A)i Island on the Ttlvcr Jhrhim P/injah. 247 



Egrets noai- lioto, and had decided di.it tho island was worth 

 searching for tlioir iir>t.s hitoi' on at the proper season, 'i'his 

 was why I now entered the boat and gave the 'woid for 

 the island. Though the distanee to the island was only ahout 

 two hundred yards, it took time for the l)oat to roardi there 

 owing to the strength of the eurrent, and I had ample time 

 to look around. 



'The island was not above one hundred and fifty 5^ards 

 long by souK^ sixty wide; the major ])ortion, which stood some 

 eight feet above the water, with steep banks screened by 

 brushwood, was covered thickly with trees, forming a mass of 

 dark unbroken green which showed up the white plumage of 

 a few Egrets that could be seen sitting on the boughs. The 

 lower i)art of the island end was covered with stunted tamarisk 

 and ended in a pointed spit of sand clothed with " sarpat " 

 grasR to within a foot or two of the water's edge. T'^ndf^r 

 the trees grew "bhang" — the drug produeing plant, and in 

 1h(^ more ojien ]iarts this formed dense undergrowth, reminis- 

 cent of an English nettle-bed. 



On neighbouring sandbanks, a few birds were standing 

 at the water's edge; here a group of .Spoonbills (FWalea 

 Icucorodia) were busy cleaning their plumage; there a few 

 Cattle Egrets were wrapped in meditation. Over the shallower 

 water, between tho two islands, a number of Black -bellied 

 Tern (Sterna mclanoga.sirr) were wheeling backwards and 

 rnr\vards, fishing. Now and again a Heron or "E'^M-ot flew pasl, 

 to disappear in the trees on the island. 



'As we approached nearer T could see a few Night 

 Herons standing on the wet sand in that lumpy fashion, which 

 one comes to look on as a chief characteristic of the species. 



Jleaching the island we scrambled up the sandy bank— 

 and the spot lost its calm! Every step was greeted by the 

 he^vy flapping and harsh grunts that announced the startling 

 of an indignant bird from its nest; while a host 'of Crows 

 {Corvus spJetnlrns), fluttered and cawed, apparently most in- 

 dignant at our intrusion. 



'My expectations were fulfilled; this was indeed the 

 nesting place of the Egrets, and it was evident that the only 

 obstacle to securing their eggs, would be the difticulty of identi- 

 fying tho actual owners of each nest. 



