SETTAPTJS COROMANDELIANUS. 1067 



barred with black, chiefly on the concealed parts ; face faintly striated with brown, and a brown stripe from the 

 bill to the eye, continued a little from the posterior edge ; upper surface browner than in summer, particularly 

 as regards the scapulars, which have a bronzed lustre, but scarcely any green hue ; under tail-coverts white. 



Female. I have no examples of this sex in my collection, nor have I examined any in England, as the bird is not by 

 any means common in museums. The following is Jerdon's description : — " Duller and more brown, above faintly 

 glossed, the primaries want the white patch, the sides of the rump and upper tail-coverts are pale brown ; the 

 top of the head is dusky, and there is a dark stripe through the eyes ; the neck is mottled with dusky lines ; the 

 underparts are dirty white ; the flanks pale brown, and under tail-coverts whitish." 



Young covered with black down. 



Obs. Examples from Euttehgurh in my collection measure in the wing 6-5 to 6-7 inches ; tarsus 0-95 ; middle toe 

 (without claw) 1/5, bill to gape 1 - 1. These measurements correspond with those given by Mr. Cripps of 

 Furreedpore specimens, whose weight he records as 9'75 to 1087 oz. Other members of this interesting genus 

 are N. pulehellus, Gould, and N. albipennis, Gould, from Australia. The former, which is a beautiful species, 

 differs from our bird in having the head and nape brown, with a large white patch below the ear-coverts ; the 

 feathers of the fore neck and its sides are handsomely marked with black lunulations, which extend down the 

 flanks ; secondaries white, forming a bar across the wing. Wing of males 6-25 to 7 - inches. 



Distribution. — This pretty little bird is common on the tanks of the northern and eastern parts of the 

 island, breeding in many secluded spots, and moving about considerably during the rainy weather. To the 

 Western Province and south-west of the island it is apparently chiefly a N.E. monsoon migrant, as about 

 Christmas-time it is met with on Kotte and Ksesbawa lakes and other similar sheets of water. On the Bolgodde 

 Lake it is doubtless found throughout the year, and I have received it from Amblangoda in September. T 

 have seen it at nearly all the tanks I have visited in the Eastern Province, and northward from Kurimegala 

 to Trincomalie. In the North-western Province, and in the neighbourhood of Anaradhapura it is particularly 

 plentiful ; and at Kanthelai and Minery I have met with large flocks. In wet weather it may be found in 

 flooded lands even near the sea-shore. 



The " Cotton-Teal " is found all over the low-lying districts of India, except the Provinces of Sindli, 

 Jodhpur, and the surrounding region, although even in this part it is met with in Kattiawar and Northern 

 Guzerat. In the Deccan it is moderately common at both seasons of the year, is plentiful in all parts of 

 Chota Nagpore, and recorded from many places between the Mahanadi and the Ganges by Mr. Ball. In 

 Furreedpore it is abundant during the rains, breeding there, and some remaining in the cold season. In 

 the neighbourhood of Calcutta it is extraordinarily numerous, as many as 500 having been brought into the 

 market in one morning. In Pegu it is very common ; Captain Wardlaw Ramsay procured it at Tonghoo ; and 

 in the Province of Tenasserim it is confined to the central portions, while further north it has been observed in 

 the tracts west of the Sittang. It is met with further south in the Malay peninsula, as the Calcutta Museum 

 has been enriched by specimens from that region. It has likewise been found in Java. In the Andamans it 

 is uncommon, having only been procured as yet in the island of South Andaman, and rarely there. Eastward 

 of Burmah it is found in China in small numbers during the summer, and extends thence to the Philippines, 

 where it has been procured in Luzon. Returning to the Indian Empire, we find it breeding in the Jhansi 

 district. Then further west in the dry region of Rajpootana, as has been remarked, it is absent, reappearing 

 again in Kattiawar and Guzerat, in which districts it finds a home on rushy and weedy tanks. 



Habits. — The Green-backed Goose-Teal frequents tanks and jheels which are overgrown with weeds, and 

 flanked with reed-beds and sedge-growth, in preference to open water ; in such places, where it may be seen 

 in small flocks of six to ten, feeding at some distance apart, it generally affects the deep water at the edge 

 of the weedy tracts, swimming slowly along, and feeding on vegetable matter and larva?, which it takes from 

 the floating leaves ; it is loath to rise when approached, and will permit itself to be approached by a sportsman 

 wading into the water within gunshot. When fired at the flock generally flies round the tank once or twice, 

 and then realights, often among lotus-leaves, as if the birds knew that it was almost impossible to distinguish 

 them in such a position. Occasionally, however, when a bird is wounded, its fellows do not even rise if they 



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