File:Indian sporting birds (1915) (14563919938).jpg

Identifier: indiansportingbi00finn (find matches)
Title: Indian sporting birds
Year: 1915 (1910s)
Authors: Finn, Frank, 1868-1932 Hume, Allan Octavian, 1829-1912 Marshall, Charles Henry Tilson, 1841-
Subjects: Birds -- India Game and game-birds -- India
Publisher: London : Francis Edwards
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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also in Japanand Amoorland; it nests in holes in trees, and spends muchtime in them, being a thorough wood-duck and a regularpercher. The notes of the sexes are quaint; the drake snortsand the duck sneezes ! The mandarin is quick and active in its movements inwalking, swimming, and flying ; and, although feeding much onland, where it often grazes like a wigeon, or searches for acornsin woods, it nevertheless dives for food occasionally, and is moreactive under water than almost any surface duck. It is pooreating, and not a bird to shoot more specimens of than can beavoided, owing to its beauty and interesting habits. It only goes in small flocks and does not seem to be anobject of sport anywhere. Ruddy Sheldrake. Casarca rutila. Chakioa, Hindustani. This showy spoil-sport, so conspicuous in its foxy-redplumage on laud or water, and, if anything, more striking inflight, with its broad slowly-beating black-and-white wingsmaking it tri-coloured, is a bird that cannot be overlooked where
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RUDDY SHELDRAKE 51 it is found, and it occius all over oui* Indian Empire except inthe extreme south of India and Ceylon, where it is rare,Tenasserim, and the islands of the Bay of Bengal. It is awinter visitor in the plains, but breeds in the Himalayas. Even if it were not so conspicuous by its colouring—and onegets the full benefit of this by its habit of frequenting the mostopen places—its voice would make its presence known every-where, especially as it is seldom silent for long, and even whenconversing with its beloved mate and unalarmed, has no ideaof lowering its trumpet tones, which have something verystirring and picturesque about them. There is no noticeable difference in the trumpeting call ofthe sexes, and their colour also looks alike at a little distance;but on close inspection it will be seen that the female has awhite face, contrasting with the buff of the rest of the head,which is in both sexes much lighter than the body as a rule.The male also has in some cases a

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