264 Rev. J. Sibree^ Jr.^ on the 



small slugs of iron wire, and not with lead, lest by accident 

 a little lead swallowed should lead to lead-poisoning ! " 



Mr. Cowan mentions that the numerous meres in the 

 valley of Ihosy (Ibara) are the favourite haunts of Herons, 

 Ducks, Grebes, and Rails. In an interesting paper by Mr. 

 Baron in the 'Annual,^ vi. p. 92, he has given a list of no less 

 tlian thirty-four aquatic birds (by their native names) found 

 on the Alaotra lake in Antsihanaka; of these nearly half are 

 still undescribed and cannot at present be identified. In the 

 little museum at the L. M. S. College at Antananarivo there 

 is, among other Malagasy birds' eggs, a series of fifteen eggs 

 from Antsihanaka, chiefly of Water-fowl on the Alaotra. 



As for the native names of these Wild -fowl, many of them 

 seem to be imitative of their screaming cry, as Angaka and 

 Akahj (Meller's Duck), Rahuky (Red-billed Duck), Voron- 

 kuika (Dwarf Goose), and Tsir)ri/ and Vivy. Other names 

 refer to their appearance, as Fbtsielatra, "White Wings ^' 

 (Red-billed Duck)^; Vorontsara, "Handsome-bird" (Dwarf 

 Goose), which is also called Maroanipinya, " Many Shields,''^ 

 and Soafify, ^' Handsome-cheeks " (?) (this latter is also a 

 name of the Hottentot Teal) ; and Maherilohu, " Strong- 

 headed " (a Diving Duck). Some names of the Red Wild 

 Duck seem to refer to its apparently bare appearance, for 

 one means " Moulting '"' and another " Plucked." Many 

 other names are obscure, at least with our present knowledge 

 of provincial Malagasy. 



Before concluding this section I will add the following 

 note, kindly given me by Mr. W. Wilson : — 



"One of the smaller Ducks which frequent Lake Itasy is 

 known by the Queen's gamekeepe;r§ near Antananarivo as the 

 Tafio/ra, but at Itasy it goes by the name of Andrandra [it 

 is probably the Thalassorms leitconota]. It is a rather small 

 Duck, of a reddish-brown colour, somewhat mottled with black 

 on the breast, with a funny ' dumpy ' appearance. It is not 

 difficult to procure. The natives tell me that the female bird 



* Mr. W. "VYilson says : " The name of Fotsielatm is at Itasy confined 

 to the small Duck which is known as the Khitokehj or Sadakely, but 

 never given to any other, to my knowledge,". 



