792 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



paler ; upper tail-coverts glossy green-black ; lesser and middle 

 wing-coverts white ; greater coverts green, glossed with purple ; 

 primaries black ; secondaries glossy green ; tertials bright fulvous ; 

 chin pale yellowish ; breast and lower parts orange fulvous, deepest 

 on the breast. 



Bill black ; irides dark brown ; legs black. Length 24 to 25 

 inches ; extent 44 ; wing 16 ; tail 7 ; bill at front If ; tarsus 2f ; 

 mid-toe 1\ ; weight 4 lt»s. 



The female is smaller, wants the black collar, and is more white 

 about the forehead, chin, and face. 



The Kuddy Shieldrake or Braminy Duck, as it is called in 

 India, is a well known winter visitant to all parts of the country. 

 It is generally seen, even at this season, in pairs or small parties, 

 frequenting alike rivers, brooks, jheels, and lakes. It walks well on 

 the ground and grazes in the young cornfields just like Geese ; it 

 also picks up seeds of grass, grain, &c. A writer in the Indian 

 Sporting Review for 1854 states, that " it is often found devouring 

 carrion on the banks of rivers, and is frequently seen banqueting in 

 company with Vultures, and associating with such other villainous 

 companions." This must be a very rare ocurrence; I have constantly, 

 when on the Ganges and other large rivers, been on the watch to 

 verify this observation, but as yet have never seen anything 

 approaching to such a habit, and I have moreover questioned 

 many sportsmen on the subject with a like result. Towards the 

 close of the cold weather, the Braminy Ducks assemble in numbers, 

 and on the Chilka lake I have seen thousands in one flock in April. 

 The call is peculiar and Goose-like, (like a clarionet, says Pallas) 

 sounding something like d-oung, and hence the name of Aangir, 

 which, according to Pallas, is given to this bird among the Mongols, 

 by whom it is held sacred. 



It is found over the greater part of Central Europe, being occa- 

 sionally even killed in Britain ; also in Northern Africa, and great 

 part of Asia, not extending however far north. It breeds across 

 the Himalayas on rocks near lakes, as observed by Hooker and 

 Adams respectively in Sikim and Ladakh ; also in holes of walls, 

 and occasionally in deserted holes in the ground. Salvin found it 

 breeding on almost inaccessible cliffs in Northern Africa far from 



