ; no sounds are more perpetually 

 heard as one floats lazily down with the stream, than their loud warning notes, 

 repeated more earnestly as one draws nearer and nearer, and followed by the sharp 

 patter of their wings as they rise on the approach of the boat. Very wary they 

 are, and yet not at ail afraid of men, so long as they keep just out of gunshot." 

 Uneatable except when skinned, and then by no means a bonne bouche, the Braminy 

 is most cordially detested by the 

 Indian sportsman, as its harsh 

 cry and noisy flight puts up all 

 other water-fowl in the neigh- 

 bourhood while still beyond 

 shooting-ran ge. 



The beautiful 



The True Ducks. ., , , , n n 



wild duck or mallard 



(Anas boscas) is the typical repre- 

 sentative not only of the true 

 ducks of the genus to which it 

 belongs, but likewise of all the 

 freshwater non- diving ducks of 

 the present subfamily ; the gen- 

 eral characters of which have 

 already been mentioned under 

 the head of the sheldrakes. The 

 true ducks are characterised by 



having the broad and depressed beak about equal in length to the head, with 

 its sides either parallel or partially dilated, and both mandibles provided 

 with well - marked transverse lamellae on their inner edges ; the oval nostrils 

 being situated in advance of its base. The legs are shorter than in the 

 sheldrakes, and placed nearly under the centre of the body, with the metatarsus 

 somewhat rounded in front. The wings are rather long and pointed; while 

 the tail, which may be either pointed or wedge-shaped, is comparatively 

 short. Of the true ducks there are numerous species, with a cosmopolitan 

 distribution ; and while in the wild duck the plumage of the two sexes is very 

 distinct, this is not the case in some species, such as the Indian spot-bill duck 

 {A. pcecilorhyncha). 



WILD DUCK. 



