THE WHITE-EYED POCHARD. 265 
for it is a characteristic of this duck to cling to cover and 
rise singly or in twos and threes, and only when compelled 
to do so. As I said in my Sindh paper: “It is very indifferent 
eating, and it may be a cognizance of this fact, and that 
sportsmen generally disdain its slaughter, that leads it to remain 
tranquilly in amongst the rushes while heavy firing is going 
on all round, often not taking the trouble to rise till the boat is 
within twenty yards of it. Anyhow this is the fact, and I 
have seen as many as thirty or forty rise singly one after the 
other, all within easy shot, in a couple of hours punting 
through the rushes.” 
I may quote, in confirmation, what Capt. Baldwin published 
some years later :— 
“Tt is a swift flying bird, occasionally found in flocks, but 
more often singly or in pairs. It loves to frequent jhils 
with plenty of cover. I have met with capital shooting about 
mid-day in tanks bordered with high reeds, with every here 
and there open pieces of water. Here, when the sun becomes 
powerful, the White-eyed Duck retires ; and a sportsman, seated 
in a boat, and noiselessly punted by a couple of natives, will, 
unless the birds have been much bullied and shot at previously, 
meet with good sport—the ducks rising one or two ata time, 
and offering capital chances as they top the cover. I have 
noticed that on these occasions Teal, Gadwall, and other kinds 
of fowl at once rise and make off on the report of a gun any- 
where near, but that the little brown White-eyed Duck does 
not take alarm. The plumage of this bird is very thick and 
close, and, though small, it takes a severe blow to bring it down, 
and unless dead, like all the Pochard tribe, often gives zreat 
trouble to recover. I have frequently, at Jhansi, lost the half 
of my winged birds ina day’s sport. I have already mentioned, 
when speaking of the Wigeon, that the White-eyed Duck is 
often erroneously so termed, though it does not resemble a 
Wigeon at all, either in shape or colour. 
“T have noticed a rather remarkable fact in connection with 
this bird: on three different occasions I have shot specimens 
minus their feet, which, I believe, had been frozen off in some 
far distant country. On all three occasions both feet were missing, 
so that it would appear improbable that a trap or gun had 
been the cause of the missing members in every instance ; 
but I came to the conclusion that the birds had lost their feet 
by visiting some very cold clime, and that the webbed portion 
had become frozen and dropped off. If this was the true reason, 
it would appear that the little Pochard migrates to colder regions 
than other wild fowl, or why should this one species be affected 
in such an extraordinary manner ? 
“Tt is only a tolerable bird for the table, not to be compared 
in this respect with the Gadwall, Teal, and others.” 
Of course, as I have already shown, this bird is zo¢ a migrant 
K I 
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