THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



187 



NOTES ON A FEW INDIAN GAME BIRDS. 



By F. E. PRESCOTT-DECIE. 



THE MALLARD, 



ANAS BOSCHAS, LINN/EUS. 



The Mallard, so well known to us in England, is not a very com- 

 mon duck in India ; in the North West, however, and particularly in 

 Upper Scinde it is tolerably plentiful. It was by no means common in 

 Gujerat, and I do not think I saw more than half a dozen or so 

 bronght to bag altogether. I have no record of any having been 

 killed at Hersole or at Sabli Road, but we got two or three at Katwara 

 and a couple more near Gorah, a village about half way between 

 Viramgam and the Null. I only saw one flock of Mallard and that 

 was on a jheel about six miles from Sharpur which is on the North 

 end of the Null. It was quite a small pond with no reeds or grass 

 growing anywhere near it, but it was a long way from a village, and 

 indeed some distance from any cultivation, so it was very quiet, and 

 was, I suppose, frequented by the ducks on that account. At all events 

 there were some twenty of the present species and perhaps twice as 

 many Pintail on it. 



The Mallard is quite as good eating in India as it is in this country. 



THE GREY DUCK, 



ANAS PCECILORHYNCHA, PENNANT. 



Description — Head above and nape, dark brown ; a dark line from 

 the base of the bill through the eye ending in a point ; face, neck and 

 breast, dingy fulvous with small dull brown streaks, the streaks be- 

 coming larger on the breast ; upper part of the back, dark dingy 

 brown ; rump, black ; tail, dark brown ; greater wing-coverts, white 

 edged with black and white ; bill, blackish with a red lump at the 

 base, and the tip bright yellow ; legs and feet, orange-yellow. A 

 slightly larger and somewhat heavier built bird than the Mallard. 



The female resembles the male but is slightly, very slightly, 

 smaller. 



The Grey or Spotted-billed duck is a permanent resident in India, 

 and is found throughout the whole of the country. It is also found 

 in Ceylon and Burmah, and, I believe, in parts of China. I did not find 

 it very plentiful in Gujerat, but wherever there were suitable places 

 it was to be seen in moderate numbers. Secluded j heels with plenty 



