176 INDIAN DUCKS 



rather more compactly put together than are most dnckb' nests, and 

 lined very plentifully with down.'pi'esumably taken from the breasts 

 of the parent birds themselves. Bo thick is this down that in some 

 of the nests, the cups of which were in some cases as much as six 

 inches deep, it filled them completely to the top, hiding the eggs 

 which were inside. The nests were placed in thick tufts of grass, 

 beds of sedges, or, more rarely, under and amongst bushes ; they 

 were not very carefully hidden, and, but for the treacherous nature 

 of the ground in which they were found, not particularly hard to get. 



The duck is a close sitter, and is assisted in the duty of incuba- 

 tion, at least occasionally, by the drake, which is .seldom found far 

 from the nest. They la>' from six to nine eggs, beginning to lay in 

 the end of May, and continuing through June and the early part 

 of July. 



In Sakhalin, near Taraika, Alan Owston's collectors took a large 

 number of nests, in many cases with one or both parents, and a 

 large number of eggs came into my hands, as well as one or two 

 clutches from Japan itself. 



At Taraika the biggest clutch numbered nine and most were of 

 six or seven. Unfortunately in no case was the down collected with 

 the birds and eggs. 



In appearance the eggs are like those of the teal, but more con- 

 sistently of a yellow, or pale cafe-au-lait stone-colour. I have seen 

 no white eggs as described by some authors and none with the pale 

 sea-green tinge seen in so many ducks' eggs. Normally they are 

 rather long ovals, though with the small end but little compressed, 

 but one or two of the clutches consist of eggs almost as broad an 

 oval as those of the whistling-teal with which, however, they agree 

 neither in texture or colour. The former, the texture, is like that 

 of the common teal, very fine, close and intensely smooth with a 

 fair gloss. 



Including the eggs measured by Hartert and recorded by him, 

 in ' Palaearctic Birds,' the average of ninety-seven eggs is 56'2 

 X 391 mm. ( = 221 X TSH inches). 



Tiie maxima are 5 8' 5 X 390 mm. {— 2'3 X 1'5 inches) and 

 57'0 X M.2 mm. (^ 2'24 X £66 inches). 



The minima are STl x 4rO mm. (= 2'01 X 1'61 inches) and 

 570 X .V^-rmm. ( =- 2'24 X 149 inches). 



