162 INDIAN DITC'KS 



have been seen accoujpanied by their young in April, and again their 

 eggs have been taken in August, and I have had one nest with eggs 

 reported from the former district in January. 



As a rule, the nest is a compact, well-made structure, of a broad, 

 rather irregular cup-shape, made principally of grasses, rushes, and 

 weeds, and lined — in almost all cases — with down taken from the 

 breasts of the ducks themselves. Sometimes there is no down at all, 

 as in the nests taken by Captain Butler at Langraij between Deesa 

 and Ahmedabad, and in no case does the down seem to be nearly as 

 plentiful as it is in the nests of the more northern-breeding ducks. 



Captain G. F. L. Marshall gives the dimensions of a nest taken 

 by him as follows : " About 9 inches across, 3 deep, and the sides 

 fully 2 thick." This is perhaps a trifle smaller than the average 

 nest, as the size depends so much on the compactness with which it 

 is built. 



Major Woods, I. M.S., sends me very interesting notes from 

 Manipur on the breeding of this duck. He writes: — 



Here the birds generally pair about the beginning of April ; but 

 I have found a nest in a Hooded dlian kbet as late as October. The 

 nests are composed of grass and feathers, the latter of which the 

 parent birds pluck from their own breasts. 



" I have found as many as fourteen eggs in a nest, though the 

 usual number is ten. Tlie parent bird sits very close when 

 incubating, and when alarmed feigns injury to a wing, as do others 

 of the family. 



" Towards tbe end of tbe rains lioth old and young Ijirds frequent 

 more open water and tbe flooded rice-fields. A place called the 

 Kurram Paili, about eighteen miles from Impbal, is a favourite 

 breeding-ground, and towards tbe end of the rains tbe ducks may 

 there be seen .in bundreds with Hapjiers in every stage of dovelu])- 

 ment." 



Ill another letter he remarks on the curious fact that though the 

 normal number of eggs laid is about ten, yet one never sees a family- 

 party containing more than six or seven young ones, so that the 

 percentage of addled eggs or of accidents to the young after birth 

 must be very great. 



Mr. Doig found on one occasion that otters had been responsible 

 for the destruction of a nest of eggs. He found a nest at Narra in 



