MERGUS ALBELLUS. 265 



np very quickly in spite of their short wings, rising lightly and at once 

 getting into full swing. As s^yimmers and divers few birds can approach 

 them, probably none can excel them. Hume gives them the reputation of 

 being even better divers than Grebes and Cormorants, and as he watched 

 them divino- after fish, and aoain when divine in clear water after beincr 

 slightly wounded, he ought to know. Few of us have been as fortunate 

 as Hume in this respect, but many people have doubtless seen the Cormorants 

 and Snake-birds being fed at the Zoo and other places, so that we can 

 appreciate what a compliment Hume pays the Smew when ho declares it 

 to be smarter even than these. 



It swims very fast indeed, and generally seeks escape by swimming 

 and diving rather than flight, and as it is a very wide-awake and extremely 

 shy bird it is no easy matter to get within shot. On foot, except perhaps 

 rarely when it is found on rivers, it is almost impossible to get a shot, as 

 they always keep well away from the shores and from vegetation, so that 

 the sportsman has but few opportunities for stalking them. Hume, 

 however, tells us that they may sometimes be approached in a boat by 

 sailing past at a distance of about 40 yards ; in an ordinary native boat it 

 is no use attempting to circumvent the Smew, for he can swim and dive 

 almost as fast, if not faster, than the boat can travel. 



Like the o-enera Phalacrocorax and Plotus, it seems that the Smew 

 makes use of its winos to assist it in divino;, and. like these birds, it can 

 swim at will with only its head and neck out of water, though normally it 

 .swims with its whole upper part out. 



Its food is practically entirely animal, and consists of Crustacea, 

 molluscs, water-insects, larva?, small fishes, ilcc. The Smew itself is quite 

 unfit for food ; even Mr. Finn, who considers that my remarks on the 

 edible qualities of many ducks are rather unflattering, only remarks of this 

 bird, '• The flesh is said to be very bad indeed, it being, according to Pallas, 

 jiisrident'issima." 



Mr. Finn also notes ('Asian ') : "It ... . gets about nimbly enough on 

 land, where, however, it seems to be very rarely seen in a wild state. 1 

 judge from captives in the London Zoo.^' Other authors have given it a 

 very bad reputation for walking powers ; but it is noticeable that most 

 ducks have been very much underrated in this respect, and Mr. Finn has 

 set right a goodly number of antiquated mistakes on this subject. 



As regards the breeding of the Smew, there is not very much on record, 

 and what little has been recorded by various authors is with reference to 

 eggs got from other people. 



