NESTING IN WESTERN INDIA. 287 



At the breeding season the fleshy knob on the bill of the drake 

 becomes greatly enlarged, and it is to this that it owes its vernacular 

 name [Nuktah), and also the name of " Comb Duck," by which it is 

 known to most sportsmen. 



They breed during the rains ; the nest being generally placed 

 in a large hole in a tree, occasionally in a hollow formed by two or 

 three large branches where they spring from the trunk, and according 

 to Jerdon, more rarely amongst the sedges and rushes on the borders 

 of a jheel. 



Personally I have never met with a nest in the latter situation. 



The nest is composed mainly of sticks well lined with grass, leaves, 

 and feathers, occasionally they are said to make use of old nests pre- 

 viously occupied by an eagle or large owl. 



The eggs, from seven to twelve in number, are regular ovals in 

 shape, slightly pointed at one end. The shell is smooth and compact 

 in texture, and when fresh resembles polished ivory, but they soon 

 become soiled. They measure about 2*3 inches in length by about 1*7 

 inches in breadth, but are subject to much variation in size, eggs of 

 the same clutch even differing. Mr. Hume records finding a nest 

 containing forty eggs, and was inclined to believe that they were 

 the produce of a single bird. 



I found two nests in the middle of the rains, both in holes in trees, 

 one contained two eggs, the other was not quite finished. On visiting 

 the place a fortnight later, I found to my disgust that a party of 

 Brinjaries had only the day before snared the parent birds and had 

 ate them and the eggs. They said that the nests contained eleven 

 and nine eggs respectively. 



Neemuch, August. S. E. Barnes. 



Barocla, August (eggs). October (young). H. Littledale, BA. 



951.— THE COTTON TEAL. 



Nettopus coromandelianus, Gmel. 



The distribution of the Cotton Teal in Western India is very 

 irregular. It is a common permanent resident in all the large tanks 

 in the vicinity of Neemuch. Has been found breeding in a small 

 tank near Baroda. Occurs in one or two of the rush -covered jheels 

 between Ahmedabad and Deesa. It is not uncommon in some parts 



