RED-CRESTED POCHARD 105 



breeds in Tangiers. But in Algeria it has been found as far south as Wed Rhir and El Aghouat 

 (Tristram, 1860), and it is known to breed on LakeZana (Salvin, 1859) and quite com- North 

 monly on Lake Fetzara (Zedlitz, 1914). I have no doubt that some nest in Tunis also, Africa 

 where, according to J. I. S. Whitaker (1905) it is not uncommon in winter and spring. In Egypt it is 

 undoubtedly a rare bird, though not so rare as was formerly supposed. Von Heuglin (1873) claims to 

 have seen it in Upper Egypt in winter, and A. E. Brehm (1854) says that he saw it on Lake Menzaleh. 

 Nicoll (1919), after finding specimens on the last-named lake, as well as at Giza, Wadi Natron and in 

 the Delta, concludes that it is probably an annual winter visitor to both Upper and Lower Egypt. 

 There are no records of specimens occurring in Palestine or Syria, but Bucknill (1911) Asia 

 speaks of large flocks seen in Cyprus from December, 1909, to February, 1910. The Minor 

 species is not known to occur in Asia Minor or the Euphrates countries, though Hume and Marshall 

 (1879) say that specimens have been sent from near Bagdad. 



In the Caucasus the Red-crested Pochard is a resident and breeding bird on Lake Gokcha, while at 

 Baku and Lenkoran it is common in winter; in the interior a few sometimes winter about Tiflis 

 (Radde, 1884). The species winters on the southwestern Caspian too (Radde, 1886) _ 

 and evidently also in northern Persia (Sharpe, 1889) and southern Transcaspia (Stolz- 

 mann, 1893) as well as along the Persian Gulf (Zarudny, 1911). Throughout Persia it Central 

 breeds in suitable localities (Zarudny, 1911; Blanford, 1876) and the same holds for 

 Transcaspia, where it is abundant during the nesting season (Loudon, 1910; Zarudny, 1889-90). 

 Farther north the breeding range includes the western Kirgis steppe, rarely east of the Aral Sea 

 (Nazarow, 1887; Suschkin, 1900, 1914), but the whole of Russian Turkestan (Lansdell, 1885; Menz- 

 bier, 1888). Stolzmann (1897) has recorded it from Ferghana and there are specimens from the Tian- 

 shan (Schalow, 1908; British Museum). Northward it has been found on the Ala-kul early in May 

 (Finsch, 1877), near Akmolinsk in June (Bianchi, 1902) and once, in April, 1911, near Tara, Tobolsk 

 Government (Ushakov, 1913). It seems to be a regular breeder on the upper Irtysch (Poliakov, 

 1916), and on the lower Di it is said to be the commonest duck in the breeding season (Smallbones, 

 1906). 



The eastern limit of its range is not well defined. It nests in Kashgaria and Yarkand (Koslow, 

 1899; Oustalet, 1894) and specimens have been taken in October at Tikellik on the Tarim (Oustalet, 

 1894), in the Gobi in May (1901) and during migration on the Lob-nor (Bonvalot, 1892; Koslow, 

 1899). Great numbers even winter as far north as the Issyk-kul (Smallbones, 1906) and on the 

 Bagrash-kul (Koslow, 1899). In Tibet, however, it is a rare bird, and Capt. F. M. Bailey (1911) 

 reports only two seen in four years at Gyantse. 



Probably the chief winter resort is in India and neighboring regions. In Afghanistan and Baluchi- 

 stan it is fairly common (C. H. T. Whitehead, 1909; Meinertzhagen, 1920; Baker, 1921) and in 

 India proper it is a very common bird, at least in the north. Ward (fide C. H. T. White- _ , . 

 head, 1909) says it is common in Kashmir in February, while in India it is common in 

 the Northwest Provinces, the Punjab, Sind, Rajputana, Oudh, central India and the northern part 

 of the Central Provinces as well as in most of Bengal. Eastward, in Assam, it becomes somewhat 

 less abundant, but is by no means rare, extending as far as Sadiya. In Cutch, Kathiawar, and 

 throughout the Deccan it is very rare if it occurs at all. It occasionally visits Kullu, Kumaon, and 

 Nepal, and has been procured in small numbers from Manipur (Hume and Marshall, 1879; Baker, 

 1921). Layard's belief that he observed it in Ceylon probably rests on error (Wait, 1917). Farther 

 east it has been taken near Bhamo (Blyth, 1875), and in other parts of Burma (Baker, 1921), though 

 in the South Shan States it is not common (Rippon, 1901). For China proper there _. . 

 are only a few records : one taken on November 22 near Kiating, western Szechwan 

 (Thayer and Bangs, 1912) and that of another collected near Foochow in December, 1915 (La 

 Touche, 1917), and two at Shasi market, Hupeh, in winter (La Touche, 1922). Ghidini's (1911) re- 

 port that this and other species of ducks were shipped in hundreds to European markets from the 



