180 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XL 



first-mentioned months, and in Ceylon alone they alter their habits and 

 are said to breed in February and March. This last, however, is no 

 very well authenticated, and may be a mistake, for Legge says : " In 

 Ceylon this goose breeds, / understand " (the italics are mine) " in 

 February and March." 



The African form alluded to by Hume as S. africanus is not distinct 

 from our Indian S. melanovota, though it averages a little smaller, the 

 wing being about 13" or 14" in the male. 



Hume also refers to Sclater's plate of Sarcidiornis, and referring to the 

 yellow under-tail coverts therein depicted, says, that in all the Indian 

 specimens he has seen the tail coverts are always white. . As a matter 

 of fact, although the under-tail coverts in the plate should have been 

 white and not yellow, the bird shown in the plate is not our Nukhta at 

 all, but S. carunculata, a much smaller species found in Brazil, Para- 

 guay, and North Argentina. 



This and the other ducks belonging to this sub-family are amongst 

 those requiring a close time, as all of them are residents or mere 

 local migrants. This close time might extend from the 1st June to 

 the 1st December. Tickell says that by October most of the young are 

 on the wing, but in some parts of India this is at least a month top 

 early; and I do not think the 1st December is too late a date for 

 recommencing their slaughter. 



Genus ASARCORNIS. 



This genus is one specially created by Salvadori for the White- 

 winged Wood Duck which previously had been placed either with 

 Sarcidiornis, Casarca, Anas or Tadorna. It seems to be allied most 

 nearly to the first-mentioned of these genera, differing in possessing 

 no comb or spur, and in having a flatter and larger bill. There is no 

 other member of the genus. 



Hume in a footnote to " Game Birds," p. 147, gives his reason for 

 rejecting the name A. scutulata which is that Blyth considered Miiller's 

 birds to be of a different species to the wild one found in India and 

 Burma. Salvadori,. however, who has had more material to work on 

 than was available to, Hume at ;the time he wrote, seems to consider that 

 A. scutulata does apply to our bird, and that the domesticated, or 

 confined bird, is", inclined to albinoism. Under the circumstances,. I 

 think it is better to follow Salvadori and accept Miiller's name. 



