AVES. 133 



Subfamily MERGING, 

 Genus MERGUS. 



305. Mergus merganser. 



Mergus merganser, Severtz. Turkest. Jevotn. p. 70 (1873); Dresser, Ibis, 1876, p. 421; Prjev. in 



Rowley's Orn. Misc. iii. p. 107 (1878). 

 Mergus castor, Hume & Henders. Lahore to Yark. p. 297 (1873) ; Scully, Str. F. iv. p. 202 (1876) ; 



Bidd. Ibis, 1881, p. 101. 



No. 721, $ ad. Tanksi, September 16, 1873. 

 No. 831, s juv. Upper Karakash, October 1873. 



No. 1590, s ad. Lake Sirikul, May 1, 1874.— Length 25 inches, wing 11-8, tail 5*2, 



tarsus 2; expanse 38; bill from gape 2*8, from front 2; middle toe 2'9, hind toe 



0-75. Iris dark brown ; bill black, red at upper sides and base ; feet coral-red. 



In his ' Diary ' Dr. Stoliczka refers to the occurrence of the present species in the Pamir, 



where he saw a good number in Lake Sirikul. It is probably one of the species said to breed 



round the lake. 



A young, half-fledged Merganser was caught in the Indus near Leh, in July, by 

 Dr. Henderson on his up journey. 



Colonel Biddulph shot a female specimen at Cuchot on the Indus Eiver in September 

 1872, and states that he saw the bird at Tashkiirghan in Sarikol, where one of the feeders 

 of the Yarkand Hiver broadens out into a wide shallow. 



Dr. Scully writes :—'' A specimen of this Merganser was preserved at Kashghar on the 

 30th of October, and it was tolerably common on the rivers near Kashghar during the 

 months of November and December. The natives said that it fed entirely on fish and water- 

 insects, and that it migrated eastward to the lake region of Lob. Its Turki name is 'Ala 

 gJiaz aurdah' i. e. the Variegated Goose-Duck." 



Genus MERGELLUS. 



306. Mergellus albellus. 



Mergus albellus, Severtz. Turkest. Jevotn. p. 70 (1873) ; Dresser, Ibis, 1876, p. 421 ; Blanf. East. Persia, 

 ii. p. 303 (1876); Prjev. in Rowley's Orn. Misc. iii. p. 108 (1878); Severtz. Ibis, 1883, p. 7q\ 

 Scully, J. A. S. Beng. Ivi. p. 89 (1887). 



Mergellus albellus, Scully, Str. F. iv. p. 202 (1876) ; Hume & Marsh. Game Birds of India, iii. p. 293, 

 pi. 39 (1880) ; C. Swinh. Ibis, 1882, p. 125 ; Sharpe, Trans. Linn. Soc. (2) Zool. v. p. 92 (1889). 



No. 1177, $ . Kashghar, December 24, 1873. 



Stated in Dr. Stoliczka's diary to have been caught with a Hawk. Dr. Scully writes : 



"The Smew was occasionally seen near Yarkand in the winter, but only one specimen, 

 a female, was obtained in February, near the Yarkand River, which was then completely 

 frozen over." 



