1072 DENDKOCYGNA JAVANICA. 



Rajmehal hills, Manbhum, Lohardugga, Sirguja, Sambalpur, Orissa, Nowagarh, and Karial ; abundant near 

 Calcutta, and common in the rainy season near Furreedpore. In the North-west Provinces it also appears to 

 be plentiful during the rains ; but at other seasons of the year it is, according to Mr. Hume, not so often 

 seen. He speaks of it breeding in Mynpooree, Cawnpoor, Muttra, Allyghur, and Meerut. Further west it is 

 not very common, being found in certain localities in Guzerat, Cutch, and Kattiawar ; and in Sindh and 

 Jodhpoor it is very rare, never having been found at the Sambhur Lake. . 



As it is abundant in the Nicobars and is also found in Java, it is doubtless an inhabitant of Sumatra. 



Habits. — This Whistling-Teal or Tree-Duck is essentially gregarious, rarely associating in flocks of less 

 than a dozen ; and when not breeding congregates at times in large numbers. It frequents weedy, rushy 

 tanks, and is partial to those which are surrounded by forest. It is fond of spots which are overgrown with 

 Lotus-leaves, no doubt finding an abundance of aquatic insects in such situations. I have generally found it 

 moderately shy, not permitting a very near approach ; but when put on the wing it flies round and round the 

 tank or swamp, often passing within shot, and uttering all the time its sibilant whistle until it realights. 

 Although resorting to trees, on the outspreading branches of which they frequently perch in the breeding- 

 season, they are seldom to be seen in such a position at other times of the year ; but I have seen them sitting 

 on the dead horizontal branches of partially submerged trees, and on low rocks standing out from the water in 

 the middle of the tank. They resort in the Western Province to the paddy-fields during harvest-time, and 

 feed on rice, then affording good shooting, as their flight, though performed with quick beatings of the wings, 

 is not swift, and they are easy birds to bring down. Although this species, like other members of its family, 

 is to a certain extent granivorous, it also feeds on insects, many of which I have taken from its stomach mixed 

 with a quantity of gravel. The young are fed on insect-diet, as Capt. G. Marshall speaks of a nest he found 

 >warming with ants and maggots ; they are probably taken down to the water from the nest on the backs of 

 their mothers, as is the case with other species. 



Nidification. — In the west of Ceylon the Whistling-Teal breeds from June until August ; but in the 

 northern forests its eggs have been taken in the early part of the year, after the cessation of the north-east 

 monsoon rains. It sometimes builds on the ground among rushes or tussocks, and even in reeds, the nest 

 half floating in water; but it usually selects a hole in a tree, or the fork of two large trunks, and not unfre- 

 quently the old deserted nest of a Crow, Kite, or Heron. Trees close to the water's edge are chosen to 

 facilitate the taking of the young to it ; sometimes the nest is lined with grass and feathers, but in other 

 instances there is no lining whatever. The maximum number of eggs appears to be fourteen; sometimes ten 

 and twelve complete a clutch. They are pure white, without the gloss characteristic of the eggs of the last 

 species, although their texture is smooth. They are broad ovals, slightly larger at one end than the other. 

 .V specimen before me, taken by Mr. H. Parker in the Uswewa district, measures 1"83 by 1"41 inch. 



In India it lays from June until the beginning of September ; many interesting notes are furnished in 

 ' Nests and Eggs ' from Mr. Hume's correspondents, among which I may cite Captain G. Marshall's assertion 

 of having shot a male of a pair, and finding the female provided with another mate on the following day. 

 Again, Mr. Anderson speaks of a friend taking a clutch of twelve eggs from a nest in a date-palm on the 29th 

 of June, and finding fourteen eggs in the same nest on the 13th of July; so that the female must have laid 

 the first c>ig of the second batch the day after the removal of the first. Mr. Hume finds that the eggs vary 

 from 172 to 2 - inches in length, and from 1*4 to 1*6 in breadth. 



Note. — My correspondent Mr. Parker writes me of a large Goose which he has met with on some of the 

 most secluded tanks in the North-western Province ; and Mr. F. Fisher informs me that he has also seen a 

 Goose on the wing flying in flocks along the north-west coast. Mr. Parker describes the bird he has noticed 

 as a dark grey, dark-backed Goose; and I am not aware what the species can be but the Grey-Lag Goose of 

 Europe, which visits the north of India largely, straying in limited numbers towards the south. This Goose 

 {A. cinereus) measures about 30 inches in length, wing 17 to 18'5 ; bill fleshy red, with a pale tip; legs and 

 feet fleshy red. Plumage very similar to that of the Domestic Grey Goose. 



