All this negative evidence is only recorded quantum vaUat
which is, perhaps, not much ; but it will, at any rate, show how
imperfect our knowledge of the distribution of this species still
remains.
Outside our limits, though never noted by Swinhoe, Pcre David
tells us that this species is common in the spring in the Pekin
Province. Westwards, however, Prjcvalski never seems to have
met with it, in his explorations of the valley of the Hoango-ho, or
even at the Koko-Nor, several degrees further south than Pekin,
Westwards again it is common in summer, and breeds botli in
Kastern (Yarkand), and Western Turkestan. It has now been
recorded or sent from several places in Afghanistan and Ueluchistan
during the cold season ; was procured by Blanford near
Ispahan in Persia in March, but at an elevation of 7,500 feet ;
and is included in various Caspian lists. It is equally found,
and breeds, in Asia Minor, in Palestine where but few breed,
but where, in winter, it is extremely abundant, as it is in Lower
Egypt, extending up-country along the Nile, &c, to Nubia.
It occurs pretty well throughout Southern and Central Europe,
not, however, I believe getting anywhere much north of the
570 North Latitude, though it has, no doubt, been alleged to
occur both near Archangel and in Iceland. It has only once
or twice been recorded from Scotland—never from Ireland,
Sweden, Norway, or Finland.
They arc occasionally seen at the Canaries,* and are abundant
in Morocco and Algiers, in both which latter, as also in
Southern Spain, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Hungary, Greece,
&c, they remain to breed in greater or lesser numbers.
IN KASHMIR the majority are permanent residents; to
the major portion, if not the whole of the rest of its Indian
range, it is only a winter migrant, arriving in Northern India
about the last week in October (though somewhat earlier in the
submontane tracts) and a little later further south. Mr. Doig,
indeed, writes that they only arrive on the Eastern Narra in
December, but I think there must be some mistake here.
Unquestionably weedy lakes and broads, containing moderately
deep water, are its favourite haunts in this country ; but I have
occasionally met with it on river banks, small ponds, and even
utterly bare shallow sheets of water, like the Sambhar Lake.
It is seldom seen in the open water, and I have never seen
any very huge flocks ; but while I have often met with pairs
and small parties of from three to seven on small tarns and ponds,
I have put up successively many hundreds from different parts
of large rushy reed}' lakes. Not en masse, but successively,
* It may possibly stray, as hns now been more than once asserted, to Jamaica.
A bird of this kind, that certainly occurs on the Canaries (and probably the Azores
also) may well be occasionally blown over to the West Indies; but these arc clearly
outside its normal lange.
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 :—
" It is a swift flying bird, occasionally found in flocks, but
more often singly or in pairs. It loves to frequent jhi'ls
with plenty of cover. I have met with capital shooting about
mid-clay 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 at a 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 anywhere
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 great
trouble to recover. I have frequently, at J hansi, lost the half
of my winged birds in a 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.
" I 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 ?
" It 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 not a migrant
K I