54 
ALLEN’s NATURALiSt’s LIBRARV. 
hut conceal charming 
little alder- and willow-fringed pools, and fallen trunks, covered 
with moss and lichen, provide excellent cover for watching the 
Ducks swimming fearlessly in these little paradises. The Smew 
IS the greatest ornament of these picturesque little spots, but is 
not quite so common as Teal, Wigeon, and Pin-tail. We did 
not succeed in taking the nest of the Smew, but having com- 
missioned some of the villagers to bring us eggs and down of 
la delighted to receive a clutch of what looked 
hke Wigeon s eggs with pale grey down. The man who 
brought It knew the bird well, and told us that he had taken 
the eggs from a hollow tree.” 
Describing the habits of the Smew in winter, Mr. Hume 
writes;--“They are eminently gregarious, and are always to be 
seen in flocks of from seven to forty, and rarely in smaller or 
larger parties than from about a dozen to about twentv. 
Large rivers like the Indus (I have never seen them on the 
Jumna or Ganges), or large lakes covering twenty square miles 
and upwards of country, are what they chiefly affect ; and on 
these, even though shot at repeatedly, they will remain for 
months. I have, however, in unfrequented localities, occa- 
sionally seen them on ordinary good-sized jhils, covering per- 
haps, barely a single square mile, but these they desert directly 
they are at all worried. •' 
■ splendidly, and if only a single boat 
is after them they will constantly stick to the water even after 
being fired at, rising perhaps at the moment, but dropping within 
ifty yards, and instantly diving to re-appear from fifty to a 
hundred yards beyond the place at which they vanished. Thev 
come up scattered, but all swim converging on one point, and 
m a few minutes they are swimming away in a close lump just 
as before you fired. But if two or three boats hem them in they 
generally rise, and if the place is small, disappear-if large, cir-le 
round and light again a couple of miles off. They spring out of 
the water with ease, and fly with great rapidity, quite as quickly 
and easily as the Common Teal, but almost silently, and with 
less of a perceptible wing-rustle than any species I know. This 
IS probably due to their very narrow, pointed, somewhat curved 
wings, by which they can be instantly recognised when flying 
They are very active, restless birds, almost always swimmin-^ 
