182 INDIAN DUrKS 



Its nest is much like that of the mallard or of the Spotted-hilled 

 Duck, but, unlike the former, I "have never heard or read of its 

 breeding in trees. It is generally placed at the edge of the water in 

 amongst dense sedge, reeds, or bushes, and appears as a rule to be 

 carefully concealed ; it is made of reeds, grass, or any other similar 

 material, or sometimes a few twigs, and is well lined with down from 

 the birds themselves. 



The eggs are said by various authorities to numlier five to 

 fourteen ; but probably six to eight or ten is the normal clutch. 



The eggs vary much in colour, from an almost pure white to a 

 greenish-drab. As with most eggs of ducks, as incubation advances 

 the colours get duller and darker, and eggs which are white with a 

 clean yellow or green tinge when first laid become dull-grey or drab 

 with the green tint dulled and sometimes lost. In te.xture and .shape 

 they do not differ from those of the mallard, except in being slightly 

 smaller. 



Thirteen eggs, measured by Hume, are said to have averaged 

 2'6'2 X 1'15 inches; but this is probably a mistake for 2'26 X 1'51, 

 within which limits all the eggs come which have passed through my 

 hands. 



The Gadwall seems to thrive well in confinement, and has often 

 bred under these conditions, including several times in the Zoological 

 Gardens. 



General Habits. — Of course, in some places the Gadwall is more 

 exceedingly abundant than in others. Thus in 1882-83. in Bengal, 

 we found that the Gadwalls numbered at least two to every one of all 

 other kinds of ducks lumped together. Of a magnificent bag made by 

 three guns in the Moolna bheel (Sundarbands), out of 110 couple of 

 ducks and teal I think at least 40 couple, if not more, must have been 

 Gadwalls, and of the rest probably 70 or 80 couple were teal of sorts. 

 Wood speaks of patches of water in Manipur " looking black with the 

 number of Gadwall assembled there." • They begin to arrive there, 

 according to him, about the 15th October, and though in Kashmir and 

 along the Himalayas a few birds may arrive earlier, this will be 

 found to be about the earliest date for Northern India. 



In Mysore they do not arrive until the end of November as a rule, 

 and at intervening places will be obtained on intervening dates. In 



