98 THE NUKHTA OR COMB DUCK. 
male bird 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 Nukhtas nest by preference in trees, I 
have known them to lay in holes of old ruined forts; asa 
general rule, they select localities in close proximity to water. 
“TI 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 Haliaétus leucoryphus, which I had 
examined last winter for the eggs of Ascalaphia bengalensis, 
and which was at the time tenanted by this Owl, actually 
contained seven or eight rotten eggs, which were, 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 Nukhta 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 favor 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 twenty 
feet, three feet deep, and two in circumference. 
“The eggs (incubation was 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.” 
Captain G. F. L. Marshall says :—“I took one egg on the 
20th July from a mulberry tree. I found an egg of this species 
ina nest of Dissura episcopa, with three eggs of the latter bird ; 
this is, I believe, an unusual occurrence.” 
The eggs are regular ovals, only slightly more pointed at 
one end than the other. The texture of the shell is wonder- 
fully close and compact, and, when fresh, the eggs, both in 
colour and appearance, seem made of polished ivory. As 
incubation proceeds a good deal of the gloss disappears, and 
the delicate ivory white becomes stained and sullied, but even 
to the last they are amongst the smoothest eggs to the touch 
that I know. ! 
The eggs vary in length from 2°22 to 2°58, and in breadth from 
165 to 1:78; but the average of forty-five eggs is 2°41 by 1°72. 
