206 NYROCA NYROCA 



duck (Hume and Marshall, 1879; H. J. Walton, 1906; Baker, 1921). So abundant 

 are they on the lakes of Kashmir that at one time boat-loads of their eggs would be 

 brought into Srinagar. 



Enemies. Captain Baldwin, and later Hume and Marshall (1879) and Baker 

 (1921) have called attention to the frequency with which this and other ducks in 

 India are shot with a part or the whole of one or both feet missing. The missing 

 portions are cut clean and then healed. It seems unlikely that these wounds are 

 caused by traps or by crocodiles. Probably some species of fish is to blame. The 

 part of the bird's range where these accidents occur is not clear. 



This species is prey to the usual enemies of ducks, which have been enumerated 

 in the accounts of the Mallard, Pochard and others. 



Pood Value. It is hard to estimate fairly the value of this duck's flesh as an 

 article of food, for it varies greatly in different parts of the range. In the opinion of 

 some it ranks along with the Pochard, while others consider it downright inedible. 

 Most European sportsmen speak of it as moderately good, and in southern Spain 

 Colonel Irby considered it superior to either the Pochard or the Red-crested Po- 

 chard. This is the highest recommendation it has ever received. As long ago as 

 1653, Leonhard Baldner, the fowler of Strassburg, commended it for its meat. 

 Indian sportsmen are particularly at variance on this point although on the whole it 

 is considered poor (Hume and Marshall, 1879; Baker, 1921). Jesse (1903), however, 

 found it "one of the best of Lucknow ducks" and Finn (1909) regarded it as "palat- 

 able enough." Taken altogether it must be relegated to a place distinctly lower than 

 the Pochards. 



Hunt. Eastern sportsmen speak particularly of the ease with which large bags 

 of this duck can be obtained by simply pushing about in reed-covered swamps, and 

 flushing one small bunch after the other without alarming the whole place. Their 

 habit of keeping in small groups and lying very close seems to be quite characteristic. 

 Then again it is easy to drive them up to a line of guns in a succession of small 

 parties, "lasting sometimes for hours at a time." They have extraordinary vitality 

 and require a heavy blow to knock them down. Wounded birds are even more diffi- 

 cult to get than Pochards. 



MacPherson (1897) speaks of a method of taking White-eyes, and probably other 

 kinds, employed by the natives of Kashmir. This consists of using floating fish- 

 hooks baited with a certain kind of water-beetle, upon which the ducks impale them- 

 selves just as fish do. 



Behavior in Captivity. Perhaps if this were a larger and showier species it 



