FURTHER NOTES ON 1TIE SWANS OF INDIA. 101 



the anterior portion orange in another ; legs black. The 



following are measurements : — 



No 1. No. 2. No. 3. 

 feet inch feet inch feet inch. 

 Length from tip of bill to end of tail ... 4— 105 5 — 2 5 — 



Expanse ... ... ... 6—C, 7—0 6—10 



Closed wing ... ... ... 1 — 10 1 — 11 



Tail from vent ... ... ... 0—9-75 0—10-25 0—9-75 



Do. from insertion of tail feathers ... — 9 — 10 



Wings short of end of tail ... ... 0—6-25 0—8-75 0—6 



Bill from gape ... ... ... 0—3-75 0—3-8 



Tarsus measured on inner side ... — 3-8 — 4-2 



Weight ... ... ... I7|-fts. 191bs. I7|fts. 



The occurrence of these birds so far to the southward must 

 be very rare and exceptional. As previously noticed the 

 fishermen of Sind, all of whom are fowlers by profession, and 

 of course thoroughly acquainted with every aquatic bird in the 

 country, had never seen swans before, and did not know what 

 they were, so the fact of two different flocks being seen by one 

 observer in the course of the same season is very remarkable. 

 Mr. Watson is, I believe, so far as is known, the first sportsman 

 who has ever killed an adult wild swan in India. 



f ur%.v gotes on ilje Staia of lite. 



The past winter has been an unusually severe one in Western 

 India, and in Sindh especially* has resulted in the appearance 

 of several very unexpected visitors, palsearctic forms not hither- 

 to recorded from this province. 



Amongst these are the Common Swan, (C. olor) in regard to 

 which Mr. Blanford has written fully, and of which one fine 

 adult specimen has been added to our Museum by the kindness 

 of Mr. H. E. Watson, of the Sindh Commission. 



Swans have long been known to be almost reo-ular cold weather 

 visitants to the extreme north-western portions of the Empire, 

 viz., to the Huzara and Peshawur districts, and a certain amount 

 of information as to their occurrence elsewhere and at other sea- 

 sons has accumulated, which it may be as well to put on record. 



The first Swan, of which we have any record, is one shot in 

 the valley of Nepal, in January 1829, and which, although the 

 specimen was destroyed by insects, has been with some confi- 

 dence assigned by Mr. Brooks and others to C. /eras. In re- 

 gard to this Mr. Hodgson notes on a copy of his Catalogue 

 which he sent me : — 



" The valley of Nepal is sub-tropical, and of course no habitat 

 for the Swan. The specimen I got was obtained in a winter 



* See Mr. Murray's paper, page 108. 



