288 INDIAN DUCKS 



by tips of the grass siirrountling t!ie nesting-place ; one would have 

 said that this particular d-uck had known the art of sewing, so 

 finely had she joined the grass-helms together, probably with her 

 bill." 



Most naturalists note that the eggs vary from six to ten in 

 number, less, therefore, than in many other ducks' clutches ; but 

 Seebohm says, " the number of eggs is usually ten or twelve, but 

 sometimes only eight are laid, and occasionally as many as thirteen." 

 Dresser describes the eggs as uniform pale olive-green, or greenish- 

 buff in colour, smooth and polished in texture of shell, and in size 

 averaging about 2'3 X 1'65 inches. WoUey's egg, figured by 

 Hewitson, is of exactly the same size. 



Morris figures the egg as like that of the Scaup, but longer and 

 proportionately narrower. In colour it is rather a bright pale buff. 



As regards the breeding he says : — 



" These birds breed along the stony shores of the sides of the 

 inland waters, among the cover of vegetation, more or less thick, 

 with which they arc usually bordered. 



" The receptacle for the eggs — for it can hardly be called a nest — 

 is composed of stalks and grasses. 



" Tlie eggs vary in number from eight to ten. They are of a pale 

 buff colour with a tinge of green. 



' The male bird leaves the female after she has liegun to sit." 



Gates records tlie measurements as being between '2'1^> and 2 -i 

 inches in length, and l';');'} and l'(J5 in breadth. 



My own eggs varied a good deal more than these, as my largest 

 is 2-4G X 1'68 inches, and my smallest 2-] 5 X 1'50. 



Finn's remarks on the cross-breeding of this bird is worth noting 

 and remembering by sportsmen who get hold of birds beyond their 

 power to discriminate : — 



" It breeds more freely in captivity than do Pochards in general, 

 and in the London Zoological Gardens crossed in 1849 with the 

 White-eye, the resulting hybrids continuing to lireed eitlier inter se 

 or with the original parents for more than ten years, a fact to be 

 remembered in dealing with doubtful Pochards, which should 

 therefore, whenever possible, be submitted to some authority for 

 identification." 



General Habits. — This Pochard is one that essentially requires 

 open water, and in preference resorts to wide expanses of water 

 some considerable depth in the centre, though more or less weed 



