NESTING IN WESTERN INDIA. 289 



little at one end ; in colour they are pure white when fresh, but 

 become sullied after they have been a few days in the nest. 



Thoy arc 1 very different in texture to eggs of the Cotton Teal and 

 Xuktah ; they vary a good deal in size, but the average of a large 

 number was 1*86 in length by rather more than 1*5 in breadth. 



Deesa {Milana) t Jul// and August. II. E. Barnes. 



Hyderabad (Sind), Do. Do. 



Necmucli, Do. Do. 



953.— THE LARGE WHISTLING TEAL. 



Deiidroajgna fulra, Gmel. 



The large Whistling Teal occurs in Sind, and is stated to be very 

 rare in the Deccan The only eggs I have seen were sent to me from 

 Maldah. Although I have been twice stationed at Saugor, from 

 whence the only eggs Mr. Hume ever received were obtained, yet I 

 never once met with the bird, and I kept a good look out for it, more 

 especially during the rains. At Hyderabad, Sind, I found a nest in 

 a babool tree in the very centre of a deep and rather large jheel. 

 I could see the bird sitting on the nest. I waded in as near as I could, 

 but was too far away to hit the bird, although I fired to make her 

 show herself, and then I felt certain that I had at last seen the long- 

 sought-for Large Whistling Teal. The next day I turned up with 

 a large plank, which I used as a raft, and sitting astride with one 

 leg dangling on each side, I paddled off to the tree, but the bird was 

 gone, so were the eggs, and the nest was pulled to pieces. My shikari 

 told me afterwards that a sepoy of the Beluchi Regiment, hearing 

 my shot, came to see what I had been firing at, and spotted the bird 

 and nest, and so I lost them. I discovered afterwards that the tree 

 could be easily approached from the opposite side. I have always 

 had a private opinion that my shikari took a much more active part 

 in the matter (even if he was not the principal actor) than he chose 

 to admit. 



The eggs in my collection are not larger than large eggs of the 

 Lesser Whistling Teal, and I am doubtful about their authenticity. 

 They measure 1*9 inches in length by 1*6 in breadth. 



