134 NILS GYLDENSTOLPE, ZOOI,OGICAL RESULTS OF THE SWEDISH ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITIONS TO SIAM. 



Fam. Aiiatidie. 



278. Sarcidiornis melanolota. Penn. — The Comb Duck. 



I never myself met with this beautiful Duck in wild state. It is, however, as stated 

 by the natives, quite common in several parts of Northern Siarn. The old Laos Prince 

 of Chieng Mai had a few specimens in one of his gardens together with some other kind 

 of water-birds. 



These specimens were said to have been caught somewhere in Upper Siarn, pro- 

 bably at the neighbourhood of Muang Pra Yao, a small town in Northeastern Siarn. The 

 vicinity of Pra Yao is stated by the natives to be an excellent hunting-ground for every 

 kind of water birds. 



279. Asarcornis leucoptera. Blyth. The White-winged Wood-Duck. 



Åsarcornis scutulatus: Barton p. 109. 



AsHicomis leucoptera: Robinson & Kloss p. 19; Robinson I p. 89. 



J 1 Hat Sanuk 28 /i 1915. L = 790 mm.; W = 347 mm.; T = 163 mm.; C ,= 64 mm. — $ Hue Sai 

 I6 /i 1915. L = 720 mm.; W = 326 mm.; T = 165 mm.; C = 61 mm. — Irides: reddish brown (J 1 ); yellow ($). 

 Bill: brownish yellow (J*); yellowish red ($). Legs: brownish yellow (J 1 ); brownish yellow ($). 



During my journey I only met with the White-winged Wood-Duck in the Siamese 

 Malaya. A pair was then seen at the upper course of a small creek called Hue Sai. This 

 creek is situated on about Lat. N. 11° 50 r and has its source somewhere in the mountains 

 on the boundary between Tenasserim and Siarn. At this creek the banks of which were 

 densely covered by evergreen jungles, I observed the birds several times before I suc- 

 ceeded in shooting the female. 



Early in the morning the Ducks were flying along the creek uttering a faint quaking 

 sound. They probably did not feed in the river, but retired to some of the numerous 

 small ponds or »Nongs» — as they are called in Siamese — which were plentiful along 

 the river. 



At Hat Sanuk, another small creek a little further north than Hue Sai, I also came 

 across two pairs, and here a fine male was shot on the 28th of January 1915. 



The plumage of the two specimens in my collection is fairly similar, but the male 

 is distinguished by its much greater size. The female totally lacks the black collar on 

 the breast which, however, is of a deeper chestnut colour than the lower surface. 



In the male the brown feathers of the underparts of the body are broadly tipped 

 with chestnut brown which latter colour prevails, and the brown colour is then only visible 

 when the plumage is disarranged; the vent and under tail-coverts are dark olive brown 

 and the blackish collar round the foreneck and breast is well-marked and glossed with 

 metallic green. 



