102 INDIAN DUCKS 



line through the lores to the eye ; whole crown, occiput, and nape sooty or 

 dusky-black; no trace either of the" two distinct black head-bars or of the 

 conspicuous white neck-streaks; back of neck wood-brown, sides and front 

 of the lower part of the neck pale dusky-greyish, mottled with whitish ; 

 most of feathers of the breast and abdomen have a pale rusty tinge towards 

 the tips ; the conspicuous dark banding of the flanks of the adults is almost 

 entirely wanting; tail somewhat browner than in the adult." (Salvador/.) 

 Young in Down. — " Pale yellowish, top of the head and upper parts 

 pale-brown." (Salvadori.) 



Distribution. — Eonghl\- speaking, the habitat of this goose is India 

 and Northern Burma and the Shan States during winter, and in 

 summer Central Asia due north of these countries, up to latitude 

 55° N. 



The most southern record which I can find is that by Jerdon in 

 his ' Birds of India.' He writes : — 



" I once saw a couple of these geese in the extreme south of 

 India in August, in a small sequestered tank. This pair may have 

 been breeding there, but perhaps they were wounded or sickly birds." 



It is quite possible that they were breeding, but it is almost 

 certain that one at least of the pair must have been damaged in some 

 way sufficiently to incapacitate it from migrating. They are very 

 devoted to one another, and probably if either of a pair of geese were 

 injured, the other would remain with it. On the other hand, they 

 might both have been geese, or both ganders, in which case, also, of 

 course, both must have been injured. In Southern India it is 

 nowhere a common bird. Major Mclnroy reported it as common in 

 the Chitaldroog district of Mysore, and Mr. Theobald as not common 

 in Coimbatore. In the south of the Central Provinces it is still far 

 from plentiful. In Bengal it is met with in considerable numbers on 

 all the larger rivers quite down to their mouths. I have seen great 

 flocks of them, both in Jessore and Khulna, in January. It is also 

 found on the rivers running through Behar, Chota-Nagpur, etc., but 

 is not common. In Assam it is comparatively rare, but has been met 

 with in Sylhet, Cachar, and Manipur, and I have also seen it in 

 Kamrup, and it extends all up the Brahmapootra. It is to the west 

 of Bengal, however, that it is found in such vast numbers, and in 

 most parts there outnumbers all the other geese by more than five to 



