THE BIRDS OF THE MADHUBANI SUB-DIVISION. 341 



"was new to my collection, and from his description of the bird the only con- 

 clusion I could come to was that it was this species. 



(317) Netta rufina. — The Red-crested Pochard. 

 Blanford, No. 1604 ; Hume, No. 967. 



Common. They arrive in October and most have left by April. On the 

 20th May, 1900, I got a male of this species as already recorded in this Journal. 

 The Pochard I wounded at the same time as the gadwall never came near 

 the land but swam and dived in the middle of the river ; when swimming 

 below the surface of the water it was always visible from the bank. It had a 

 beautiful pale rosy tinge on the white of the flanks, axillaries and under 

 wing-coverts. I have found the flesh of this species slightly rank and even the 

 best, in my estimation, never comes up to either the pintail or gadwall. 

 However, I have heard some people here say they preferred it to any of the 

 ducks. Chacun a son gout. A solitary male came to a small shallow patch 

 of water, only knee-deep, quite close to the Factory at Narhar, where my tame 

 ducks were feeding. It was very tame, taking no notice of the numerous 

 people who came from and went to the hat, which was held close by. On 

 being wounded it made no attempt to dive but swam towards the shore. 

 Mr. Scroope wrote me that he saw numbers of ducks migrating at the end 

 of March. Some were flying very high and others low down : they appeared 

 like clouds all flying north in Vshaped formation. He says it took a good 

 five minutes passing over. The lower flocks appeared to be N. rufina. Native 

 name Lalsir. 



(318) Nyroga feeina. — The Pochard or Dun-bird. 

 Blanford, No. 1605 ; Hume, No. 968. 



I found this duck very rare in the sub-division, only getting a couple of 

 females there. Mr. Scroope told me he had seen two male pochards on the 

 17th December, 1899, in a tank at Katai, south of Marthou on the Mynathpur- 

 Basopati road. The tank was an old one partly silted up and surrounded by surput 

 grass. They were very tame. Scroope rose them up and they flew off but 

 came back again. A number of white-eye were in the same tank. They do not 

 appear to be so scarce in the Maiser Chaur not far from Kurrian. I have re- 

 ceived some eight or nine pairs. I do not think they reach us earlier than the 

 beginning of November. I got a male on the 3rd of that month, and they leave 

 in March. Mr. G. Dalgliesh got a male in female garb on the 9th July. Native 

 name Lalsir, Cheun. 



(319) N. ferruginea.— The White-eyed Duck. 

 Blanford, No. 1606 ; Hume, No. 969. 



Very common. They arrive in September and leave in April. They appear- 

 to be commoner in tanks than in the chaurs. I got a female with a few 

 white feathers forming a spot on the foreneck and this specimen had also 

 a very large white spot on the chin. I have recorded in this Journal the colour 

 of the irides in the female of this species. These duck are preferred by many 

 people here to the better class water fowl, and I must say I have often found 

 them very decent eating. Native names Dumar, Chotii mojeeta. 



