96 THE NUKHTA OR COMB DUCK. 
quietly on towards a screening rock which margined the pond, 
the pig-headed bear still following, as if there were no ants 
nor berries save in my footsteps. When I had gained the 
rock, I do not think he was above fifty yards from me. With 
the sensation of a headlong rush impending upon my rear, 
I was obliged to be as cool, cautious, and circumspect as if 
nothing but the Gocse and I (far nobile fratrum /) were at 
issue. But I gained my point. I rounded the rock, and, 
standing revealed on the edge of the pond, fired just as 
Sarkidiornis melanonotus spread his pinions to fly, and then 
dropped writhing on the water. Almost simultaneously with 
the report, a prodigious roaring bark or shout arose behind 
me. I turned quickly, and had brought the remaining barrel 
into position, when, not a little to my relief, the bear, after 
a short rush forward, wheeled abruptly round, and, like a great 
black bundle, went off SUSIE 2 and ene ns through ae jungle 
back to his den. = 
“The young are on the wing e October, and for two or 
three months keep with the parents. I have placed their eggs 
under hens and domestic ducks, and hatched and reared the 
young birds easily, but they never became thoroughly tame, 
and escaped on the first opportunity, though they had, up 
to the time of their flight, fed readily with the poultry in the 
yard. They ran and walked freely, and could perch on anything 
that did not require to be grasped ; but they took to water much 
less frequently than the goslings of Wettapus coromandelianus 
(the Teal Goose), or Dendrocygna javanica (the Whistling 
Teal), of which I bred several in my farmyard in Singhbhoom. 
“Tt is an exceedingly silent bird; indeed, I have never 
heard it utter any sound. They repose chiefly on gravel 
beaches by the side of clear still water, and when on the 
wing can be readily distinguished ata long distance by their 
flight, which is between the heavy flagging of the Wild Goose 
and the rapid beats of the smaller Wild Fowl. The gander 
is always conspicuous, appearing nearly double the size of 
the others in the flock. Their flight is high and well sustained, 
and after being shot at once or twice, they continue on their 
course till out of sight, though almost sure to be found on 
the same pond the next day. Like many other Water Fowl, 
they appear to have certain tanks or ponds in which to feed, 
and others for sleeping in. At night they roam over the 
paddy stubble, and I have found their stomachs full of rice 
during the harvest.” 
Clearly the habits of the birds do differ widely in different 
parts of the country. I can only hope that between the two 
somewhat discrepant accounts, we may have fairly exhausted 
the peculiarities of this species. 
I have not habitually shot these birds, because I hardly 
think them worth the powder and shot, when other better 
