62 Nagendranatha Basu — Ndgaras and tJie Ndgari-AlpJiahet. [April, 



Pochard,* FuUgida bacri Radde, wliich I obtained, with three others, in 

 the Calcutta Provision Bazaar, on the 24th and three following days 

 of last Februaiy. Three of these are males, and five females, and in 

 addition there are two living males in the Zoological Gai'dens at Alipore, 

 where the i-emaining female has apparently recently died. 



This species is to be found in East Siberia (whence Radde described 

 it) China, and Japan. The birds will be added to the Museum collection, 

 where there is already a specimen apparently of this form, numbered 

 1789D. in Blyth's catalogue, but referred to the common and nearly 

 allied species F. nyroca. This was procured in the Bazaar in 1842 or 3. 



The single specimen of the second species exhibited belongs to that 

 curious form the white-faced Stiff tail Duck {Erisniatura leucocB' 

 pJiala (Scop.) The present individual was sent to the Editor of the 

 '' Asian " newspaper by Captain H. R. Davies, who stated ( " Asian,'' 

 Feb. 14th, 1896) that it was shot by Captain E. D. White, 52nd Light 

 Infantry, on the 22nd January last, at Bettia near Hardoi, between 

 Lucknow and Bareilly. Captain White has kindly presented the speci- 

 men to the Indian Museum. It is in heavy moult, and quite incapable 

 of flight, which considering the time of its occurrence is rather surpris- 

 ing, and almost looks as if the species might be somewhere resident 

 within our limits. It is found usually in Southern and Eastern Europe, 

 Northern Africa, and Western Asia, but is mentioned in the list of birds, 

 in Mr. W. R. Lawrence's recently published work on the " Valley of 

 Kashmir," p. 131, as having occurred in that country and once or twice 

 in the Panjab. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. On Jesuit Missions at the Court of the Emperor Akbar. — By E. D. 

 Maclagan, C.S. 



The paper will be published in the Journal, Part I, 



2. On the origin of the Ndgaras and the Ndgarl- Alphabet. — By 

 Nagendranatha Vasu, Editor, Vifvakosa. 



(Abstract.) 



The Nagari specifies, a peculiar form of character. In printing 

 Sanskrit works, this character has become the current one not only in 



* Since this paper was I'ead Count Salvadori'3 volume of the British Museum 

 Catalogue (xxvii) containing the ducks, has come to hand, in which I see that 

 F. hueri has been recorded from Bengal, though this author appears (p. 344) to doubt 

 the fact ; the occurrence of so many specimens quite disposes of this doubt. From the 

 same work it appeara (p. 445) that the other species is loss rare in India than I had 

 supposed, though its presence in moult ia still noteworthy. F. F. 



