RUDDY SHELDRAKE 239 



edge — yet these old Brahminies dawdled about barely three hundred yards away, 

 "as though these vagaries were no concern of theirs, and signified no more than a 

 convocation of ants." 



In regions where it is not persecuted this intelligent bird, so wary elsewhere, 

 becomes surprisingly tame. In southern Tibet, where it is held sacred to Buddha, 

 and called the Duck of Lama, it is remarkably tame (Landon, 1905), "indeed almost 

 ludicrously so" (Walton, 1906), merely waddling away a few yards, and showing 

 itself very reluctant to take flight until shot at. On the coast of Shantung they were 

 noted as being wild, while in the interior, where they were probably seldom molested, 

 they were so tame that they followed the farmer as he plowed the fields (Black- 

 welder, 1907). According to David and Oustalet (1S77), in Mongolia, where they 

 are also held in religious reverence, they will not even budge at the approach of 

 a man. 



In Yunnan, where they were seen feeding in the opium fields, they were so tame 

 that writers have even suggested that they were stupefied by eating the poppy 

 (H. R. Davies, 1909), but this explanation is inadequate for the simple reason that 

 opium has no effect upon birds, judging from experiments which I have made myself. 



Daily Movements. Every one who has kept these birds must have noted 

 their activity at night, if their continual calls may be any indication. "Whether they 

 are really more nocturnal than other geese or ducks it is hard to say. In the Crimea 

 they were found in August and September flying to the millet-fields in the interior 

 to feed until about eight o'clock in the morning, and then returning to the coast to 

 rest. At two o'clock in the afternoon they returned to the fields, where they stayed 

 till sundown, returning again to the sea and making a great racket during the twilight 

 hours (Radde, 1854). Their wakefulness at night is indicated by the fact that in the 

 Dobrudja they are kept by the natives in place of watch-dogs, because like the Tree 

 Ducks, they call at the approach of any intruder. 



Gait. The Ruddy Sheldrake walks as well as do the true geese, and is slow and 

 deliberate in its movements, carrying itself more erect than the true ducks. Its 

 general appearance, too, is much more dignified, but in a case of necessity it can 

 show remarkable speed. Demidorff (von Nordmann, 1840), who saw them in south 

 Russia, says that when wounded they run so quickly one can hardly catch them. 



Swimming and Diving. This is essentially a grazing species, spending compara- 

 tively little time on the water. The swimming position is gooselike, with the stern 

 high and the breast deeply submerged. When feeding it dips, but it does not dive 

 unless wounded. Hume and Marshall (1879) say that the birds can turn under 

 water with great ease, but are unable to stay under a long time. On the White Nile 



