408 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



at rest with head down, and bill tucked 

 under the wing. They are ever on the 

 look-out, and though there may be hun- 

 dreds on all sides, they cannot be ap- 

 proached within a long shot, without the 

 best of luck and care. Any fowler who 

 can now and then push his punt within 

 shot of these birds may rest assured that 

 he is most favourably equipped for shoot- 

 ing. It is the best of practice for a 

 beginner. He will be surprised how tame 

 Duck and Wigeon will afterwards appear. 

 All Mergansers, from their piscivorous 

 habits, are unfit for food, but offer from 

 time to time such tempting shots that it 

 is not in mortal to pass them by." 



Dr. Saxby, referring to the nesting 

 habits of the Red-breasted Merganser in 

 Shetland, says : " Although they often 

 lay amongst long grass, they seem to 

 prefer the shelter of a roof of some kind, 

 and thus it is that the eggs are most 

 commonly found under rocks, in rabbit- 

 burrows, and even in crevices in old walls ; 

 but, whatever may be the situation chosen, 

 the nest always consists of a hollow 

 scraped in the ground, and lined to a 

 greater or less extent with down, feathers 

 and dead plants, the amount of material 

 being increased as incubation proceeds." 



