222 On the Nidification of certain Indian Birds. 



Dendrocygna arcuata. 



Jerclon could never have found a full clutch of the eggs of 

 the Whistling Teal, or he would not have limited the number 

 to "^^six or eight" ('Birds of India/ vol. iii. p. 790). Ordi- 

 narily this Duck lays fully a dozen eggs ; but I am indebted 

 to my friend Mr. Fynes-Clinton for two clutches of tw^elve 

 and fourteen respectively, which he took from the same nest ; 

 whether these were laid by one or two l)irds must of course 

 remain an open question. 



On the 29tli June, 1872, Mr. Clinton flushed a bird fi-om 

 the top of a low date-palm [Phcenix dactylifera) , and found 

 the first-mentioned lot (twelve); on the 13th July he happened 

 to visit the same locality, and to his surprise found the second 

 clutch in exactly the same situation ; the Duck was on her 

 eggs. Now the dates are so coincident that, supposing these 

 twenty-six eggs to be the produce of two birds, the second 

 one must have laid her first egg the very day after the removal 

 of the first batch. 



As to situation, the choice may be mentioned in the fol- 

 lowing order: — first, depression at the fork of the lower 

 branches of large-limbed trees ; second, old nests, particularly 

 those belonging to Crows, Herons, &c. ; and, third, thorny 

 scrub or grass on the edge of swamps. 



The eggs measure l"9x 1'5 inch, and when fresh are of a 

 milky white colour ; the inside membrane is a delicate salmon- 

 j)ink tint. 



Nettapus coromandelianus. 



This species nests in holes of trees and old ruins, and 

 never, according to my experience, in old nests or on the 

 ground. 



I once had an opportunity of watching a pair in the act of 

 selecting their habitation. They invariably flew into the tree 

 together; and while the female used to enter the hole, to re- 

 connoitre, as it were, the male sat on a bough watching for 

 her exit. No sooner did she make her appearance than they 

 both flew away togetlier, giving utterance to a peculiar cack- 

 ling sound, which has been pronounced to be like the words 



