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ANAS PGECILORHYNCHA 
support Blyth’s (1875) statement that it oceurs in Tenasserim. The specimen seen by E. H. Wilson 
(1913) at Kiating, western China, was probably though not necessarily Anas zonorhyncha. The 
northeastern dividing line between ^4nas pcecilorhyncha haringtoni and Anas zonorhyncha is still very 
uncertain. Finn gives a record of twenty-four specimens of Anas zonorhyncha shot in one year at 
Kengtung, eastern South Shan States and says its breeding there is proved. It is most likely a case of 
Anas pcecilorhyncha haringtoni also, for the true Chinese species breeds in northeastern Asia. Many 
“hybrids” are recorded from the Shan States and eastern Burma and these too are no doubt to be 
regarded as specimens of the subspecies. 
GENERAL HABITS 
Haunts. This fine Mallard-like species, confined to India and the Malay countries, 
is strictly non-migratory in the proper sense of the word, although like all tropical 
ducks it wanders about locally, governed by the distribution of the rains. The 
exhaustive works of Hume and Marshall (1879) and Baker (1908) contain nearly 
all that is known of its life-history. They agree in saying that the haunts vary, but 
that the bird prefers tanks, jheels (small pieces of water well covered with weeds), 
and more rarely small quickly flowing streams in the forest. On the other hand these 
ducks resort much less frequently to large open waters or to the bigger rivers like the 
Ganges, Jumna and Brahmaputra. Hume and Marshall (1879) say that they are 
quite common on the Jhelum, Chenab and Indus. This is strictly a fresh-water 
duck and is almost absent from the Sunderbunds and other brackish or tidal waters. 
In the interior it is confined to the low-lying regions, but in Manipur and in the 
Tankul Hills it has been taken at elevations of 3000 feet and in the Darjiling Terai 
up to 4000 feet (Baker, 1908). 
Wariness. The Spot-bill is not a particularly wary duck, and until it has been 
much shot at, it can generally be approached near enough for a shot without much 
trouble. Baker (1908) describes them as sleeping on the margins of smaller ponds, 
with one or two left on sentry duty near the edge. 
Daily Movements. There is nothing characteristic of the daily habits. They 
feed in the rice-fields and elsewhere by night, and during the day sleep far out on the 
open water. 
Gait, Swimming, Diving, Flight. On water and on land their carriage is exactly 
like that of the Mallard, although Hume and Marshall (1879) regard them as swim- 
ming and diving “more briskly” than the Mallard. Of course the birds dive only 
when immature, or when wounded, but when winged they are said to give more 
trouble than any other duck, since they dive very freely and (according to Hume 
and Marshall, and Baker) sometimes grasp the weeds under water and drown! 
More often they dive very cleverly, and show only the bill above water. If 
