The Whistling Ducks. 115 



Mr. Stuart Baker has, however, had 

 a more varied experience than myself in 

 connection with the nesting of this bird, 

 and I shall therefore quote his remarks 

 from the Journal of the Bombay Natural 

 History Society. He says : 



" Normally and typically both our 

 Indian Dendrocycna build nests on trees 

 or lay their eggs in their hollows ; often, 

 however, they make use of the deserted 

 nests of other birds, and sometimes they 

 build nests on or near the ground in reeds, 

 grass, or even bushes. The recorded and 

 authenticated instances of the common 

 ' Whistling Teal ' laying its eggs in nests 

 placed on the ground are not numer- 

 ous. . . . 



" Personally I have never seen a nest 

 actually on the ground, but have taken 

 one or two from situations very close to 

 it. In Cachar, at the foot of the hills, 

 there is much broken ground, often inter- 

 sected by nullahs, which widen out here 

 and there into swamps and bheels. Here 

 the ' Whistling Teal ' is in its element and 

 has an enormous variety of sites to choose 

 from. The one I have found most often 

 selected is some clump of trees, generally 

 babool or a stunted species of large-leaved, 

 densely-foliaged tree which grows often 



