NETTION FORMOSU.M 1^9 



the 3rd July we found a nest on tlie I'iver bank under a willow bush 

 containing seven fresh eggs. On the '24th of July the young in 

 down began to exhibit feathers on the head, shoulder and wings, but 

 were still unable to fly on the 4th August. On the 28th July a 

 male was shot which had lost its perfect plumage. The latest birds 

 were seen on the 23rd .August on the Boganida. This bird was 

 similarly plentiful on the Stanaway Mountains (Aim Eiver). Anil 

 at Udskoj-Ostrog, where it arrived during the first week of May. 

 . . . The eggs are bluish->ellow in colour and small — the smallest 

 was 1'9H inches long b\- Vi greatest breadth." 



Of course, Middendorff meant largest, not smallest, as he gives 

 the greatest breadth, and IDS inches seems big for the egg, not 

 small. In the lines above quoted the point which will be most 

 quickly noticed is the extremely brief breeding-season. Thus, 

 although the l'2th of June is the earliest date on which the bird 

 was seen, yet the last disappeared on the 'iard August, giving little 

 over two months for the whole business of making the nest, laying 

 the eggs, hatching — which we may presume would take up from 

 twenty to twenty-five days — and bringing up the young. As it 

 would take some ten days to lay the normal clutch of eggs and about 

 five at least to make the nest, the only conclusion is that once 

 hatched the young take well under the month to arrive at their full 

 powers of flight. As this is not quite likely, it is probable that 

 though no birds were seen before the date mentioned, yet many must 

 have arrived in late May ; and when we look at the date when they 

 arrive elsewhere, this is the most probable solution. 



In the Amur they arrive and breed very much earlier. The only 

 egg of this duck in my collection is one of many I owe to the 

 generosity of Herr M. Kuschel, of Breslau, who has given me one 

 bearing the date ^.Sth April, 1895. The earlv date of this egg 

 supports the idea that they must breed earlier than in June in 

 Northern Siberia also. 



The egg is a typical teal's egg, the texture very smooth and fine, 

 but without any gloss ; the shape oval, with one end decidedly 

 smaller than the other, though obtuse ; the colour is a very pale 

 creamy cafe-au-lait. In size it is two inches long by 137 broad, 

 which makes it a rather longer, yet at the same time a rather 

 narrower, egg than those hitherto described. 



