The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck

January 1, 1991
The pink-headed duck, last sighted in 1935, is believed by most naturalists to be extinct, but rumors that it might be hiding in the marshlands of northeast India prompted Nugent, an adventurer from Massachusetts, to embark on a quest for the bird. After unsuccessfully searching Calcutta's fowl markets, he applied for a permit to travel on the Brahmaputra River, where the duck was more likely to be found. Awaiting permission, he had three months to wander, during which he encountered plotters against the Tibetan government, met leaders of Gurkha's independence movement and tracked a yeti in Sikkim. When Nugent finally attained the permit, he invited a venturesome Indian, Shankar, to share his voyage and the pair paddled a 12-foot skiff down the Brahmaputra, from a Burmese border village to Bangladesh. Myriad species of wildlife were sighted, though not the pink-headed duck. But no matter, at least not for the reader, who will thoroughly enjoy this saga of adventure for its rollicking entertainment. Photos not seen by PW .