230 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



the nesting season. The birds appear to pair annually, 

 but I suspect many remain mated for life. The nest 

 is made upon the ground amongst coarse grass and 

 other vegetation, or under shrubs, or beneath the shelter 

 of a rock. It is composed of dry grass, withered 

 sedges and rushes, and dead leaves, lined as the eggs 

 are laid and incubation progresses with an abundance 

 of down from the body of the female. The bird sits 

 closely, but makes little or no demonstration when 

 flushed. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Pintail are from six to ten in number, 

 pale buffish-green in colour, smooth in texture, but with 

 little gloss. Average measurement, 2' 15 inches in length, 

 by i'5 inch in breadth. Incubation, performed by the 

 female, lasts from twenty-three to twenty-seven days. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Pintail 

 cannot always be distinguished' from those of the 

 Mallard, but the down from the nest is a tolerably safe 

 guide to their identification, being sooty-brown in 

 colour, distinctly tipped with white, but not so con- 

 spicuously as that of the Wigeon. 



Family ANATID^.. Genus Anas. 



Sub-family ANATINAl. 



W I G E O N. 



Anas penelope, Linnaus. 



Single Brooded. Laying season, May. 



British breeding area: The Wigeon, of course, is 

 best known as a winter migrant to the British Islands, 

 but a few breed in Ross-shire, Sutherland, Caithness, 



