Spatula clypeata, Lintig.
Vernacular Names.—[Tid ari, Punana Tolcurwalla m ¡ „ j „ j •> X T ,i t r,
KMlchen. Sankhar ? A^// Alipat, M ; Kachack-nol, Aleeput, Aíl-
Kanak-aurdak (Turki), Yarkand; h ' *'j
HAVE no record, as yet, of the occurrence of this
species anywhere in British Burma, or in the
Andamans or Nicobars, but it occurs elsewhere
throughout* the Empire from Ceylon to Kashmir
on the west, and Munipurf* and Sadiya in Assam,
on the east.
In Upper or Independent Burma Anderson found
it not uncommon in suitable localities, but, as already mentioned,
it has not yet been recorded from any portion of British Burma ;
we have not met with it in the Malay Peninsula, nor has it been
noticed in Siam. Northwards, it is common in winter in
Southern China, Formosa, and Japan, and breeds in Northern
China, Mongolia, South-East Siberia and Yarkand (where a
few remain all the winter)^ and Eastern Turkestan. It is
* Except perhaps Chittagong, where I am not certain of its occurrence. In
Dacca, Cachar, Sylhet. and Tipperah, it certainly does occur. Of course in the
vast area embraced by its range it is not everywhere equally common. Thus
throughout the west coast sub-ghat littoral, the Southern Konkan, the Malabar
Coast and Travancore, where there are no big rivers and very few pieces of water
inland, it is mostly very rare. So Mr. G. Vidal, writing from Katnagiri, says :—
" I have only once met with a small flock here, and that was in December 1878,
on a little inland river in the Dapuli Sub-division.
'* I have not seen it elsewhere in Ratnagiri I found this one bunch, exceptionally
confiding; after I had put them up, they flew backwards and forwards,
till six out of a total of eight had been bagged !"
Again it is decidedl Oudh than elsewhere.y more common in the Punjab, the North-West Provinces and
+ As to Munipur, the late Mr. Damant wrote to me :—
"This Duck I have only killed in Munipur, where it is tolerably common. It is
generally found on the edges of bhils in company with Common Teal and Gad wall,
and is rarely seen in deep water. I have never seen it in flocks, generally in pairs
and sometimes four or five together ; it is a good Duck for the table." (1)
X Dr. Scully writes :—
** Two specimens of the Shoveller, a female and a male, were preserved at
Kashgar in November and December. According to Yarkandi accounts very
few of these birds remain in the country daring the winter, the vast majority of
them migrating to India. They breed during the summer in the north of Kash