268 MERGUS SERRATOR. 



I append measurements of six fully adulfc birds of the pre- 

 sent species taken in the flesh, and of six adults of S, mala- 

 barica for comparison, all shot at or near Belgaum : — 



Species. Sex. length. Expanse. Wing. Tail. ^J* ^^ Date. 



S blvthi ... Male ... 812 12-25 406 2"47 068 10 10-10-80 



... „ ... 825 12-75 40 25 075 1-06 10-10-80 



... „ ... 825 1238 4-0 25 0-65 1-0 10-10-80 



„ ... Female.. 775 11-87 383 2-62 0'68 10 5-10-80 



„ ... 80 12-25 3-93 2-75 075 10 17-10-80 



„ 7'87 120 3-83 2 62 0-68 1-0 17-10-80 



S. malabarica.. Male ... 8 125 40 275 68 TO 4-1-80 



„ ... „ ... 7-87 1238 387 2'37 068 1-0 6-10-80 



... „ ... 8-12 12-75 4-12 2 62 068 10 7-10-80 



„ ... ,, ... 775 12-25 40 2 5 68 10 23-2-80 



, ... „ ... 812 12-75 4-12 275 0-75 106 3-3-80 



„ ... Female.. 775 12 25 40 25 075 10 3-1-80 



In both species the iris is greyish white (or grey in some 

 specimens) ; legs and feet vary from yellow to brownish yellow, 

 olive yellow, yellowish olive; bill blue at base, green in the 

 centre, yellow at the tip. 



JJtergtrs smator. 



As mentioned in the third volume of the " Game Birds" the 

 Red-breasted Marganser has to be added to the Indian list, and 

 demands, therefore, some notice and a description in "Stray 

 Feathers. " 



On the 24th of November 1875, Captain Bishop shot a female 

 Merganser, at Manoura Point, Kurrachee. The specimen was 

 preserved, and some years later kindly sent to me by Mi*. 

 Murray of the Kurrachee museum. I did not examine it closely 

 at the time, and it was only when writing my article on the 

 Goosander for the " Game Birds/'' and closely scrutinizing our 

 large series of that species, that I discovered that Captain 

 Bishop's bird was uumistakeably the female of the Red-breasted 

 Marganser. 



No other instance of its occurrence within our limits is 

 known. 



It is common in winter throughout China (as it likewise is 

 in Japan), but Pere David tells us that he never succeeded 

 in procuring an adult male there ; probably chiefly the birds 

 of the year visit China. At Lake Hanka Prjevalski found it 

 scarce. In Mongolia he only saw it at the Dalai-Nor, and 

 in Kansu he met with only a single specimen, a young one. 

 Throughout Southern and South-eastern Siberia, where it breeds 

 freely, it is more common than the Goosander. It has 

 not yet been recorded from Yarkand, Western Turkestan, 



