1072 
DENDROCYGNA JAVANICA. 
llajmehal hills, Manbhum, Lohardugga, Sirguja, Sambalpur, Orissa, Nowagarh, and Karial ; abundant near 
Calcutta, and common in the rainy season near Furreedpore. In the North-west Provinces it also appears to 
be plentiful during the rains ; but at other seasons of the year it is, according to Mr. Hume, not so often 
seen. He speaks of it breeding in Mynpooree, Cawnpoor, Muttra, Allyghur, and Meerut. Further west it is 
not very common, being found in certain localities in Guzerat, Cutch, and Kattiawar; and in Sindh and 
Jodhpoor it is very rare, never having been found at the Sambhur Lake. 
As it is abundant in the Nicobars and is also found in J ava, it is doubtless an inhabitant of Sumatra. 
Habits . — This Whistling-Teal or Tree-Duck is essentially gregarious, rarely associating in flocks of less 
than a dozen ; and when not breeding congregates at times in large numbers. It frequents weedy, rushy 
tanks, and is partial to those which arc surrounded by forest. It is fond of spots which are overgrown with 
Lotus-leaves, no doubt finding an abundance of aquatic insects in such situations. I have generally found it 
moderately shy, not permitting a very near approach ; but when put on the wing it flies round and round the 
tank or swamp, often passing within shot, and uttering all the time its sibilant whistle until it realights. 
Although resorting to trees, on the outspreading branches of which they frequently perch in the breeding- 
season, they are seldom to be seen in such a position at other times of the year ; but I have seen them sitting 
on the dead horizontal branches of partially submerged trees, and on low rocks standing out from the water in 
the middle of the tank. They resort in the Western Province to the paddy-fields during harvest-time, and 
feed on rice, then affording good shooting, as their flight, though performed with quick beatings of the wings, 
is not swift, and they are easy birds to bring down. Although this species, like other members of its family, 
is to a certain extent granivorous, it also feeds on insects, many of which I have taken from its stomach mixed 
with a quantity of gravel. The young are fed on insect-diet, as Capt. G. Marshall speaks of a nest he found 
swarming with ants and maggots ; they are probably taken down to the water from the nest on the backs of 
their mothers, as is the case with other species. 
Niclification . — In the west of Ceylon the Whistling-Teal breeds from June until August; but in the 
northern forests its eggs have been taken in the early part of the year, after the cessation of the north-east 
monsoon rains. It sometimes builds on the ground among rushes or tussocks, and even in reeds, the nest 
half floating in water ; but it usually selects a hole in a tree, or the fork of two large trunks, and not unfre- 
quently the old deserted nest of a Crow, Kite, or Heron. Trees close to the water's edge are chosen to 
facilitate the taking of the young to it; sometimes the nest is lined with grass and feathers, but in other 
instances there is no lining whatever. The maximum number of eggs appears to be fourteen; sometimes ten 
and twelve complete a clutch. They arc pure white, without the gloss characteristic of the eggs of the last 
species, although their texture is smooth. They are broad ovals, slightly larger at one end than the other. 
A specimen before me, taken by Mr. H. Parker in the Uswewa district, measures L83 by I' ll inch. 
In India it lays from J une until the beginning of September ; many interesting notes are furnished in 
‘ Nests and Eggs ’ from Mr. Hume’s correspondents, among which I may cite Captain G. Marshall’s assertion 
of having shot a male of a pair, and finding the female provided with another mate on the following day. 
Again, Mr. Anderson speaks of a friend taking a clutch of twelve eggs from a nest in a date-palm on the 29th 
of June, and finding fourteen eggs in the same nest on the 13th of July; so that the female must have laid 
the first egg of the second batch the day after the removal of the first. Mr. Hume finds that the eggs vary 
from 1'72 to 2'0 inches in length, and from 1'4 to 1'6 in breadth. 
Note . — My correspondent Mr. Parker writes me of a large Goose which he has met with on some of the 
most secluded tanks in the North-western Province ; and Mr. F. Fisher informs me that he has also seen a 
Goose on the wing flying in flocks along the north-west coast. Mr. Parker describes the bird he has noticed 
as a dark grey, dark-backed Goose; and I am not aware what the species can be but the Grey-Lag Goose of 
Europe, which visits the north of India largely, straying in limited numbers towards the south. This Goose 
[A. cinerem ) measures about 30 inches in length, wing 17 to 18'5; bill fleshy red, with a pale tip; legs and 
feet fleshy red. Plumage very similar to that of the Domestic Grey Goose. 
