The Grey Ducks. 155 



Manipur : " Here the birds generally 

 pair about the beginning of April ; but 

 I have found a nest in a flooded dhdn 

 khet as late as October. The nests are 

 composed of grass and feathers, the latter 

 of which the parent birds pluck from 

 their own breasts. I have found as many 

 as fourteen eggs in a nest, though the 

 usual number is ten. The parent bird 

 sits very close when incubating, and when 

 alarmed feigns injury to a wing, as do 

 others of the family." 



The eggs are short ellipses in shape, 

 and measure about 2.15 by 1.7. When 

 first laid, they are white or greyish white ; 

 after incubation, yellowish or brownish. 



The adult has the forehead, the crown, 

 and a band through the eye, dark-brown, 

 streaked paler. A band over the eye, 

 the sides of the head and the whole neck 

 are dull white, minutely streaked with 

 brown ; the chin and throat similar, but 

 with fewer streaks, sometimes streakless. 

 The mantle, the sides of the breast, the 

 lower plumage and the sides of the body 

 are white or fulvous white, turning to 

 dark brown on the lower part of the 

 abdomen, each feather with a large 

 roundish well-defined brown spot ; the 

 under tail-coverts black. The under 



