240 THE MARBEED aun Arr. 
and lacking in every line the vigour and energy that characterize 
races born and bred within the hardy north. 
SO FAR they are not known to breed within our limits, but it 
has often occurred to me that the supposed eggs of the Gar- 
ganey, obtained on the Mekran Coast, may quite possibly have 
really pertained to some laggarts of this species ; and the very 
young bird shot by Captain Butler at Kurrachee gives colour to 
this idea. Colonel Irby, who found this species breeding in 
Andalucia (Spain), remarks :-— 
“The Marbled Duck breeds during the last week in May, 
nesting in patches of rushes. The nest is like that of a Wear 
containing a good deal of the down from the breast of the 
female, and eleven eggs appear to be the usual complement. 
The latter much resemble those of the Common Teal, being of 
a yellowish white colour. Favier states that (near Tangiers) 
they also nest in rushes during May and June, and that incu- 
bation lasts from twenty-five to twenty-seven days.” 
I find no reliable record of the measurements of the eggs, 
but they are said to be of the same size as those of the Com- 
mon Teal. 
THE DIMENSIONS of adults of this species are as follow :— 
Males.—Length, 18°3 to 19; expanse, 28°5 to 29'5 ; tail, from 
vent, 3°6 to 4; wing, 81 to 3°5 ; wings, when closed, reacume 
within 0°7 to 1°5 of end of tail; bill, at front, including nail, 
1°77 to 1°85 ; tarsus, 1°44 to 1°52; weight, 1 Ib. 3 ozs. to tb) 5 ozs 
Females.—Lenegth, 16°9 to 17°5 ; expanse, 27 to 28; tail, from 
vent, 2°8 to 3°7; wing, 7°9 to 8:1; wings, when closed, reach to 
within from 05 to 1 of end of tail; bill, at front, 1 oO tome age 
tarsus) 1:4 to 155 welch at ibsto wile, 3370zs: 
The legs and feet are dusky olive or dark horny brown with 
the claws and webs black; or horny green, with the claws and 
webs dark grey ; the bill bluish grey, black on culmen and tip; 
or dusky, bounded at the margins of the feathers of the fore- 
head and cheeks with a pale leaden blue line, continued along 
the margin of both mandibles to near the tip, and a spot of 
the same colour just above the nail ; the irides are brown. 
Younger birds are considerably smaller. Anderson gives the 
following dimensions of a male, clearly a bird of the year :— 
Length, 17°3 ; wing, 7:7; tail from vent, 3:5; tarsus; 14am 
straight, 1°7. 
Butler, of his quite young bird, a female, recorded the 
following :— 
“Length, 15°75 ; expanse, 26°5 ; wing, 7:02; tail irom@™uyemr 
275. 
“ Legs and feet greenish plumbeous ; irides dark brown ; bill 
dusky plumbeous, darkest on the culmen.” 
