DENDROCYCNA JAVANICA. • 107 



nests the l)irds used were always those of (.'. .<plendens, and it seems to ine 

 very remarkahk^ that this (kick sliouhl find room to kiy ami katcli some six 

 to a dozen eggs in a nest as small as that usually built l)y C. macrovJa/ncJius, 

 as this crow generally makes such a compact, neat nest, with very little 

 waste room aboiit it. I should imao-ine the Juno;le-Crow in Hume's 

 anecdote, given aboAe. must have been an extraAagant. Avasteful bird, or 

 else have taken house-rent from the Teal and charged jier square vard 

 ot' room. 



Most nests are not placed at any great height from the ground, seldom 

 over twenty feet or so, but I have taken one or two from far greater 

 heights. 



As regards the numljer of eggs laid there is a good deal of difference in 

 the maximum normal number as estimated by various observers. 



Jerdon. Butler^ Doig, DaA'idson, Cripps, and I myself consider about 

 eioht to ten to be the normal number laid, though in Cachar the former 

 number is the largest I remember taking. Gates gives six or seA'en, whilst 

 Anderson says that ordinarily this bird lays a dozen. 



In Dibrugarh. where I took A'ery many nests, indeed sometimes seAen 

 or eight in a morning, I found six to eight to be the normal numljer, 

 though I once found eleven. On the other hand, I scAcral times took 

 hard-set clutches numljering only four or fiA'e. 



Probaljh' eioht to ten is the number most often laid, and Avhilst in some 

 districts, probably to the east, they may average fcAver, yet, on the other 

 hand, in some_, more to the Avest, the aA'erage clutch may be someAvhat 

 larger. 



The eggs are like those already described as belonging to D. fulva, that 

 is to say, they are A'ery spherical OA'als, but little compressed at the smaller 

 end, and in texture are A'ery smooth and fine, but neither A^ery close-grained 

 nor glossy, and somcAvhat chalky on the surface. They are nearly pure 

 AA'hite, sometimes inclined to iA'ory-Avhite AA'hen first laid, l)ut stain quickly 

 and soon lose the faint gloss they sometimes shoAv at first. 



Hume, in a footnote to ' Game-Birds,' says that the lining-membrane 

 of this Teal's Q<r^^ is a delicate salmon-pink, and gives a faint rosy tinge to 

 perfectly fresh unbloAvn eggs. 1 liaAe now examined a huge series of these 

 eggs, but have failed to find any Avith the lining-membrane so coloured. 

 When fresh, all the eggs bloAvn by me haA'e had this membrane a very dull 

 dead lemon-colour, and Avhon (hy it is of a dead grcy-Avhite. I sliould have 

 said that the tint of eggs in the condition he describes Avas more of a very 

 faint and verA- dull cream a'-a'oUoav rathei' than rosA'. but. a«; a matter of fact, 



