MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1335 



dock works. In 1909 a similar specimen, also captured in the harbour 

 was presented by Mr. Jackson and there is another specimen in the 

 Society's collection labelled " Bombay Coast, 25-7-02". Mr. W. F. Sinclair 

 writing of this bird in an early number of the Society's Journal says that 

 '' It is not uncommon for these birds to be brought up here ( Alibag ) by 

 south-westerly gales and be caught by hand." 



According to the catalogue of birds in the British Museum this bird is 

 found in the tropical seas throughout the world, but when the catalogue 

 was published there were in the collection only two skins from north of the 

 equator, one from Tenasserim and the other from the Mekran Coast. In 

 the Handlist of birds, however, the distribution is given as " S. Tropical 

 Seas." 



N. B. KINNEAR. 

 Bombay, August 1912. 



No. XXI.— BAIKAL OR CLUCKING TEAL {NETTIUM FORMOSUM). 



The S. S. " Empire " of the Eastern & Australian Line on her homeward 

 voyage from Japan to Australia in January 1912 had on board a consignment 

 of about 300 Baikal or Clucking Teal in cages. The cages were kept on 

 the bridge deck out of the way of the passengers, where they could not be 

 seen. The passengers in the smoking saloon of the upper deck were always 

 aware of the continual clucking noise that the teal made. The noise was 

 very similar to that made by a clucking hen. In fact all the passengers 

 were under the impression that the Captain, for some reason known 

 only to himself, had a large stock of clucking hens on the bridge deck. One 

 passenger, who was told that the noise proceeded from ducks, would not 

 believe till he saw and heard with his own eyes and ears. The purser was 

 unable to give any information beyond the fact that the teal had been 

 shipped in Shanghai and were consigned to Port Darwin, and that a similar 

 consignment was carried on every voyage. 



A. B. AITKEN. 



QuBTTA, 20a August 1912. 



No. XXII.— IS LYCODON GAMMIEI ( Blandford ) AN 

 ABERRANT SPECIMEN OF LYCODON FASCIATUS (Anderson)? 



In Vol. XXI of the Journal ( Part 1, page 279 ) Major Wall compared 

 my specimen of L. fasciatus obtained in the Eastern Himalayas with the 

 type of X. gammiei which is in the Indian Museum. 



Regarding the point of the loreal shield, I must admit that it is pointed, 

 to some extent, posteriorly and not anteriorly as stated, the third labial 

 and the prseocular intervening between it and the eye. 



