172 



white not being so brilliant, and in a stronger bill. Ruppell's 

 Sterna velox appears to correspond in size with it, In the 

 numerous species in the British Museum there is not one vvith 

 which it can be identified. Proportionably to the shortness of 

 the legs the clavvs are long, niuch arched, slender and sharp, 

 and turn outvvards. Hind claw never touches the ground. 

 Šame locality and habits as the preceding species, although 

 rare in Dukhun. In the stomach and cesophagus of one bird 

 \vere found the extraordinary number of thirteen Cyprini, one 

 of them 2| inches long. Tail very much forked ; lateral tail- 

 feathers subulate, \vhite, 8 inches long. Wings very narrow 

 and long, reaching nearly to the end of the tail. 



Genus Viralva, Leach. 



232. Viralva Anglica, Steph., 13. 174. Sterna Anglica, Mont., 



Orn. Dict. Stervą aranea, 'VVils., Amer. Orn. 8. HS. pi. 72. 



fig. 6? Marsh Tern,'L2t.\\\. GuU-billed Viralve. 



Colonel Sykes's specimens correspond exactly with specimens of 



this rare British bird in the British Museum, both in their win- 



ter and summer plumage. Irides deep red brovvn. Length, 



inclusive of tail, 14^ to 16^ inches ; tail 4Ą to 5| inches. Sexes 



alike in plumage, but the feniale somewhat siiialler than the 



malė. Numerous fi&h found in the stomach of many birds. 



■VVith the aspect, length of \ving, lazy flight, and habits of the 



Tern, this bird has a bill approximating to that of the Guli, 



not quite identical with the bill of the Viralve. 



Colonel Sykes statės, that the domestic Duck {Anas Boschas)is ex- 



tgnsively bred by the Portuguese in VVestern India, and that it 



is subject to a kind of apoplexy, which carries it ofF in a few 



minutes, although previously in apparent health. He has 



known a trader lose a flock of more than thirty in the course 



of one day; and he has himself had ten ducks struck simulta- 



neously, stagger about for a short time as if drunk, run round 



in circles, fall on their backs, and die. He has not been able 



to discover any morbid appearances in the brain. In no in- 



stance, in the stomachs of the AnatidfE, were animal matters 



met vvith ; the contents consisted of grains, seeds, vegetables, 



and gravel. 



Colonel Sykes, in closing his Catalogue of the birds of Dukhun, 



mentioned that the details he had given resulted from personai 



observation of the specimens, in a living or recent statė. With 



few exceptions, the whole were shot by himself; and, to guard 



against falše impressions, he accumulated severai individuals of the 



šame species and of both sexes, and was rarely confined to a soli- 



tary bird. 



