THE GREY OR SPOT-BILL DUCK. 167 
diving for a considerable distance, took refuge in a thick mass 
of weeds at the bottom of the tank (three feet deep) from which 
moist retreat he was extracted by one of the beaters who 
accidentally trod on him when walking through the water in 
search of one of the others.” 
Many a time have I recovered them, dead under water, firmly 
fixed to the weeds, and many more I have failed to retrieve 
even with the help of good dogs. 
Their plumage is less dense than that of the Mallard, and 
to this I attribute the undoubted fact that they are decidedly 
easier to bring down at long distances. 
Their voices, both when chattering to each other, when at 
rest or feeding, and when uttering their quacks of alarm, closely- 
resemble those of the Mallard, but may always be distinguished 
by a somewhat great sharpness ; they are not so sonorous, but 
they seem to be emitted with greater force. 
They are very miscellaneous feeders, and I have found worms, 
small frogs, and insects and their larva in their stomachs; but 
grain (wild rice by preference), and all kinds of rush, grass and 
water-plants and their roots constitute the bulk of their food, 
and I have often examined birds which had fed on vegetable 
matter only. I have been told that they sometimes have a 
very fishy flavour, but I have never yet found the remains of 
fish in any single specimen. 
Usually this species is met with in pairs or small parties, 
but where numerous, they may occasionally be seen in compara- 
tively large flocks. Thus Major Charles McInroy writes: “I 
have frequently seen at least 100 of these Ducks sitting to- 
gether on the shores of various tanks in the Mysore Province, 
and these kept together when on the wing, although it is doubt- 
less more common for the various families to keep to a certain 
extent separate.” | 
And Mr. George Reid says :—“ During the rains it is usually 
seen in pairs, frequenting small and weedy jhils or swamps; 
but in the cold weather it is compelled to resort to the larger 
lakes, and may then be met with in flocks ranging from 6 to 
about 30 in number.” 
Personally I cannot remember ever seeing more than a 
dozen together; and, though I have often found from fifty 
to a hundred on a large lake like the Manchar, or the Najaf- 
garh in the pre-drainage time, these have invariably been dotted 
about the lake in pairs, or in families, (as I take it,) of from 
three to ten individuals. 
They do not consort readily with other fowl, and it is rare 
to find them mixed up with these; indeed if not quite by 
themselves, as they usually are, they seem only to associate 
with Teal and Shovellers. 
For the table the Grey Duck is second only to the Mallard and 
Pintail, and it is such a large fine heavy bird, that, as Captain 
