of the Calcutta District. ()9 



109. Ardea purpurea. (Purple Heron.) 



Resident, but uncommon ; only solitary pairs noticed in 

 some of the larger j heels. 



110. BuBULcus coROMANuus. (Cattle Egret.) 

 Resident, universally distributed, and common, but I have 



never found them breeding in the immediate neighbourhood, 

 though they are equally abundant in the breeding-season as 

 at any other time. Several of these birds are usually in 

 attendance on any cattle feeding near their haunts. 



111. Ardeola grayi. (Pond Heron or Paddy-bird.) 

 Extremely abundant, resident, and generally distributed. 



Usually found breeding in large colonies, occasionally in 

 some tree standing in the midst of a crowded bazaar ; but 

 not unfrequently solitary nests are found ; and I have heard 

 of their breeding in compounds in the middle of Calcutta 

 itself. I visited a breeding colony close to Kissengunge 

 station on the E. B. S. Railway, where the birds were 

 nesting in two small peepul trees in the company of 

 Phalacrocoraw pygmaus. On August 31, 1890, the Herons 

 mostly had eggs — some quite fresh and others ready to 

 hatch — while the Cormorants had full-grown young, which, 

 in many cases, struggled out of the nest and fell into the 

 floods beneath the trees. On June 7, 1891, the Herons 

 again had eggs in all stages of incubation, and many young 

 already hatched, but no Cormorants were to be seen any- 

 where near, and the Herons appeared to be occupying their 

 old nests, which are larger and more strongly constructed. 

 On the trees being climbed and the birds disturbed, both 

 old and young of each species disgorged quantities of fish, 

 frogs, and reptiles of all sorts, which fell on us and on the 

 ground beneath in a perfect shower. 



These Herons, and also their eggs, vary greatly in size ; 

 their nests are thin, flimsy structures of sticks, not unlike 

 Crows^, and the number of eggs varies from three to five. I 

 once found a nest in the top of a cocoauut-palm, which had 

 a quantity of dead reeds mingled with the sticks. 



