NESTING IN WESTERN 1SDIA. 



147 



The following table may be of some use, as it. gives the avera 

 dimensions of the eggs, but they are so much alike that it is 

 advisable always to shoot a Bird <>1V the nest to avoid mistakes : — 



.J.'idon's 

 number. 



Name. 



Dimensions 



of Eggs. 



Length. |Breadth 



Colo 



ur. 



923. 



9241 

 92§i 

 926. 



927. 

 928. 



929. 



930. 



9:37. 



Ardea cinerea 



Ardea purpurea 



llerodias torra 



llerodias intermedia 



Ilerodias garzetta 



Demiegretta gularis 



Bubuleus coromandus .. 



Ardeola gravi 



Butorides javanica 



Ny cticorax grisens 



2-27 



2 



9 



V 



1 



1 



17 

 11 



90 

 73 

 68 



1*71 



1-48 



1-62 

 1-92 



1-Cfi 



5G 

 55 



1-44 



32 



30 



1-32 



117 



1-21 

 1-35 



Delicate bluish - 



green. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do., but paler. 

 Do. do. 



Do., but still 



more pale. 

 White, faintly 



tinged blue or 



green. 

 Sea-green or 



greenish-blue, 

 Greenish-blue. 

 Do. 



932. THE BLACK BITTERN. 

 Ardetta flacicolUs, Lath. 



I do not think that the Black Bittern has been recorded from any- 

 where in Western India, with the exception of Sind, where 

 Mr, Doig found it breeding in June and July. He says : — * 



" The nests are formed of tamarisk twigs, with some few 

 aquatic weeds, on which the eggs are laid ; they are generally placed 

 about five feet over the water, either in a dense tamarisk bush or 

 thick clump of reeds, and are about 9 inches in diameter and 

 three inches in thickness, and have a very slight depression, in which 

 the eggs, always four in number, are laid. The eggs are for the 

 most part very broad ovals, sharp at both ends, and very nearly 

 white in colour. The eggs vary in length from 1*5 to 1 # 85 inches 

 and in width from 1*15 to 1*3, the average length of 53 eggs being 

 1-66 and width 1-26." 



'Stray Feathers, Vol. MIL, p. 377. 



