24:Si An Island on the Hiver Jhelum Funjah. 



By dint of cai-oful ohscrvatioii T iiiaiiauo!] to idcntiry 

 sufficient nests for my needs, and found that four species wereT 

 breeding on the island; these were in order of abundance: the 

 Cattle Egret, the Little Egret, the Pond Heron, and the Night 

 Heron. A short account of each may not he out of place. 



The Cattle Egret (BuhuJcus coromandus) is in winter 

 I)ure white with a yellow hill and black feet; in breeding 

 plumage the head and neck and long decomposed dorsal plumes 

 become orange buff. Length 20 inches. The bird takes its 

 name from the fact that it is a cons'tant attendant on herds' of 

 cattle, feeding on the grasshoppers that are disturbed by the 

 herd, and the insects that are attracted by it. 



The Little Egret (Herodias garzetta) is pure white at 

 all seasons with black bill and tarsus, the toes being a curious 

 mixture of black and yellow. In the breeding season a crest 

 of two long attenuated feath^^rs is developed and the pectoral 

 feathers become lengthened and lanceolate; the dorsal feathers 

 become a train of long decomposed plumes, turned up towards 

 the end, — these being an inferior variety of the plumes of 

 coinmerce. Length 25 inches. 



The Pond Heron or Paddy Bird (Ardrola f/rai/i)--'d 

 relative of the European Squacco Heron— is one of the most 

 familiar of Indian water birds. In winter it is roughly 

 speaking, a mixture of buff, yellow, and various sliades of 

 'l>rown, in streaks, with pure white wings and tail. The 

 breeding plumage 'is very different. The head and neck are 

 light yellowish brown, with an occipital crest of long narrow 

 lanceolate white feathers; the feathers of the upper breast 

 are long, partly decomposed, ashy brown with narrow whitish 

 streaks; the back and inner scapulars are long, decomposed; 

 and coloured deep maroon; remainder of plumage pure white; 

 bill blue at the base, yellowish in the centre, and black at 

 the tip. Feet dull green. Len.gth 18 inches. This little 

 Heron frequents every description of pond, marsh, river, and 

 pool, and is not (in winter plumage) usually observed, until It 

 lakes flight, when by suddenly revealing the pure Avhite wings 

 and tail it becomes most conspicuous. 



To return to the colony, the Night Herons had built 

 their nests together in one part, but the other three species were 

 nesting anywhere with their nests all mixed together. The 



