SAECIDIOB^S. 283 



assists the female in the selection of a site. I have frequently 

 watched both birds flying into trees together, the male uttering a 

 harsh grating noise, while his mate is left behind on inspection 

 duty. 



" Although the Nuktas nest by preference in trees, I have known 

 their doing so in holes of old ruined forts ; as a general rule, they 

 select localities in close proximity to water. 



" I have no actual proof of their appropriating old nests, as is 

 frequently done by the Whistling Teal ; but it is worth mentioning 

 that a nest of Haliaetus leucoryphiis, which I had examined last 

 winter for the eggs of Ascalapliia bengalensis and which was at 

 the time tenanted by this Owl, actually contained seven or eight 

 rotten eggs which are, in my opinion, referable to this Duck. 



" The number of eggs seems to vary considerably ; fifteen and 

 twenty have been brought to me from one nest,* the advanced 

 state of incubation clearly indicating that in all cases the full 

 complement had been laid. I was present, however, at the capture 

 of a female Xukta on her nest, which yielded the extraordinary 

 number of forty eggs ! Of course it is just possible, though 

 highly improbable, that this may have been the joint produce of 

 two birds ; but the emaciated condition of the one captured, 

 coupled with the fact that one egg was an abnormally small one, 

 and evidently her last effort, do not favour such a supposition. 



" The tree selected was an ancient banyan (Ficus indica}, which 

 overlooked a large sheet of water several miles in circumference ; 

 the nest-hole was at an elevation of some 20 feet, 3 feet deep, and 

 2 in circumference. 



" The eggs (incubation had barely commenced) were laid 

 several tiers deep, and those at the bottom were a little soiled 

 from resting on the damp wood. It is highly probable that a 

 large proportion of these eggs are never hatched, and that they 

 all become discoloured as the process of incubation progresses. 



"The thirty-nine full-sized eggs average 2| by 1| inches : they 

 are long obtusely-pointed ovals ; and in feel, polish, and texture 

 they resemble a white billiard ball. 



"The boss or fleshy protuberance of the Drake gets greatly 

 enlarged during the breeding-season, frequently measuring 2-2 x 

 2-4 inches at the base.'' 



Colonel Gr. F. L. Marshall says : " I took one egg on the 

 20th July from a mulberry-tree. I found an egg of this species 

 in a nest of Dissura episcopus, with three eggs of the latter bird: 

 this is, I believe, an unusual occurrence." 



Major Mclnroy told me that this Duck bred to his knowledge 

 in the Bagriodkere tank in the Chittaldoog district and in some 

 other districts in Mysore ; and Mr. J. Davidson writes : " In the 

 Punch Mehals it was very fairly common, a pair inhabiting 

 nearly every one of the small tanks which are scattered about 

 everywhere. They breed in the latter part of the rains ; the only 

 nest I took contained thirteen eggs and was in the hollow top of a 

 dead mango-tree, but I saw the young in very many places." 



