THE WHISTLING TEAL. I15 
ground, On 24th June I found another nest similarly situated, 
but containing nothing but egg shells—the chicks had felt the 
nest. At another place, about 25 miles further north, where the 
birds were very numerous, they were building their nests in July, 
and did not begin to lay till towards the end af July and 
beginning of August. Here in nearly every instance the nest was 
in a tamarisk bush which had been covered over with a small 
green creeper, the eggs being laid on a mass of the creeper 
inside the bush, and having generally a lot of the creeper form- 
ing an arch over head.” 
Mr. Brooks tells me that “ on one occasion” he “took a nest 
of this species out of a broken tree stump about four feet 
high, which was hollow in the centre. The nest was about an 
arm’s length down in the stump, and the old bird allowed her- 
self to be lifted off the eggs when she was set free.” 
Mr J. Davidson, C.S., writes: “This was a rare Duck, and 
only met with in the cold weather in Sholapur and other parts of 
the Deccan. In Mysore it was also rare, though pairs evidently 
going to breed were scattered among the weedy tanks. In the 
Panch Mahals they were nearly as common in the rains and cold 
weather, (I did not spend a hot weather there) as the Cotton Teal, 
and bred in September and October. All the nests I found myself 
were in tufts of grass which formed islands in the middle of 
weedy tanks; one clutch of eggs was, however, brought to me, 
said to have been taken from a stick nest built ina bush, 6 or 
7 feet high, standing in_water.” 
Mr. J. R. Cripps says: “ This species breeds to my knowledge 
in Faridpur, Dacca, and Sylhet on trees in the vicinity of water, 
as well as in ‘ suz’ grass fields; when in these latter the nest is 
placed on the ground. The nest when built on trees is of twigs, 
with a slight lining of grass, but when on the ground, it is 
made exclusively of ‘Sun’ grass. July and August are the 
principal months for their laying. I have never found more 
than 9 eggs in any nest ;_ the nest when on trees is never very 
high up, 20 feet from the ground being the maximum according 
to my experience.” 
In Pegu, Mr. Eugene Oates records that he has “ found nests 
from the 6th July to the 29th August, twice with six and once 
with seven eggs. The nest is apparently always placed on thick 
matted canebrakes in paddy fields or on the ground in thick 
grass. I have never seen any indications of nests on trees. In 
all the three nests I have found, the above number of eggs was 
the full complement, for the female in each instance, on 
dissection, contained no mature eggs.” 
Writing from Singapore Davison says :— 
“The Whistling Teal breeds freely on an island in the big 
pond in the public gardens here. This island is almost entire- 
ly covered and overshadowed by a huge fig tree, on which 
I should have expected the birds to nest; but Mr, Merton, the 
