364 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



animal and vegetable substances, the former, according to Hume, 

 predominating. Of the vegetable element may be mentioned 

 grass and sprouting corn, especially when growing near the edge 

 of the water, water weeds of various kinds, and seeds ; of animal 

 substances, insects, the fry of fish, shrimps, small frogs, and all 

 kinds of land and fresh-water snails. It has been said that this 

 Sheldrake occasionally feeds on carrion in India, and consorts 

 with Vultures ; the evidence is certainly very conclusive. 

 The usual note is a rather loud and monotonous kark ; but the 

 alarm note is described by Pallas as resembling the syllables 

 a-oung, rendered by the Turks as au-gout. According to Jerdon 

 there is a superstition in India among the natives that " the souls 

 of erring lovers, who have loved not wisely but too well, pass into 

 the forms of these Ducks, condemned thenceforth to pass the 

 night, the season of their transgressions, apart, on opposite banks 

 of some stream, each ever praying the other for permission to 

 rejoin them, and each ever compelled sternly to refuse. 

 ' Chakwa, shall I come ? ' ' No, Chakwi ! ' ' Chakwi, shall I 

 come ? ' 'No, Chakwa ! ' " " This story," Hume continues, " how- 

 ever, I fear belongs to a more poetical age than the present, and 

 I myself have never met with a native in Upper India who knew 

 of it except from Europeans. Perhaps, too, the world is more 

 virtuous, or celestial vigilance less keen, for certain it is that in 

 these degenerate days, except in the case of very narrow rivers 

 like the Hindon in Meerut, alike by day and night, Chakwa and 

 Chakwi are to be found both on the same side of the water." In 

 India the Ruddy Sheldrake, or Brahminy Duck, as it is otherwise 

 called, is nowhere held in reverence ; but in Burma it is the sacred 

 and national bird of the natives ; the Llamas of Mongolia also 

 consider it an object of religious respect. The Ruddy Sheldrake 

 is a remarkably wary bird, rarely allowing any one to approach it 

 within gunshot, and owing to its restless, noisy habits, it is much 

 disliked by the sportsman. Hume writes : " Not only do they 

 carefully provide for their own safety, but they seem positively to 

 take a malicious pleasure in spoiling all sport. You are working 

 down on a lump of Fowl — a few minutes more and you will be 

 within range. Suddenly the loud call of the Brahminy sounds, 

 and rising out of a hollow in the sand where they have been 



