12G INDIAN nUCKS. 



onlv with con>i(l('ralilf' ditiieulty they worf ai)proacheil and sliot. It is not 

 vfrv rare in Cachur^ and is occasionally to be seen in Sylhft. 1 -liot one 

 out of a small flock in Gowhatty in December 1880, and have had notices 

 of them from Dibrugarh (frequently), Sadya, Tezpur, and Xaogaou. From 

 Manipur the only record I have is that of Surgeon-(.aptain Woods, who 

 writi'-i : — " Tlie Mallard is extreinelv rare in Manipui- ; in fact^ during the 

 last seven years I have only seen a pair, and that was this year about the 

 10th Januarv. These two birds were along with a large flock of teal in a 

 small jheel lying about eight miles dup north of Imphal. I tried to secure 

 tlifiii, bin thf'v were verv wild, and flew away at the tirst >hot. I returned 

 to the jheel the next day, but could find no signs of them. I also saw a 

 pair on a small jheel in the Namba forest (Assam)." Lately two notices 

 of its appearance in Euiinu liav lier-n made in the ' Asian.' The notices, 

 though iniTialli'd and not signed in full, ajipear to 1k' authentic. One 

 Mallard is rr-ported as being part of a Imge l)ag of duck and teal obtained 

 near Mandalay. 



In Kashmir tIk-v are extremely common, a- may bf sor-n from the 

 following well-written cuttino- from tli^ ' A-ian " of the 8th Februarv, by 

 the pen of A. E. W. : — " On January the l<Sth, I was shooting at a marsh 

 near the big reserve, having in front of me al)otit five or six acres of open 

 water, and a -mailer amount, about five hundi-i-d yard-, bf-liind. The 

 reserve was also being shot by four guns, so that the ducks were being 

 continually driven towards me. I knew if I could once get my punts 

 through the ice I should be in for a good tiling. For an hour atid a half 

 we laliourr-d to get tln'ougli. By dint of u-ing two heavy poles we reached 

 the place, and then broke up sufficient of the ice to picket out four decoy 

 ducks, two mallards, and five tame ducks, wliich were accustomed to be 

 shot over. The |)unt was hidd'^n liv some grass, and in it I lay on my 

 back with my -lioulders propped \\\i liv a large sack of grass ; there was 

 not stifficient cover to enable me to hide if I had sat u]>, in fact I had to 

 supplement the little there was by some reeds which a fisherman took off 

 his roof and sold to me. 



" I could see th<m-ands of ducks in front, on the water, looking like a 

 black mass, whilst the edge of the ice was lined with many more. By the 

 aid of glasses I could make them out to be chiefly Mallards and Red-crested 

 Pochards ; of course those birds which had been behind and tolerably close 

 liad cleared off^. The second punt was sent back by th<' way we came, and 

 was then carried round by land to where the open water touched the edge 

 of the marsh. In the middle of the pond in front was a small island ; on 



