170 THE GREY OR SPOT-BILL DUCK, 
well concealed under a thick bush or low tree, but in most 
cases they consisted of a hole scratched in the ground in long 
grass and lined with grass, the eggs being almost invariably 
partly or wholly covered with the same material. 
“It is not difficult to find the nests, as the old birds are 
generally in pairs close by, either swimming in the water or 
sitting on the bank with their long necks raised above the 
grass; and if flushed, keep flying restlessly backwards and 
forwards, or round and round in circles about 20 yards high 
over the nest. : 
“The greatest number of eggs I took out of one nest was 
eight, but from the numerous pieces of shell I found in nests 
which had hatched off, I imagine that they often lay as many 
as 10 or Ir. I found no down in any of the nests I examined.* 
“T found five nests on the 12th of October, containing 4 
fresh eggs, 8 ditto, 1 ditto, 6 incubated eggs and 7 ditto, 
respectively, and five more on the 13th, which contained 
I, 3, and 5 fresh and 8 and 7 incubated eggs. The latter 
clutch was stale, and 3 or 4 of the eggs it contained had been 
sucked. 
“ Besides these I came upon several nests which had hatched 
off and had only empty shells in and round them, so that 
some must have laid early in September.” 
From Mysore Major McInroy writes: “I cannot say that I 
have found nests, late or early in the year, but I have observ- 
ed flappers in January, and this year on the 5th of February 
I saw a brood of these, about 10 or 12 in number, still unable 
to fly, which could not have been hatched before quite the 
end of December. There was no other kind of Duck in the 
tank, and no possible mistake about the matter. The parents 
flew off. Grey Ducks appear to affect particular tanks for 
breeding purposes, and I cannot personally point to more than 
half-a-dozen so used—others apparently quite as eligible are 
never made use of.” 
The eggs are of the usual broad oval type; in texture 
compact and smooth, but without the polish and gloss which 
characterises the somewhat similar eggs of the Comb-Duck. 
In colour too they are, when fresh, white or greyish white, and 
never, so far as I have yet seen, exhibit that creamy or ivory 
tinge already noticed in the case of the Wukhita and Cotton 
Teal. 
As incubation proceeds, they become yellowish and sullied, 
and hard-set eggs are occasionally a very dingy and pale earth 
brown. 
The eggs vary in length from 2°08 to 2°3, and in breadth 
from 1°65 to 1°8; but the average of fifteen eggs is 215 by 
* In Northern India, the nests always seem to contain a little down and some- 
times a good deal.—A. O. H. 
