132 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891.. 



Captain Cocks' account of the nest and eggs is as follows* : — 



" I found the Common Sand Piper breeding plentifully on the hanks 

 of all the streams that run into the Cashmere Valley, and took many 

 nests on the Sind river in May and June. 



" The nest is placed a few yards from the water in an open situa- 

 tion in stony localities amongst low sage bushes. It is on the ground 

 in a slight depression, generally to the north of a low bush, and con- 

 sists of a few little pieces of stick or a few fragments of dead leaves. 

 It always contains four eggs, the pointed ends of which are placed 

 together in the centre. The bird gets off the nest very slowly, as if 

 it wished to attract attention to itself." 



The Ggg* are described as being typically ovate-pyriform in shape, 

 fine' and close in texture, and slightly glossy. The usual colour 

 is a pale creamy-stone, with a bufry cafe-au-lait, or sometimes even 

 a pinky tinge. The markings are a rich red-brown, occasionally 

 almost black, and consist of speck and spots, intermixed with under- 

 lying clouds and spots of reddish, sometimes pale inky-purple. 



The markings are usually more dense at the larger end, occasionally 

 forming an almost confluent cap. 



In length they vary from 1'35 to 152 and in breadth from l'O to 

 I'll inches, but the average is 146 by 106. 



«98. THE STILT. 

 Himantopus Candidas, Bonn. 



The Stilt or Longlegs is a common cold- weather visitant to all parts 

 of the Presidency, but is said to be rare in Pvatnagiri, It is a per- 

 manent resident in Sind, Mr. Doig having found it breeding on the 

 salt deposits on the Eastern Narra in June. 



Mr. Hume gives a concise account of their breeding at the Salt 

 Works at Sultanpur.f He says : — 



"They collect together small pieces of kunkar or the broken lime- 

 lining of the pans into a circular platform from seven to even twelve 

 inches in diameter and from two to three inches in height ; on this 

 again they place a little grass, on which they usually lay four eggs, 

 but not unfrcquently only two or three. They begin to lay, accord- 

 ing to season, towards the end of April or the beginning of May, and 



* Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, p. 588- 



t" _ f Indian Birds, p. 589, et aeq. 



