337 



THE BIRDS OF THE MADHUBANI SUB-DIVISION OF THE DAR- 



BHANGA DISTRICT, TIRHUT, WITH NOTES ON SPECIES 



NOTICED ELSEWHERE IN THE DISTRICT. 



By C. M. Inglis. 



Part VII. 



(Continued from page 77, No. 1, Vol. XV.) 



Order— ANSERES. 



Family Analidce. 

 Sub-family Anserince. 



(298) Anser ferus. — The Grey Lag Goose. 

 Bhiford, No. 1579 ; Hume, No. 945. 



The first specimen of this goose I got was snared near Jhanjiarpur on the 

 4th of April this year. On the 25th of May I received a second one snared 

 on the Hurrietta Chaur. These are the only two I ever got in the district. 

 Both dates are exceptionally late for them to be found in the plains ; the 

 latest date recorded being the 2nd of May when two were received by Colonel 

 Unwin in Cashmere. Native name Hans, battak. 



(299) A. indices. — The Barred-headed Goose. 

 Blanford, No. 1583 ; Hume, No. 949. 



Geese are not common anywhere in the district. I believe they are fairly 

 plentiful on the Ganges in the cold weather. They commence to arrive 

 here in October, some remain sometimes till June. I have never seen them 

 so late, but Mr. G. Dalgliesh mentions so in the Zoologist and Mr. Miller 

 told me he saw a couple on the river near Russulpore during that month. My 

 experience of this bird in captivity is the same as Finn's, having found it 

 to keep in the pink of condition during the summer. I h~.ve one here 

 which I have now had over three years. A few geese are snared every year 

 on the Kamla River, seldom this side of the frontier, but usually in Nepal. 

 They are snared in nets stretched across the sandbanks. The fishermen who 

 snare them in Nepal call them Ghango. Native names Hans and Battak. 



Sub-family Anatince. 



(300) Sarcidiornts melanonotus.' — The Comb Duck or Nukta. 



Blanford, No. 1584 ; Hume, No. 950. 



Near Jainagar a pair flew past me in July 1898. The male had a knob on 

 the bill and there was no mistaking the species. On the 20th April, 1902, a male 

 was brought me by a mirshikar, and on the 8th January of this year I got a 

 female snared on the Maiser Chaur, not far from Bunhar Factory. This duck 

 is very rare in the district, the only other record I can find of its occurrence here 

 being in the Zoologist, recorded by Mr. G. Dalgliesh, who says : " A small 

 flock was seen by my brother at Dalsing Serai in May 1899, out of which a 

 male was shot." Native name Nuhta. 



(301) Rhodonessa caryophyllacea. — The Pink-headed Duck. 

 Blanford, No. 1586 ; Hume, No. 960. 



I have never come across this species, but the mirshikar, who used to bring me 

 duck and teal from Minti, described a bird which had been snared there which 



