EUNETTA FALCATA. 147 



f^liores ot* Lake Baikal, l)iit even tlierc^ more plentifully to the east and 

 south ; it breeds also on the Amur, and probably a good deal further north. 

 MiddendorfF says that it " breeds plentifully in the Stanaway Mountains, 

 and nearly to the tops o£ the ranges," and, as Hume points out, if it selects 

 sites at as high an altitude as this, it is sure to extend considerably further 

 north in the plains. 



In Manchuria, where my informant took several nests, they are said to 

 make them on low-lying parts, along the banks of the larger rivers, which 

 are more or less in the condition of swamps. The nest appears to be a 

 rather well-built afiair of rushes and reeds, rather more compactly put 

 together than are most ducks' nests, and lined very plentifully with down, 

 presumably taken from the breasts of the parent birds themselves. So 

 thick is this down that in some of the nests, the cups of which were in 

 some cases as much as six inches deep, it filled them completely to the top, 

 hiding the eggs which were inside. The nests were placed in thick tufts 

 of grass, beds of sedges, or, more rarely, under and amongst bushes ; they 

 were not very carefully hidden, and, but for the treacherous nature of the 

 ground in which they were found, not particularly hard to get. 



The duck is a close sitter, and is assisted in the duty of incubation, at 

 least occasionally, by the drake, which is seldom found far from the nest. 

 They lay from six to nine eggs, beginning to lay in the end of May, and 

 continuing through June and the early part of July. 



The eggs are said to be like those of the Common Teal, but whiter and 

 a oreat deal larger. 



Dybowski (ride Hume) says that in Western Dauria and the country 

 to the south of Lake Baikal " the Crested Teal arrives in great numbers 

 during the later half of April, but in the Darsun region it is more common. 



'' The female makes her nest among the bushes of swamps, collecthig 

 <lry reeds and grass, and lining it thickly with down. At the beginning of 

 June she lays eight eggs, sits closely, and only rises at your feet. 



" They remain in autumn as late as the 27th December." 



Taczanowski in describing the eggs taken by the above naturalist writes : 

 *' The eggs are decidedly smaller than those of the Mallard, and in colour 

 resemble those of the Gadwall, though the yellow tinge is somewhat morc^ 

 pronounced. They vary from 2'1 to 2'3 inches in length and from 1-52 to 

 nearly 1*7 in breadth." 



Dresser, (quoting Hume and Marshall, describes the eggs as being of a 

 creamy-white colour, like the eggs of a Common Wigeon, and of a very 

 smooth texture. 



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