SARCIDIORNIS MELANONOTA. 31 



in February and March. This last, however, is uot very well authenticated, 

 and may be a mistake, for Legge says : " In Ceylon this (tooso breeds — 

 / iDiderstaiid [the italics are mine] — in February and Marcli/^ 



The African form alluded to by Hume as *S'. afnauuis is not distinct 

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

 wing being about lo or 14 inches in the male. 



Hume also refers to Sclater^< })late of Sarcidiornis, and, referring to the 

 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 jjlate is not our Nukhta at all, but 

 S. caruncidata, a much smaller species, found in Brazil, Paraguay, and 

 North Argentina. 



This and other ducks belonging to this subfamily 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 sa3'S that by October most of the young are on the wing, but in 

 some parts of India this is at least a month too early ; and I do not 

 think that the 1st December is too late a date for connnencing their 

 slaughter. 



