EUNKTTA FALCATA 177 



The descriptions of the nests agreed with those taken in 

 Manchuria and were placed in similar positions. The earliest-taken 

 clutch I have is dated the '27th April, 1010, and the latest the 

 12th July, most nests having been found in the first three weeks 

 of June. 



Dybowski (uide Hume) says that in Western Dauria and the 

 country to the south of Lake Baikal " the Crested Teal arrives in 

 great numbers during the later half of April, but in the Darasun 

 region it is more common. 



" The female makes her nest among the bushes of swamps, 

 collecting dry reeds and grass, and lining it thickly with down. 

 At the beginning of June she lays eight eggs, sits closely, and only 

 rises at your feet. 



" They remain in autumn as late as 27th December." 

 It will be noticed that nearly all the specimens obtained hitherto 

 are males, but in Assam I found that for every male we got in 

 distinctive plumage, we obtained many females and young males, 

 such as in most cases are put down as Gadwall. 



General Habits. — ^The Bronze-Capped Teal, when found within 

 our limits, appears always singly or in pairs, perhaps very rarely in 

 small parties. In places where it is more numerous it collects in 

 flocks, as a rule rather small, consisting of about twenty or thirty 

 individuals, but at other times in very large flocks ; and it is said 

 to arrive at the borders of its breeding-grounds in immense flights. 

 It has the reputation of being a very sociable, if not a highly 

 gregarious bird, and small flocks frequently, indeed generally, seem 

 to mix much with larger flocks of other species of teal and duck, 

 with whom they feed and sleep in perfect harmony. 



The flight is said to be swift and teal-like, and the bird to be 

 very strong and active on the wing. I can find no record concerning 

 these birds' swimming and diving powers, so that we may expect to 

 find that these are neither abnormally developed nor yet much less 

 in extent than they are in other teal. 



Its cry, when on the wing, is noted as a " tolerably loud and 

 piercing whistle " (Prjevalsli) ; and it has also been heard to give 

 vent to a chuckling quack as it swims about feeding, a note which 

 I have heard it utter in Assam, and which struck me as much like 

 the feeding-note of the mallard. 

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