12 WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 
The so-called Ecyptian Goose (Chenalopex aegyptiacus) is 
included by M.M. David and Oustalet in their birds of China 
on the strength of the occurrence of one specimen, but this was 
probably an escaped bird, as the species is purely African, and 
often kept and freely bred in captivity, at any rate in Europe, 
where stray birds are often shot. It is really a large Sheldrake, 
not a true Goose, though about equal to the Bar-headed Goose 
in size. Its general colour is a pale brown or creamy-dun, 
with fine pencillings, with wings coloured as in a Sheldrake, a 
brown collar round the neck, brown patch round the eye and 
on the breast, and bright pink bill and legs. 
The Comb-Duck. 
Sarcidtornis melanonotus, BLANFORD, Faun. Brit. 
ind? Birds; Vol/ ITV, p. 423; 
VERNACULAR NAMES.—Nuhta, H. ; Nakwa, Chu- 
tia Nagpur; Naki hansa, Uriya; Jutu chilluwa, 
Tel. ; Dod sarle haki, Can. ; Neer koli, Coimba- 
tore; Tau-bat, Burma; Bowkbang, Karen. 
This although undoubtedly the nearest ally of the 
dainty little Cotton-teal, is a big, coarse-looking Duck, 
resembling a Goose in build, and (in the case of the male) 
insize. The head and feet are large, and the neck, wings, 
and shanks long. The wings are rounded, the tail 
almost square, and the bill rather short and high at 
the root, with the nostrils far forward for a Duck, 
and the nail large and powerful. The sexes are much 
alike except in size, but the young bird has a 
plumage of its own. The male has an upright fleshy 
comb at the root of the bill, most developed in the 
breeding season. The male’s plumage is brilliantly 
glossed with metallic green, purple and bronze above ; 
the head and neck are white, speckled with metallic 
black, the flanks are clear pale grey, and the rest 
of the underparts white, with frequently a dash of 
rich yellow on the under tail-coverts at each side. This 
disappears in skins, and is not always present in the 
live birds. 
