.)0 INDIAN DUCKS. 



Schrenk says that when in Anioor, about May to August, they are 

 very wild and shy, not allowing an approach within oun-shot; he also 

 states that they perch freely on trees. This is confirmed by all other 

 observers ; indeed, Finn (•Fancy Water-FowP) says that the Mandarin 

 perches as readily as a pigeon. 



This same naturalist, one of our best observers and a specialist on 

 water-fowl, remarks : — "Another attractive point about this lovely duck is 

 that he, more than any other duck, is a bird of position and much given 

 to showing himself off ))y raising his crest and slightly expanding his 

 wings vertically, so as to bring the wing-fans perpendicular and to display 

 the beautifully striped flights, while when standing he often curves his 

 neck back and throws out his breast like a fan-tailpigeon. He certainly 

 looks at such times as if he were con.>cious of his beauty, and his little 

 brown mate, as she caresses his orange hackles, must surely admire him. 



"He is a great fighter, and will even kill ducks of his own kind 

 should he not approve of them.*' 



In s[iite of their pugnacity, however, they have a reputation in China 

 for being wonderfully faithful little birds to each other. Indeed, Cauel 

 says (p. I55j that '"a pair of these birds are frequently placed in a gaily 

 decorated cage, and carried in their marriage processions, and are after- 

 wards presented to the liride and bridegroom as worthy objects of their 

 emulation." 



The same author, in doscribin(>' their fiioht, writes : "' Whilst on the 

 wing these parties crowd closely together in front, whilst the birds in the 

 rear occupy a comparatively free space.'" 



As regards their nidification very little is known : it seems to breed 

 everywhere thi-oughout the nortii of its range, perhaps also wherever it is 

 found. It appeai-s, however, to visit the Amoor and the more northern 

 extremes of its habitat only during the l)reeding-season, so that it is 

 probably locally migratory. It is one of the species of ducks which build 

 in trees, and in captivity breeds very freely. 



W. Evans in the 'Ibis ' (181U, p. 73), giving the period of inculjation 

 for various birds, gives that of this duck as 30 days, whilst Finn gives it 

 as 26. In the Zoological Gardens up to 1874, the Mandarin liad hatched 

 eggs no less than twenty-six times, the earliest (hite for the young to appear 

 being the 31st May, 1858, and the latest July IGth, 1874. As the normal 

 climate in which the duck breeds is not unlike ours, except in the extreme 

 north, these dates will probably coincide with its breeding-season when in 

 its natural state. 



