20 INDIAN* DUCKS. 



by Mr. Macuuillcii. ^vlu)^(' iirlirlo in llic ' J3onil)ay JournaP {in he. cit.) 

 I reproduce in full : — 



" Durinn; the inonth> of January, Fo1)ruary. and Marcli. 1900, i< was 

 extremely cold in ►Sind, and several swans were seen, of wliieli some were 

 shot and some were captured. 



"January 10th. — Nine swans were seen on the HuM) IvMver. aliout 

 15 miles from Karachi. Two were killed hy Mr. Jones, of the Indo- 

 European Tele^raj)!! Dei)artment, who says the l)ir(ls were very tame. 

 One was killed with a ritle, and one witli a sliol-oini : the reniainin;;- 

 seven birds did not appear to be nmch alarmed, ^ov ihey Hew some li\e 

 hundred yards down the stream and settled a<iain. 



*' Saturday, llkii January, I'.'OO. — Ei^lit swans tlew oxvy tlie lenni- 

 courts at Kotri, about out; hundred yards oil" and about thirty yards hi^h, 

 at about 5. .'50 r.Ji. JSeveral peo})le w<'re on the courts at the time; I 

 could clearly see what the birds were, and called out ' Swans." 



'"One of these birds came to ^rief uoainst the telegraph wires, which 

 here s[)an the Indus, and was captured Ijy Mr. C'umniino-, jthitelayer, who 

 says that the 1/ird was unable to rise off the <;'round, but ran at ;>reat speed 

 three or four times, one hundred yards at a ^o, Ijefore it was killed l)y his 

 coolies. The bird is stuffed (after a fashion) by the taxidei'inist of the 

 Karachi Museum. It is a youn^- Ijird of a sooty-white colour, and fairly 

 Ions buff-coloured crest at the back of its liead. 



" February litli. — Two swans — adult l)irds — w ere ca])turcd in ordinary 

 duck-uets, at Sita Uoad Station : one died soon after its ca])ture ; the 

 other bird I procured, and presented to the Karachi (iardens on the 

 6th Feb.ruary, 1901. This bird is still livin<.- (8tli June, 1901). 



"Some time early in February 1900, einht swans were seen at Boston 

 on the Beluchistan frontier — four of these birds were shot, three dead and 

 one winged ; this latter bird is ^till alive, I believe. Mr. Matthews, 

 platelayer, who shot them, says that it was bitterly cold at the time, and 

 the birds were fairly tame. 



" About the middle of March a swan was shot on the Munchar Lake 

 by Mr. Cross, of the I.C.S.. who says the bird was among a lot of duck, 

 and fairly easy of approach. 



" At the end of March ten swans were seen for three consecutive days 

 on the Laki Lake. On the third day Mr, Vivien, })latelayer, Hretl nine 

 shots at them before they tiew away. He used an ordinary 12-bore oun 

 and No. 1 shot. He says that the birds were about a hundred yards awa^' 

 on the water and that he could hear the shots rattle against them. 



