830 INDIAN DUCKS 



" The bird stated in ' Stray Feathers ' and in the British Museunj 

 Catalogue to have been shot by "Captain Bishop at Manora, Karachi 

 Harbour, was really obtained by him at Chahbar, in Persian 

 Baluchistan. This correction is founded on a letter from Captain 

 Bishop to Mr. Cumming, which I have seen." 



lu ' Stray Feathers ' (v, p. 823), Captain (then) E. A. Butler 

 notes : — 



" There is a fine specimen, a S , of this species in the Frere Hall 

 Museum, shot by Captain Bishop, at the Manora Point off the 

 Karachi Harbour ; another specimen has just now been captured, 

 at the end of June." 



Both these birds are referred to as M. cufitor, but the first was 

 the M. aerrator obtained by Captain Bishop at Chahbar, as already 

 noted. Whether the second bird was M. castor or M. serrator I 

 cannot ascertain. 



Beyond this there are only three recorded instances of the actual 

 occurrence of the Red-breasted Merganser within our limits. Of 

 these the first was that obtained hy Major Yerbury at Karachi, 

 which may be the second noted by Captain Butler. The wings of 

 tliis are in the British Museum. 



The second Indian specimen is that in the Indian Museum, 

 Calcutta, an unsexed specimen obtained in the Calcutta bazaar on 

 17th December, 1889. 



Thirdly, Major Nurse records the shooting of a young male 

 serrator by Captain Macnamara, at Kush-Dil-Khan, about seven 

 miles from Peshin, in the Quetta district. The skin, most unfor- 

 tunately, was not preserved. 



Nidification. — As regards the breeding habits, it is remarkable that 

 whereas it is the exception for the goosander to make its nest on 

 the ground, it would appear to be the rule for this bird to do so, and 

 the exception for it to make it on trees. 



Saxby, describing its nesting in the Shetlands, says that : — 



" Although they often lay amongst long grass, they seem to prefer 

 the shelter of a roof of some kind, and thus it is that the eggs are 

 most commonly found under rocks, in rabbit-burrows, and even in 

 crevices in old walls." 



In Yarrell's ' History of British Birds,' iii, p. '288, there are the 

 following remarks : — 



