131. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



1 



The nest, composed of rushes and weeds, is usually placed on a 

 floating lotus leaf ; occasionally they deposit their eggs on a heap 

 of floating weeds, without preparing any nest at all. 



The normal number of eggs is certainly four, but they are stated 

 to lay from eight to ten.* I have had exceptional facilities for not- 

 ing this bird, and must have examined hundreds of nests ; I never 

 found more than four eggs in a nest. A clutch of five was once 

 brought to me by a fisherman, which, he stated, all came from the 

 same nest. I also note that Mr. Doig found a nest containing five 

 eggs, but these are exceptional cases. 



The eggs are oval in shape, pointed at one end, and are generally 

 of a rich cafe -ait- la it. One clutch I have has the ground-colour a 

 dark olive-brown, while in another it is very pale stone-brown ; the 

 eggs of this last clutch are abnormally small. 



The markings consist of a net-work of entangled lines, and vary 

 from deep blackish-brown, at times almost black, to a deep reddish- 

 brown. 



The eggs are highly glossy and are extremely handsome. They 

 measure 1*47 inches in length by nearly 1*02 in width. 



Deesa (Milana), June. H. E. Barnes. 



Neemuc/i, July and August. Do. 



Saugor, C. P., Mag to October, Do. 



Baroda, August and September. H* Littledale, B. A. 



901. THE PHEASANT-TAILED JACANA. 



Hydrophasianm chirurgus, Scop. 



The Pheasant-tailed Jacana occurs in suitable localities throughout 

 Western India, but appears to be much less common in the southern 

 half of the Presidency. It is, I believe, a permanent resident where 

 found, flocking together as the breeding season approaches and retiring 

 to the nearest suitable spot to breed. In many places it is spoken of 

 as being a cold weather visitant. Thus at Deesa, for instance, Colonel 

 Butler says that nearly all the birds leave that part of the country at 

 the end of the cold weather, yet I found them breeding abundantly 

 on the Milana j heels only 18 miles away. Mr. Littledale found them 



• Bombay Natural History Society Journal, Vol. I., p. 221. 



