296 Capt. A. G. L. Sladen on the [Ibis, 



eggs, of which they took one. Another officer had taken 

 a nest of five eggs. I spoke to all of these officers, and was 

 taken to the old nest, which was situated on a floating 

 island among dense reeds on the lake. Unfortunately 

 it had lately been occupied by a Mallard. Of the eggs 

 originally taken, three had been sent home to England and 

 apparently lost in transit, and the remainder had become 

 broken and were thrown away. There was no doubt, how- 

 ever, that they were the eggs of a " Grey Goose/^ as it was 

 the constant coming and going of these birds which had led 

 to the discovery of their nests. I myself bad seen geese 

 swimming in the lake with goslings. During the whole 

 of the time I was in this neighbourhood, which was up to 

 the end of May, there were seventeen to twenty geese 

 (in all probability Grey-lag) frequenting the lake. 



Tadorna casarca. Ruddy Sheldrake. I found three or 

 four pairs breeding on Lake Ardji Gheul near Naresch 

 in June. Two had broods of young, and other birds 

 evidently had nests which I failed to find at first. I 

 eventually found one with half-incubated eggs. I had 

 not noticed this species until the end of March, and am 

 inclined to think it does not winter here. 



Anas boschas. Wild Duck. This species bred in small 

 numbers on Lake Ardzan. 



duerquedula querquedula. Garganet. Seen in fair 

 numbers up to the end of March, but I found none 

 breeding. 



Spatula clypeata. Shoveler. Found breeding. 



Netta rufina. Red-crested Pochard. There was a flock 

 of some forty to fifty birds on Lake Ardzan all through the 

 spring. About April the males were in a flock by them- 

 selves, with only one or two females among them. The 

 ducks were evidently mostly sitting at that time, for 

 later on they appeared now and again with their broods. 

 They were, however, very shy and always kept close to the 

 dense reed-beds. 



