305 



mence building their nests, either in a wet Savannah, or in one of 

 the small marshy spots, called ponds by the inhabitants. They are 

 generally situated at some distance from the dry land, and are 

 composed of fragments of the dry stalks of the coarse marsh- 

 grasses ; they are perfectly flat, about eighteen inches in diameter, 

 and five in thickness, scarcely elevated above the surrounding 

 mud and water. For the space of five or six feet round the nest, 

 the vegetation is trampled into the mud so as to resemble at a 

 little distance what is called an alligator's hole, for which I at 

 first mistook it. In two instances I found an old nest in close 

 proximity to the one then occupied, from which I infer that, unless 

 disturbed, they return annually to the same spot. The eggs, two 

 in number, are deposited from the 21st of March to the 10th of 

 April ; they vary in color from a light olive to a yellowish drab, 

 and are sparingly spotted with dull lilac, and more thickly with 

 greenish and reddish brown, the spots becoming confluent at the 

 larger end in most specimens ; they average ninety-five milli- 

 metres in length and sixty in breadth. Soon after incubation 

 commences, the eggs become so coated with mud that the original 

 color can with difliculty be discerned. The bird sits on the nest 

 with its legs under it, and the neck generally drawn in, so as to 

 make as little show as possible, and does not fly up when 

 approached, if it thinks itself unobserved. The period of incuba- 

 tion is about three weeks, and both birds take part in it. The 

 young, when first hatched, are covered with a brownish hair-like 

 down, and are quite ugly from the comparatively large size of 

 their legs and the projection of their eyes. They are fed by re- 

 gurgitation and grow rapidly. The plumage and general appear- 

 ance of the adult bird being already sufficiently well described, 

 I shall not redescribe them ; but, as the measurements given in 

 those books to which I have access, are quite incomplete, I will 

 add those of four specimens, two males and two females. 



PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. 20 JAN. 1854. 



