1890.] 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



149 



1 Cullum ' is wrongly applied by many sporting writers, and which is 

 one of the best birds in India for the table. The name ' Cullum ' is a 

 corruption of the Hindostanee Kulung, which is only applied to the 

 Common Crane by the best shikarees, the Demoiselle Crane being 

 called ' Karrouch ' or more commonly ' Karkarra.' 



I saw another species of Crane in great numbers round Ahmedabad, 

 viz.: the Sarus Crane, Gms Antigone, Linnaeus. This splendid bird 

 is far commoner in Gujerat than the Kulung, but it is looked upon as 

 sacred by the Hindoos, and is consequently not regarded as game. 



THE COTTON TEAL. 



Nettapus Coromandelianus, Gmelin. 



The Cotton Teal, or as it is called by Dr. Jerdon and some other 

 writers, the White-bodied Goose Teal, is not a true Teal, but is rather 

 a dwarf Goose. Gray, indeed places this and two or three kindred 

 species among the Anserinas. Dr. Jerdon, however, makes the 

 Nettapodinae a sub-family of the Anseridae. 



Description. — Top of the head, glossy black ; back and wings, 

 steely blue with here and there green reflections ; tail, blackish brown ; 

 a white patch on the wings ; face, back of the head, neck and under 

 parts, pure white ; a black collar round the lower part of the neck ; 

 upper tail coverts, cinereous brown with pale mottlings ; under tail 

 coverts, mottled, dusky and white ; bill, black ; legs, pale yellow. 



The female I had no opportunity of examining, but the following 

 description is from Dr. Jerdon's work. " The female is 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 under parts are 

 " dirty white, the flanks, pale brown, and under tail coverts, whitish." 



The Cotton Teal is found over the whole of India, Ceylon, Burmah, 

 and Malayana. In some parts of the country it is very common, but 

 it is not very frequent in the North-Western Provinces. It would 

 seem somewhat rare in Gujerat, for I only shot two and am not aware 

 that I saw any others. The first one was shot on a tank near Hersole. 

 It remained swimming about on the tank after I had shot several 

 couple of ducks there, and every other bird had gone. It seemed 



