QUERQUEDULA QUERQUEDULA 229 



breeding in India, beyond the circumstantial evidence given by 

 Colonel Irby's young birds. 



Garganey breed tliroughout the north temperate zone iu Europe 

 and Asia. In the former continent they breed as far south as 

 France, North Italy, Greece, and throughout the Balkan States and 

 Eussia into Asia; in parts of Asia Minor, South Siberia, Manchuria, 

 Amoorland, and Northern China, but not in Japan, as far as is yet 

 known. 



They desert the larger open pieces of water during the breeding- 

 season, and resort to smaller pools and ponds, fens and bogs, rarely 

 the mossy and weed-covered borders of streams, and yet more rarely 

 the reed-fringed shores of lakes, Sec. 



Although so commonly found on the sea-coast and on salt water 

 creeks and on tidal waters, yet Garganey seem always to breed 

 inland, and I can find no record of their nests and eggs being taken 

 in the above places. 



The nest is the usual mass of weeds, reeds, and soft vegetation 

 collected by most ducks ; and it is said that occasionally it is made 

 of sticks and twigs, l:)ut this, I imagine, is very exceptional. 



The lining of down and feathers varies much ; in some it is very 

 dense and copious, in others very scanty; normally it is neither the 

 one nor the other — rather scanty, however, than otherwise. 



The nest is most often placed in some thick tuft of coarse grass, 

 bed of reeds, or tangle of shrubs and grass in fen-land, or on the 

 borders of some vegetation-covered piece of water. The eggs vary in 

 number from six to thirteen, the number most often found being 

 from eight to ten, 



Morris gives the number laid as eight to ten or even fourteen. 

 According to him, incubation lasts twenty-one days, and the young 

 birds follow their mother to the water as soon as hatched. 



The eggs, at least all I have seen, were quite indistinguishable 

 from those of the common teal in shape, texture, and size, and, I 

 think, in colour. Hume says that they have perhaps a more yellow 

 creamy tinge, but tliough a few may be more buff or yellow in tone 

 than any of that bird, many are no deeper at all. 



Dresser gives the average as 1'87 X 1'35 inches; those in nay 

 collection average 1"82 X 136, making them out to be rather shorter 

 and rather broader. 



