212 INDIAN DUCKS. 



he (lescrilies, its normal lnil)it and practice is to dive, and I bave watclied 

 flocks of them, scores of times, divino; for an hour at a time \vitli jx'rtinacity 

 and enertiv unsurpassed by any other wild fowl. Examine closely their 

 favourite haunts, and you will find these to i)e almost invariably just those 

 Avaters in which they must dive for their food. Deep hroads, where the 

 feathery water-weed heds do not reach within several feet of the surface, 

 not the comparat'ncly >hallo\v ones, where the same weeds (the character 

 of their leaves changed, howevei-, by emert)ency) lie in thick masses coiled 

 alon«; the surface." 



This is certainly my experience, and T notice(l in the Sunderbunds how 

 very much this (hick kept to tlie open central ])ortion of the huoc- blieels, 

 feedino- there on and amongst the aquatic plants, especially on a Ion"",, 

 trailing, moss-like weed which grew several feet under water. Moreover, 

 I have found in their stomachs the roots of plants which do not grow 

 except in fairly dee]) water. They not only dive well and for long periods, 

 hut they also dive to no inconsiderable depth ; and that it is a pleasure io 

 them to dive is shown by their constant diving when at play, chasing one 

 another both al)0ve and below the surface. 



They feed both by day and night, but maiidy in the ea.rlv moi'iiing and 

 evening ; and though the very much greater portion of their diet is 

 undoubtedly aquatic, yet they have been known to feed on young crops on 

 dry land. Of course, like all or nearly all ducks, they rest during the 

 hottest hours of the day, selecting (piite (>{)en dee]) water for that purpose 

 when it is available. They have the credit of being awkward and feeble 

 on land, but that very close observer, Mr. F. Finn, says that it comes 

 ashore more often than the other Pochards, and walks better also. 



No duck varies much moi'c tlian does this one in the (|iia]itv of its 

 flesh : when at its best very few ducks, indeed, are better for the table, but 

 at its worst the White-eye itself is but little more rank and coarse. This 

 varial)ility is undoubtedly due to its wide range of feeding. Naturally 

 they are ])rinci])ally vegetable-feeders, and when feetling on water-jdants 

 and young cro])S their flesh is naturally excellent; l)ut when, as is some- 

 times the case, they feed on fish, sludl-iish, water insects, &c., thev at once 

 assume a rank fishy taste wdiich no amount of seasoning will obscure. 



Hume found one wdiich had gorged itself on small fish about an inch in 

 length, and I dissected one wdiich had eaten, as far as I could see, notliin"- 

 but the tiny red cral)s which swarm in such countless myriads alone- the 

 shores of rivers, swamps, and back-waters in the Sunderbunds, the waters 

 of which are brackish. This was the only s[»ecimen the contents of whose 



