7O WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 
Manipur, and Burma. It is not found on the Malabar 
Coast, nor in Tenasserim and the Malay countries, 
though it occurs in China and Japan. 
It associates in pairs, though these may combine into 
flocks, feeding partly on grass, &c., like Geese, and 
partly on aquatic animals, such as shellfish, and even 
occasionally on carrion. Rivers are the favourite 
haunt of these birds, which are very wary, and often 
troublesome by alarming other birds. Many legends 
are attached to this showy species, the best known 
representing them as being inhabited by the spirits 
of unfortunate lovers, and their loud dissyllabic call 
certainly does resemble, as Mr. Stuart Baker has 
pointed out, the Hindustani equivalents for the 
dialogue May I come, Chakwa ? No, Chakwi, &c., which 
they are supposed to carry on all night. They are not 
esteemed as food, but can be eaten if skinned 
previously. In Tibet they breed, generally in May 
and June, at elevations. of 12,000 to 16,000 feet, the 
nest being ina holeofa bank or cliff. The eggs are 
white, and the young when hatched appear to be 
carried to the water by the parents. 
The Common Sheldrake. 
Tadorna cornuta, BLANFORD, Faun. Brit. Ind., 
Birds, Vol. IV, p. 427. 
VERNACULAR NAMES :—Shah-Chakwa, Safad 
Surkhab, Ravariva, H.; Nivajyz, Sind; Chandt 
Hans, Calcutta dealers. 
This Sheldrake is a smaller bird than the Brahminy, 
and has a somewhat peculiarly shaped bill, with the 
profile very concave or “ dished’ and the nail very 
small and bent sharply back beneath at an angle ; the 
bill grows much broader towards the tip, where it is 
furnished with lobes or lips. The male assumes a fleshy 
knob at the root of the bill in the breeding-season. 
