NYROCA FKRINA. 219 



Finn, in his popular article on ducks in the ' Asian,' thus defines its 

 Indian area : — " It visits Northern India in large numbers ; further south 

 it is less common, but occurs as far as Bellary. It has not been obtained 

 in Mysore or further south^ nor in Ceylon ; but it is not uncommon in 

 Assam and Manipur, and has recently been recorded from the neighbour- 

 hood of Mandalay/' 



This last record probably refers to the three birds shot at Mandalay by 

 Capt. T. S. Johnson^ in a miscellaneous bag of 562 ducks and geese, and 

 mentioned by Gates in p. 310 of his ' Manual of Game-Birds/ 



It is probable that it visits North Burma and the independent Burmese 

 States in considerable numbers, for it is common in Manipur, whence a 

 large proportion migrates towards Burma, and not through Cachar and 

 Sylhet. 



I have had it now reported to me from Mysore, where, however, it 

 would only appear to be met with on very rare occasions. Hume notes 

 that it has not been recorded from Cachar or Sylhet, but it is fairly 

 common in both districts. 



From Kashmir it has also been recorded as formino- an item in a large 

 bag made by three guns in that State, and again in the ' Asian "* of the 8th 

 of February, 1898^ two Dun-birds are said to have formed part of a bag 

 of 508 duck and teal shot by A. E. W. in the same State. 



The Pochard is one of the later ducks to arrive in India. In its 

 northern limits it is seen first in the latter half of October, but it does not, 

 I think, extend south until well on into November. In Bengal, to the east 

 and south, the end of November is as early as one may expect to get them 

 in any numbers, though a few will always be seen in the beginning of that 

 month — stragglers, perhaps, even earlier. I should not, however, call it a 

 very common duck anywhere to the east of the Bengal Presidency, and I 

 remember when shooting in the Sunderbunds this Pochard was never in 

 any but very small numbers, although the country all about there is so 

 admirably suited to all its requirements. 



As regards the flocks it collects in, this would seem to depend almost 

 entirely on the country it visits and its accommodation in the way of 

 water. Thus, where there are huge jheels, morasses, and lakes covered in 

 part with jungle and in part having open expanses of water of some depth, 

 free of vegetation of a heavy character, they will be found in thousands ; 

 elsewhere they will be found in small flocks, pairs, and rarely single birds. 

 There is practically no kind of water that they will not visit sometimes in 

 greater or smaller numbers, but, preferentially, they leave alone shallow 



