DAFILA ACUTA. 185 



discriminated at a distance ; but ' bull picnics ' I have noted, times without 

 number, as a speciality o£ the Pintail/' 



They are decidedly good swimmers, sitting light and very high on the 



water, their long necks and rather raised tails giving them a very graceful 



appearance : as divers, however, they are failures ; they cannot stay any 



time under water, nor can I find any observer giving them credit for l)eing 



able to hide under water^ amongst the weeds, or of holding on to 



submerged weeds, &c., with their feet. Getting off the water they are less 



quick than some ducks, " skittering " along the surface for a few feet ; 



they rise less abruptly also, but once on the wing they show to the 



greatest advantage ; their flight is exceedingly swift, probably faster than 



that of any other duck, and is very easily recognizable. They fly in very 



regular formation, changing position less than do most ducks, and when 



close to the hearer the sound of their flight is quite unmistakable. Less 



noisy and whirring than that of most of their near relations, their flight 



h;is a soft swish-swish about it of a very distinctive character. Hume 



says, speaking of their flight, that it is a " low, soft, hissing swish,^' and 



this describes it very exactly. Their voice is like that of the Mallard, 



a distinct quack, but is far softer and also less loud than that of the 



Mallard, Gadwall, or Spot-bill ; they are, how^ever, silent birds, and one 



seldom hears them emit any other sound beyond the low colloquial chuckle 



they sometimes indulge in when resting. I have not heard them calling 



when on the wing, except when about to settle or just after rising or when 



suddenly frightened by a shock or other cause. Seebohm says that its 



voice closely resembles that of the Mallard, and adds " its call-note is a low 



Kak "; and Naumann says that in the pairing-season the male niay be seen 



swimming round the female, uttering a deep click, which, if the observer 



be fortunately near enough to hear it, is preceded by a sound like the 



ilrawing in of the breath, and followed by a low" grating note. 



On the land they walk easily but slowly, as might be expected from 

 .their configuration ; nor will they often be found resorting to it, though 

 Hume records having seen them on the land. 



In the autumn the male bird assumes a plumage similar to that of the 

 female, but can, of course, always be distinguished at a glance by the 

 presence of the speculum, which is wanting in the female. Hume says 

 that he has never obtained any birds in this stage of plumage in India, but in 

 my very small series I have two and have seen several others. Yarrell, 

 sjx'aking of this change of ])lumage, says that it commences in July, and 

 is eflected partly by change of plumage, and ])artly by actual cliange of 



