674 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



No. XXIV.— NOTE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE LESSER 

 FLORICAN OR LIKH (SYPHOOTIS AURITA) IN BOMBAY. 



It may be of interest to record the fact that while travelling to Parel this 

 morning I saw on the cricket ground of the Catholic Gymkhana on the 

 Kennedy Sea face a female Lesser Florican or Likh (Sypheotis aurita). The 

 bird flew slowly across the grounds towards the Hindu Gymkhana and was 

 quite unmistakable. 



N. MARRYAT. 

 Bombay, Uh September, 1918. 



[A lesser Florioan was reported to have been seen near Churchg-ate Station on 

 8tli June 1913, vide J. B. N. H. S., vol. XXII, p. 631— Eds.] 



No. XXV.— THE COTTON TEAL IN MALABAR. 



Blanford in F, of I. Birds, Vol. IV states that the Cotton Teal {Netkapus 

 corornandelianus) is rare in Malabar, also Stuart Baker in Indian Ducks 

 says " from Malabar I can find no record of it's (Cotton Teal) Occurrence, 

 though there is one somewhere could I only remember it." So, it may 

 be of interest to record that I lately saw 4 specimens which were shot 

 near here, Nelliampathy Hills, Malabar, and I am informed that they 

 are not uncommon. 



A. M. KINLOCH. 



KOLLENGODE, P. 0. viu PaLGHAT, 



South India, 

 1st January, 1919. 



No. XXVI.— OCCURRENCE OF THE COMMON SHELDRAKE 



{T ADORN A CORNUTA) AND THE MARBLED DUCK 

 {MARMARONETTA ANGUSTRIOSTRIS) IN KATHIAWAR. 



I was shooting with H.H. The Maharaja Jam Saheb at X'mas and on the 

 28th December we shot a nallah near JBalambha, about 36 miles N. E. of 

 Jamnagar. Among the bag was a pair of Sheldrake. They are the first I 

 have seen in Kathiawar. They were in very fine plumage and the collar 

 and markings down the brest and belly were of a deeper, richer chestnut 

 brown than that depicted in the plate in Stuart Baker's Duck Book. I 

 measured the male bird as he lay on the ground, without stretching, and he 

 was 2 feet. 



We also shot a specimen of the Marbled Duck. I could not identify it 

 as I had never seen one before, but it was an easy task by the book. Our 

 bag in 3 or 4 days round Balambha also included half a dozen Greylags 

 and a few Imperial and Sindhi Grouse. Both the latter are rare visitors 

 so far south, only met with, as a rule, when water is very scarce in Cutch 

 and Sind. 



H. W. BERTHON, Lt.-Col. 



Ra.ikot, Sth Janwiry, 1919. 



[H.H. The Maharaja Jam Saheb of Nawanagar has kindly forwarded to 

 us the two skins of the Sheldrake. Writing of this bird Hume says "I 

 have it from the mouths of Indus, the Coasts of the Gulf of Cutch, from 

 Nawanagar Kathiwar " The last-named specimen which is in the Hume 

 Collection in the British Museum is an immature bird and was shot in 

 December. Of the Marbled Teal Stuart Baker says it has been obtained in 

 Cutch and the late Col. Butler shot one near Mount Abu. In the Society's 

 collection there is a ^in from the Nail shot by Mr. H. C. Wright in 

 December 1899. In Sind this bird is not uncommon. — Eds.] 



