Introduction. 



species of Water Fowl which I am of 

 opinion were included in their work by 

 Messrs. Hume and Marshall on quite 

 insufficient evidence. These are the 

 Whooper or Hooper Swan, Bewick's 

 Swan, and the Bean-Goose. 



In this Manual I have indicated many 

 species of Water Birds, both Ducks 

 and Snipes, which may not improbably 

 be found hereafter to occur within the 

 limits of the Indian Empire. To these 

 I have assigned characters by means of 

 which they can be easily identified, and 

 I trust that sportsmen in India may be 

 able, in the course of a few years, to add 

 at least half a dozen species to the present 

 list. 



The Geese of the Bean-Goose type are 

 especially interesting, and the species 

 which occur in Eastern Asia may reason- 

 ably be expected to visit Upper Burma 

 and the Shan States in the winter. In 

 the course of studying the Geese in the 

 British Museum, I found a Goose of this 

 type from Japan which could not be 

 assigned to any known species, and I 

 have accordingly described it in my sum- 

 mary of these birds, (p. 77), under the 

 name of A user mentalis. 



In dealing with the Water Fowl, I have 



