11 It INDIAN DUCKS 



Birds of the first year are duller and paler, the upper tail-coverts are 

 narrowly edged with brown, and the wing-coverts are a dull chestnut- 

 brown. 



Young in Down. — " Upper parts greyish-brown, lower parts whitish, a 

 white band across the occiput, interrupted by the brown band which runs 

 along the hind-neck, a brown band from the ears to the hind-neck, no white 

 patches on the sides of the back, a whitish band across the wing." 

 {Salvadori.) 



Hume gives the weight of an adult male as 1 lb. 12 ozs., and that of a 

 female as 1 lb. 10 ozs. I have shot one male which weighed 2 lbs. exactly, 

 and which was a very fine heavy bird. I have never weighed a female or, 

 at least, recorded any weights of such. 



Distribution. — The Greater Whistling-Teal has its headquarters 

 within Indian limits in Eastern Bengal, where in parts it is exceed- 

 ingly numerous ; thence it extends into Assam, where, however, it 

 is not common, and seems gradually to become less common towards 

 the west and north of the Empire, and to extend a very short way 

 to the south. Mr. C. B. Sherman said that he found it very common 

 in Travancore, but it is most probable that he mistook the Common 

 Whistling-Teal for this bird. Jerdon also found it fau'ly common 

 in some parts of the Deccan. 



As regards Burma, Gates, in 'Birds of British Burma,' writes; — 



' The larger Whistling-Teal is comparatively a rare bird in 

 Burma, except in the Northern portions of Pegu, where I found 

 it very abundant in the Engmah swamp, 25 miles South of 

 Prome. Captain Wardlaw Eamsay procured it at Tonghoo ; and I 

 observed it several times in the paddy-fields near Kyeikpadeiu in 

 Southern Pegu during the rains. I can find no record of its occur- 

 rence in Tennasserim or Arrakan." 



He then goes on to say that it is found in Ceylon, but he does not 

 mention his authority for this statement, and I cannot but think it 

 is a mistake, for I can find no record of its occurrence anywhere in 

 that island. In ' Stray Feathers ' {loc. cit.) he says that the Larger 

 Whistling-Teal is found all over the Province of Pegu, but is less 

 common than the smaller species. 



Outside India its distribution is very remarkable. Salvadori thus 

 describes its habitat : — 



" America (from Southern border of the United States to Mexico), 

 and then from Venezuela and Peru to the Argentine Eepublic ; Africa 

 South of the Sahara, and Madagascar." 



