MAXDARIN DUCK 77 



Daily Movements. Xothing definite is known, but on account of its large eye 

 it is supposed to be rather nocturnal in its habits. In the morning, during the nesting 

 season, Eogeron (1903) says that his semi-wild birds devote their time to searching 

 for a nest. The middle of the day, from noon until four o'clock, is the period of rest, 

 while the evening is passed hunting for insects, etc. 



Flight, Gait, Ditkg. The Mandarin is quick and active on its feet and the 

 flight is much like that of the Carolina Duck. The male in full plumage, so Heinroth 

 (1911) says, is to be recognized on the wing by the large yellowish-white patch on 

 either side of the head, but the brilliant brown fan is completely invisible, for it is 

 pushed under the feathers of the shoulder. Like the Carolina Duck, too, it runs 

 nim bly on land and on occasion dives and searches for food under water (Finn, 1915). 

 The flocks when on the wing seem to crowd closely in front, and thin out into several 

 lines in the rear, the whole causing a sound like the moaning of the wind (von 

 Schrenck, 1859). On the water it is an exceedingly showy bird, for the male in full 

 feather often swims with head drawn well back, chest expanded and the tertial fan- 

 feathers strikingly erected over the back. Like the Carolina Duck, the Mandarin is 

 thoroughly at home on trees, stumps, partly submerged logs, etc., but just how much 

 of its time it actually spends perching on high trees it is hard to say. Von Schrenck 

 1S59) speaks of having seen them repeatedly on trees, this, of course, in the nesting 

 period. 



Finn claims to have seen both Mandarins and Andaman Teal slide right over and 

 off a perch upon which they had tried to alight, but these, of course, were semi- 

 captive birds. It is not always safe to dogmatize about traits and habits in captivity, 

 for often they are quite different, as every aviculturalist knows. 



Early travelers found the present species assembled in enormous flocks in its win- 

 tering areas, and von Schrenck (1859) noted its occurrence in "smaller or larger" 

 companies in the northernmost part of its summer range. But such assemblies 

 probably never occur nowadays, and I have the statement of Mr. E. H. Wilson that 

 in Korea it is usually seen in small companies of only six to ten individuals. The 

 only definite record of its occurrence in India is that of a flock of six on the Dibru 

 River (Assam). 



Association with other Species. Presumablv the Mandarin, like the Carolina 

 Duck, on account of its rather specialized mode of life does not associate freely with 

 other species of Anatidw. Jouy (1883), however, found it in autumn on the paddy- 

 fields of Japan in company with the European Teal (Anas crecca). 



Voice. The voice of the Mandarin is similar to that of the Carolina Duck, but 

 there are certain characteristic differences. In place of the jiib of the male Carolina 



