378 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI. 



No. XVIII.— ABNORMAL SAM BAR HEAD. 



{With a plate.) 



The stag whose head is shown in the accompanying sketch was shot in the 

 Hoshangabad district, Central Provinces, near the Tawa River by A. G. 

 Hendley, Major, Indian Medical Service, in the month of December 1900. 

 The stag was a very large light-coloured stag, incisor teeth much worn and 

 chipped, an indication of age. He was in good condition, was in company of 

 several hinds, and had no injury to any of his organs. It will be seen that the 

 horns have no brow antlers. The left horn divides into three spikes. The 

 right horn also divides into three spikes, one being much smaller than the other 

 two. At one time there had been a 4th spike to this horn near the shortest 

 spike, but it had broken off, leaving a rough triangular mark at the point of 

 fracture. The five longest spikes from burr to point varied in length from 

 21 inches to 29 inches, the shortest 11 inches. Width between tips 29 inches, 

 girth of beam below division — right horn 10 inches, left horn 11 inches. 



J. D. INVERARITY. 



Bombay, January, 1905. 



No. XIX.— THE GOOSANDER {MERGANSER CASTOR). 



I am sending the following notes on the Goosander (A/, castor) which, not 

 being a very common duck, may be of some interest to readers of the Journal. 



On the 19th instant, my collector brought me in 3 fine males of the Goosan- 

 der, in most perfect plumage, which he told me he had shot on the Gadadhar 

 river some five or six miles from this garden ; that, moreover, they were 

 numerous and far from shy : so determining to find out the truth, I went 

 myself on the 22nd and personally can fully confirm the correctness of the 

 man's statement. 



The Gadadhar is a fine stream rising, I believe, somewhere in the higher 

 Bhutan Hills. At the point nearest this it is fairly swift, flowing over small 

 rocks, pebbles, and sand, and now in the cold weather the water it contains is 

 beautifully clear and icy cold. Wherever there are shallows it forms into small 

 rapids ; these the Goosander especially seems to frequent, though it may also 

 be seen in the broader parts as well. The banks are sandy and more or less 

 thinly wooded, but the chief jungle is grass, null and efcra. 



The birds are found in parties of 5 to 20, the males keeping as a rule quite 

 apart from the females, and except when much disturbed by firing do not get 

 mixed up with them. 



The drake is most conspicuous, his handsome black and white plumage show- 

 ing up at a distance ; he swims high, and early in the day may be seen actively 

 diving through and about the rapids, occasionally standing up in the water 

 stretching his neck and flapping his wings. 



The female owing to its smaller size and the general slaty colour of its 

 plumage seems to sit much lower on the water and is also shyer than the male 

 though I may remark neither bird will readily allow one to get within 



