198 Lieut. H. R. Kelham on 



their wing^s, they daily fly about the island in search of food^ 

 still do not migrate^ but remain and breed, and during Sep- 

 tember 1 saw several young ones swimming about with their 

 parents. There is but little, it' any, difference in the plumage 

 of the sexes, and very slight seasonal change, though towards 

 July specimens I shot were certainly more ruddy than earlier 

 in the year. 



During the heat of the day the Whistling Teal keep 

 principally on the jheels, among thick reeds, and seem 

 particularly fond of the small open ])ieces of water shut in by 

 high rushes which are found in all large reed-beds. This 

 makes them fairly easy to get at ; and on several occasions, by 

 wading quietly through the water, waist deep, the reeds con- 

 cealing my head and shoulders, I came on them unawares 

 and killed several at a shot — a great addition to one's larder 

 in a country where fresh meat was not to be got every day. 



When on open Avater I found them by no means easy to 

 stalk ; and even in places where I much doubt if a gun had 

 ever been fired and they were but little disturbed, after one 

 or two afternoons^ shooting they became exceedingly wild 

 and difficvilt to get near. The Malay bird can be easily dis- 

 tinguished from the other species oiDendrocygna by its small 

 size ; out of the dozens which I shot at different times I do 

 not think one ever exceeded 17 inches in length. 



A male shot at Kota Lama, Perak, on 17th February 1877, 

 was 16 inches in length ; irides dark brown, orbits bright 

 yellow ; legs and beak bluish black ; head and neck dull 

 brown, the former dark on the crown ; chin whitish ; under- 

 parts ruddy brown, except the vent and under tail-coverts, 

 which were whitish; wings black ; lesser coverts and the 

 upper tail-coverts rich chestnut ; back dusky black, each 

 feather terminating with a broad band of rusty brown. 



Nettapus coromandelianus (Gdhi.). The White-bodied 

 Goose Teal. 



The beautiful, and most appropriately named, little Goose- 

 Teal is exceedingly plentiful among the jheels and swamps of 

 the mainland ; but I never met with it on Singapore or any of 



