Mlscl.ILASKUU.S .SOJJC-S. .-.Ol 



fiml of ;i siiif^ile ogij on tho Chenab on the I'Stli April 1H70, the following 

 note may be of interest : - 



1 founil this speoies brceilinji on a sand-bank in the JJeas, near the jniu;- 

 tion with the Sntlej, on tho Itith April hist. Other species nesting; on the 

 same bank were the Indian ISiver Tern {^Sterna sema), The Indian Skiinnur 

 (li/ii/nc/i<ii)s: (tl/ticolliii) and the small Indian Pratincole {(ilaifola laclca). 



1 connted 9 nests in all of iStcnia ant/Iicci, bnt there may have been one or 

 two more which were not noticed. They were all more or less grouped 

 with those of IStcnia ^eena, on tho middle, and hit];hest, portion of the bank, 

 where there were occasional small tufts of cfrass. In each case the nest 

 consisted of a slight depression in a tiny mound of sand, which in cme or 

 two instances appeared to have been scooped up by the birds. Every nest 

 coutaineil one or two small pieces of stick or other debris for the eggs to 

 rest on, except that in one case a little dry grass had been provided in- 

 stead. This fact alone would have served to distinguish the nests from 

 those of ^Sterna srena, which were invariably bare depressions in the sand, 

 one of the nest contained 1 egg only, while of the rest, three ccmtained '-'j. 

 and live '2. All the eggs which 1 took were perfectly fresh. I shot one bird, 

 a male, to make certain of identilication. The birds of this species did not 

 appear to be on particularly good terms with their neighbours, and I notic- 

 ed them ** having words with " Sterna seena and li/ii//ic/tcps aliicoUis on more 

 than one occasion. The two latter species, however, never seemed to 

 quarrel. Their nests were freely intermingled, although IHn/vcliopii albicoUi< 

 appeared to have a preference for absolutely bare sand without a trace of 

 vegetation. 



The nests of Sterna seena were by far the most numerous. None con- 

 tained more than 8 eggs, and every egg which I took was perfectlj' fresh. 

 The same was the case with li/ii/nc/iops aliicuUifi. 



Of all the denizens of the bank. Sterna seena resented my intrusion least, 

 whilst (ilareola lactea was the most perturbed. This was probably due t<> 

 the fact that the eggs of the latter species w'ere mostly in various stages 

 of incubation. All their nests were grouped together on one side of the 

 bank, not far from the water's edge. 1 found 3 eggs in one nest, but this 

 was the only case in which there were more than two. 



A solitary pair of Black-bellied Terns [Sterna utelanof/aster) were noticed 

 flying over the bank, and their nest was afterwards discovered on the main- 

 land, some lo or 20 yards from the water's edge, lower down the river. It 

 contained two slightly incubated eggs. 



This was the only nest found of this species. There were a few nests of 

 (ilareola lactea in the vicinity, none of which contained more than one egg. 



H. W. WAITE, 

 Ferozepoke, Punjai!, Indian Police. 



Zrd July 1917. 



No. VI.— LATE STAY OF TEAL {XETTIVM CRECCA). 



On the evenings of the 27th and 30th April and "ind May of this year 

 about 6-30 1'..m. 1 have seen three large flocks of teal flying north. Is this 

 not very late in the year i" 



1 was standing in the same place on each evening and on each occasion 

 the flocks flew straight over my head. 



I should be interested to hear whether it is usual for teal to stay so late 

 There were uncommonly scarce in these parts this year during tho shooting 

 season. 



AcJAK, Malwa. C. I., E. J. D. COLVIN, Capt. 



3/vZ Mai/ 1917. 



