ANAS PLATtRHTNCHA 155 



with weeds and grasses to screen them fruui observation. This is, 

 however, probably the exception, and not the rule. I have seen eggs 

 so covered, but far more often I have found them without any 

 additional covering at all. If hurried, the bird has not the time, of 

 course, to collect the necessary material, but even when leaving the 

 nest deliberately, and not disturbed in anyway, I think she generally 

 leaves her eggs as they lie. 



They lay from six to twelve eggs, the natives say sixteen. I 

 have never seen more than eleven, and Hume, who through his 

 collectors must have had records of many hundreds of nests, never 

 knew of more than eleven, so that anything above this number would 

 appear to be abnormal. 



In colour, the eggs when first laid are of various tints, ranging 

 from a very pale greyish-green to olive-grey and cafe-au-lait. As 

 incubation proceeds, the colour continues to deepen, and the green 

 tinge, which is the most prevalent colour in the fresh egg, is nearly 

 always lost. I had one egg in my collection which was a deep l)uti'- 

 colour ; it was found in East Prussia, and I cannot say how far 

 advanced incubation was when the egg was taken, but, judging from 

 the size of the blow-hole, the chick could not have been very large. 



The texture is very fine, smooth, close, and satiny to the touch, 

 like that of most ducks' eggs. There is a faint gloss, sometimes latlier 

 pronounced in the fresh egg, often absent in those near hatching. 



They are normally shaped ducks' eggs, i.e., rather broad regular 

 ovals, sometimes slightly compressed towards the smaller end, some- 

 times equal at both ends. 



My eggs, and those I have records of, all come within Hume's 

 measurements, in length varying between '21 and '288 inches, and 

 in breadth i'5 and 1"2. 



Hartert gives the average of 270 eggs as 5G'8 X 40'J mm. 

 (— 2"'22 X TOO inches). 



In Kashmir Mallard are extremely common, as may be seen 

 from the following well-written cutting from the ' Asian ' of the 

 8th February, by the pen of A. E. W. : — 



" Oh Januai-y 18th, 1 was shooting at a marsh near the big 

 reserve, having in front of me about five or six acres of open water, 

 and a smaller amount, about 500 yards, behind. The reserve was 



