174 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. Xl 



I can ascertain, it is undoubtedly a rare visitor ; still it is found there 

 and is not as rare as Hume deemed it to be. On its occurrence in the 

 Trans-Sutlej the following notes occur in " Stray Feathers " (Vol. X, No. 5, 

 p. 430): — " Although it (the Comb Duck) certainly is nowhere common 

 in this region, I know of its having been shot on more than one occasion 

 in the Lahore district, in the Gurdaspur district, and, again, further 

 south in the Baree Doab, but only in the rainy season and always in the 

 immediate vicinity of the canals. 



" I heard of a nest being taken as far south as the Changa Manga 

 Plantation, but I am not sure of the fact. I have never heard of or 

 seen the bird west of Baree, but throughout the canal-irrigated portion 

 of the Baree Doab, the whole tract between the Beas and the Sutlej 

 and the Baree it certainly does occur, though very sparingly, during 

 the rainy season." 



After this note, which is by G. Trevor, flume goes on to quote the 

 Asian on the subject, and part of this letter I again produce : — 



u I am happy to state that it not only occurs but that it breeds in 

 the Punjaub, Trans-Sutlej. A friend of mine, an Engineer on the 

 Baree Doab Canal, sent me a female Sarcidiornis for identification from 

 Bhambe, in the Lahore district. On opening the bird I found a perfectly- 

 formed egg ready to be laid, and from other investigations it seemed 

 clear that there was a nest in the vicinity. During the rains the 

 neighbourhood of Bhambe in one direction is fairly under water, and 

 canna brakes are very common, with patches of water between, and 

 dotted here and there with large trees, just the place for the Nukhta. 

 It was at one such place that my friend saw the pair often, and on 

 the day he shot the female had fired one or two shots unsuccessfully 

 at her or the male, but was rather surprised at the way in which 

 both returned — wheeling round and round without going away for any 

 distance. As soon as the female was shot, the male went further off, 

 and did not afford another shot ; but the whole circumstance goes far 

 to prove that there must have been a nest at hand." 



In Cachar it is by no means very rare. I have seen it in Sylhet and 

 again have had notice of its occurrence sent me from the North Looshai 

 Hills. As regards the Sunderbuns, Jessore was the district in which I 

 first made the acquaintance of this species, a distant acquaintance only, 

 it is true, but in the next district (Khoolna), we came into closer contact 



