IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. 307 



eat more whenever they have an opportunity, quarter to half a seer of 

 fish each daily is enough for cormorants and snake-birds; it is incredible 

 what large sized fish they are capable of swallowing ; snake-birds have 

 been noticed to eat fish over four inches broad. At the scale of feeding 

 indicated above, each bird costs from Es. 3 to Es. 4 per month. When 

 they have facilities for fishing for themselves, no fish need be supplied 

 to the pelicans, but some beef meat (f to 1 seer) should be allowed ; 

 they are greedy birds and soon clear a tank of its fish. The kinds of 

 fish mostly used for feeding animals are coi (Anabas scandens, Bald) 

 and singhee (Saccobranchus fossilis, Block.) The food of swans, ducks 

 and geese consists of grains, vegetables, and grass, supplemented a good 

 deal by aquatic insects, worms, larvae, &c. Of grains, paddy and bran 

 are chiefly used here, but Indian-corn, bajra, and rice may be substi- 

 tuted for or mixed with them. None should, however, be given dry, but 

 moistened with water. Swans and some of the ducks and geese graze 

 much, audibly tearing the grass with their sharp beak, and an extensive 

 grassy bank is therefore of great advantage. They are all more or less 

 fond of tender shoots of aquatic plants, and soon clear a pond of its 

 herbage, and hence it is difficult to grow anything in a small covered 

 enclosure : toka pam (Pistia stratiotes), baskets full of which are now 

 and then supplied, is greedily devoured. Wherever practicable, halmi 

 (Convolvulus reptens) and other aquatic plants should be grown. The 

 swans, ducks and geese may constantly be seen dabbling about near the 

 bank and in shallow water in search of live food, such as worms, larvae of 

 aquatic insects, and fresh-water crustaceans. It is asserted that swans 

 never feed on animal food. This does not appear to be absolutely correct. 

 Their staple food, no doubt, consists of vegetables and grains, but it has 

 been observed that they do not despise crustacean diet. 



Transport. — For the transport of exclusively fish-eating birds, such 

 as cormorants and snake-birds, over long distances, somewhat similar 

 provision for fish should be made as recommended under the otter 

 (page 91) ; fresh fish may also be bought at several ports of call. Some 

 cormorants become readily accustomed to eat mince meat if combined 

 with fish : for the swans, geese, and ducks a quantity of grit should 

 be provided. 



Breeding. — A pair of spotted-bill ducks bred in the latter end of 

 1885 ; no nest was made, but the eggs laid on a thick bed of down in 

 one of the retiring boxes overhanging water. Swans would breed in 

 this climate if suitably lodged ; one of those living in the Eoyal Bota- 

 nical Grardens, Sibpur, near Calcutta, laid four eggs in May 1890, all 

 of which were unfortunately broken. The chief impediments to swans 

 breeding are the presence of other birds, some of which are destructive 

 to eggs ; the necessity of driving them in every night for safety, causing 

 a certain amount of disturbance among them ; and want of seclusion. 



Treatment in sickness. 



Thread worms, such as those commonly met with in fish, have been 

 found in the stomach and intestines of a large cormorant. Livagination 

 of the intestines has been known to cause the death of a snake-bird. 

 Fungoid growths in the gullets of several species of ducks have been met 

 with. These cases chiefly occurred when they were kept in an artificial 



u 2 



