The East Indian duck is very shy in its habits, and is given to long flights, but if attention is shown them in feeding they become attached to their home surroundings. They can not be successfully bred in confinement; their natures are roaming and they like freedom of life. The first eggs of a litter laid by these ducks are sooty or nearly black in color, but they gradually grow lighter until they assume the color common to the eggs of most varieties. They are splendid sitters, and will invariably steal their nests if permitted to do so, but the duck and brood when hatched should be confined for a couple of weeks, that the young may not be exposed until they have gained some strength and size. The head of the black East Indian duck is short and small; eyes dark hazel; bill rather short. The head of the drake is of a dark yellowish green, free from all spots or blemishes, and the duck's head is very dark, almost black. The exact coloring of the bill of the drake is considered of the utmost importance. It is described by an enthusiast as being a sort of pale yellow, washed over with blackish green, the color being laid on thinly, as it were, so as to give an almost transparent effect, and shaded off at the tip into a kind of slate color. By another raiser the color of the bill is described as an olive green. The neck is neatly curved and short; back, of good length and medium width. The breast is full, round, and plump. The body is long and comparatively small; wings of medium length and nicely folded; tail short, and in the drake has the curled feathers. The thighs are short and stout, and shanks are short and rather small. The plumage is a rich black, with a brilliant greenish tint throughout. The color of the plumage is of much worth to the beauty of these ducks; it must be intensely black, rich in greenish' reflections, and perfectly free from white. The plumage upon the neck, back, and shoulder coverts will show more of the green than will the underparts, the coloring of the drake surpassing that of the duck. It is seemingly a difficult matter to breed specimens of the required color of plumage; more especially is it so with the duck, whose plumage is likely to be of a brownish tint. These ducks are quite likely to show more or less white in plumage. The white feathers usually appear about the eyes and also upon the breast. Birds that have been free from white as ducklings have been known to molt almost pure white. The ducklings when first hatched are black, with a shade of yellow on the breast, and with jet-black feet, shanks, and bill. When breeding these ducks use two females to one male, and the eggs will prove very fertile. The young will be very hardy after five or six weeks of age, and there should be no trouble in rearing them after that time. Give the youngsters free range and they will find nearly their whole living in grasses, insects, etc.