THE TUFTED POCHARD. 279 
I HAVE seen this Pochard as early as the 12th of October in 
Etawah (Doab, North-West Provinces), and again in this same 
district as late as the oth of April; but taking Northern india 
generally, the mass of the birds do not arrive before the second 
week of November and leave about the close of March. They 
arrive later, and perhaps linger later in the south. Jerdon 
notes that he killed one in Junein Hyderabad (Nizam’s Domi- 
nions), and I have had several notes of single birds being seen 
in the Deccan, Gujerat and the Central India Agency in May ; 
but these are certainly abnormal occurrences, and I believe that 
even in the south it is very rare to see them after the 15th of 
April. 
ae fairly deep sheets of open water, surrounded however 
with rushes or reed beds, and with plenty of weeds in parts, 
are what the Tufted Duck prefers. On huge bare-shored 
lakes, like the SAmbhar, they are scarcely ever seen, and one 
very seldom meets with them on rivers. Single birds or small 
parties may be found on almost any broad in which the water is 
tolerably deep in some places, but the huge flocks in which 
they love to congregate are only met with on large lakes, such 
as I have above referred to. 
At the Manchar Lake I saw two enormous flocks. I have 
repeatedly seen similar flocks inold times at the Najjafgarh 
and other vast jhils in the Punjab, the North-West Provinces 
and Oudh; and I should guess that at the Kunkrowli Lake in 
Oodeypore there must have been nearly ten thousand, covering 
the whole centre of the lake. 
These birds are shy, and keep during the day as a rule so 
constantly in the middle of bright water, and so far from any 
position in which one can watch them closely, that I know but 
little of their habits. I fancy that they feed chiefly by day, 
partly because they are soconstantly at work diving, both in 
the mornings and afternoons, and partly because I have never 
once shot them in India (I have in England) when flight-shoot- 
ing. In places where they are unmolested you may pick up a 
few by long shots from an ordinary boat, or even a good number 
by sailing down through them ; but it is impossible here, except 
under special conditions, to make any real bag of them without 
a regular gun-punt and swivel. 
This species has, I think, an easier, smoother and more rapid 
flight than most of the other Pochards, and rises much more 
rapidly and with less fluster than these ; but still like these it 
strikes the water once or twice with its feet, and makes a loud 
splashing sound when rising in numbers. It swims rather 
deep in the water and very rapidly, and dives constantly, 
keeping under water for a surprising. time. When you 
try to get near them in any slow native boat, the fresh fowl 
seldom think of rising, but swim and dive away from you quite 
as quickly as the boat can go, Even when a gunis fired they 
