THE INDIAN SNAKE-BIRD 17 



these latter, the snake-bird times its nesting operations 

 so that the young will be hatched out after the mon- 

 soon has brought into existence numbers of amphibia 

 and Crustacea on which to feed them. Accordingly, it 

 nidificates in July, August, and September in Northern 

 India and Travancore, which are served by the south- 

 west monsoon, and in January and February in those 

 parts of South India visited by the north-east mon- 

 soon. 



The nest is a mere platform of twigs, usually placed 

 in low trees, babools for preference, and growing in 

 situations flooded in the rains. 



I do not know of any place near the city of Madras 

 where snake-birds breed. Mr. T. F. Bourdillon, writing 

 of Travancore, says, " I once found a colony of these birds 

 nesting above the Athirapuzha in the Kodasheri River 

 in September. They had taken possession of an island 

 in midstream, where they had built their untidy nests 

 on small trees about twenty feet high, and there were 

 fresh and hard-set eggs in them in all stages of incuba- 

 tion, while half-fledged birds scrambled about the 

 branches or flopped into the water at our approach. 

 The nests were about one foot in diameter and roughly 

 built of twigs. The eggs are white and covered with a 

 chalky coat and measure 2 inches by ij. Some of 

 the eggs are rather larger at one end than the other, 

 while others are truly fusiform with pointed ends.** 



The snake-bird is sometimes kept as a pet by Indians. 



According to Mr. J. R. Cripps the Buddeas, a race of 



gipsies who travel about the Eastern Bengal districts 



in boats, are very fond of keeping these birds, almost 



c 



