NESTING IN WESTERN INDIA. 303 



12 miles from Ncemuch, Central India ; it has also been seen once on 

 the Nukki Talao at Mount Aboo : and on one of the big lakes 

 near Khanpur, in the Oodeyporo district. It is however a bird of 

 the larger rivers, and these instances are very exceptional. 



They breed on the sandy islets in the bed of the river Indus, along 

 with the Indian River Tern (Sterna scena), the Black-bellied Tern 

 (Sterna melanogastra) , the Small Swallow Plover (Glareola lactea), 

 and the Large Sand Plover (JEmcus recurvirostris). 



They scrape a small hollow in the sand, make no nest, the eggs, 

 usually four in number, being placed on the bare sand ; they are 

 moderately broad ovals in shape, usually pointed at one end, averaging 

 1*6 inches in length by rather more than P18 in breadth, but they 

 vary a good deal in size. 



The ground-colour is very various, faint greenish -white, greyish- 

 white, salmon- colour, pale pinkish-buff, and creamy-stone all occur. 

 The markings are bold, consisting almost always of large blotches, or 

 streaks, chocolate, reddish-brown, and rich umber, and underlying 

 clouds and streaks of pale inky-purple and lilac ; the markings give 

 the eggs a most peculiar appearance, as they are not parallel but 

 are twisted round the egg in a slanting direction. I have a clutch 

 of Snipe eggs (Gallinago gallinaria), which I procured in England, 

 when on furlough, almost identical in the character of the markings. 

 Hyderabad, Sind, April. H, E. Barnes. 



1001.— THE WHITE PELICAN. 



Pelecanus onocrotalus, Lin. 



I believe this Pelican (which I have shot near Hyderabad, Sind), 



to be quite distinct from either the Lesser "White Pelican (Pelecanus 



javanicus), or the Grey Pelican (Pelecanus philippinus). It is a much 



heavier and larger bird then Pelecanus javanicus, and never, so far as 



I know (and I have seen a goodly number here in Aden), assumes 



that lovely delicate rosy hue, that transfers the Lesser White Pelican 



from comparative plainness to positive beauty. Young birds have a 



good deal of grey about them, but not so much as the birds I used to 



shoot near Deesa during the rains, and which besides was a smaller 



bird. Colonel Butler identified this bird as Pelecanus philippinus, 



and I believe his views were fully endorsed by Mr. Hume* 



