250 THE POCHARD OR DUN-BIRD.
previously molested the ducks that season, I rowed into the
middle of a flock of this species, several thousands in number,
and beyond swimming right and left so as to keep the boat at
a distance of some thirty yards, they seemed to take no notice
of us ; and, when I halted the boat, and we all remained perfectly
still in it, they closed in again, so that scores were swimming
within twenty yards of us and many dived under us and popped
up here, there and everywhere within a few yards, disappearing
under water, however, again instantly as soon as they
perceived how close they were.
On the other hand, in meres, where they are a good deal shot
at, it is at times extremely difficult to work up to them, even
lying on your face in a regular leaden cream-coloured gun
punt, in which, if you know how to paddle it, you can get within
range of almost any and every fowl in India.
Curiously enough at such times you may often get excellent
shots with shoulder guns, by setting a small square sail and
sailing past them within shot. Of course, you cannot then use
the big gun, as the mast has to be stepped in the stauncheon
hole ; but you may sail in this way a couple of miles up an
open jhil, full of flocks of the wildest fowl, and if you never
stop or alter your course, get shots at from forty to fifty yards
every two or three minutes. The killed and wounded you must
retrieve as you come back, as lowering the sail and stopping
to pick up the spoil would put up every duck within a quarter
of a mile, whereas only those quite close to you rise (to settle
again within a hundred yards as a rule) from shoulder-gun
shots fired from a steadily noiselessly gliding sailing punt.
It is a little awkward at first, as you have to steer (with a
rudder made to ship for this particular work) by strings
attached to your feet* (you must keep clear of clumps of floating
weed) and fire in a recumbent position between the gunwale
or rather wash-board and the lower edge of the sail. But
you soon get into the way of it, and you may thus get a heavy
bag out of some of the large jhils, wdiere, as often happens,
for reasons best known to themselves, all the fowl are so wild
that it is hardly possible to get at them in any other way.
Any small sailing boat will do. Mr. W. Forsyth, writing
from Dehree-on-Soane, says :—" There are large flocks in the
river here of Pintail, Red-crested and Red-headed Pochards, and
very exciting sport they yield, wild as they all are. It is useless
trying to approach them in the canoe, in the ordinary
way. I think the flash of the paddle frightens them. But on
a windy day, you can hoist the sail, bear down rapidly on them,
when within range let go the mainsail halyard, throw the half
* This must be by stirrups or some other arrangement, which you are quite sure of
being able to slip instantly ; because with the best management and the sharpest
look-out all round, sudden gusts do at times come down on these large broads and
upset you before you know where you are. This has twice happened to me.
THE TOCIIARD OR DUN-BIRD, 251
of the paddle (with which you have been steering) below your
knee, and quickly swinging the gun up, from your side or
between your knees, to the shoulder, secure a brace or more
before they are out of range. Even on a calm day I still hoist
the sail, and with half the paddle slowly propel until within
sixty or seventy yards, when I give one strong stroke, seize the
gun and take them as they rise.
" Here the Pochards and Pintail feed in the mornings and
evenings over the gravelly parts of the bed of the river, but
during the heat of the day they mostly rest on just submerged
sandbanks or float over the deep pools."
Of course, with their diving powers, wounded birds give a
grand chase ; but they are not quite such adepts at disappearing
altogether as the White-eye ; and, as they arc more generally
shot in open water, it is less common to lose them.
Their note, rarely heard until they are disturbed, is very like
that of the White-eye, but louder and harsher—a kurr, kurr ; but
their wing rustle is far more characteristic, and I have rarely
failed to recognize them by it, when I have shot them at night,
before they came to hand.
THERE IS no reason to suppose that this species breeds anywhere
within our limits, though it certainly beeds in Algiers
in nearly the same latitude as Kashmir. But its nidification
is well known, as it breeds, as already mentioned, in several
places in England, and many parts of the Continent.
They lay, according to locality, in April, May and June,
making their nest either on sedges and rush in the water, or on
the ground immediately at the water's edge. The nest in
some cases is a regular but slight one, composed of dry flags
and sedges wound round into a circular form. In others it is
a mere depression in the soil, more or less thinly lined with
similar materials. In either case a quantity of the bird's own
down gives softness to the nest and more or less covers the
eggs.
Professor Newton tells us that in England they usually lay
from six to eight eggs in the nest, but that others arc not
unfrequently found scattered about ; but on the Continent they
are said, I see, to lay from ten to twelve or even more eggs.
The eggs are very regular broad ovals ; the shell smooth but
dull and glossless. In colour they are a pale dingy green, or
greenish drab, more or less, in most cases, tinged with yellow.
They average about 2-4 In length by 17 in breadth.
THERE is very little difference in the size of the two sexes.
Half a dozen adults of each sex measured as follows :—
Males.— Length, i8'0 to 185 ; expanse, 294 to 32-2 ; wing,
8-05 to 8-5 ; tail from vent, 2'35 to 3'2 ; tarsus, I'4 to I'5 ; bid
from gape, 2-15 to 227 ; weight, I lb. 13 ozs. to 2 lbs. 5 ozs.