The Wood-Ducks. 141 



interesting paper on the birds found in 

 Eastern Bengal, referring to this statement 

 of Jerdon's, says (Ibis^ 1882, p. 92) : 

 " Jerdon informed Hume that I had 

 observed Anas leucoptera to the east of 

 Dacca; but I never saw it, nor have I 

 ever seen a skin of it yet. I told Jerdon 

 that I had heard of a large flock of dark 

 Ducks in these waters, but had never met 

 them myself. Jerdon himself only ob- 

 served it from the deck of a steamer." 



Mr. Hume's collectors obtained a 

 specimen of this Duck at Dollah, at the 

 extreme east of the Assam valley. 



Colonel Graham, as quoted by Messrs. 

 Hume and Marshall, informs us that this 

 Duck is rare in Darrang, but common 

 in the vast pathless tree jungles of Lak- 

 himpur. 



Mr. J. R. Cripps writes : " This, 

 hitherto rare, Wood-Duck is commoner 

 in the Dibrugarh district than is supposed, 

 but, from its retiring habits and the 

 nature of the country it affects, is seldom 

 seen. It is a permanent resident, fre- 

 quenting lonely, weedy pathars in dense 

 forest, and far away from villages. Food, 

 principally vegetable matter with a few 

 small pieces of pebble." 



Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker tells us that 



