234 ARDEID^E. 



Colonel Butler, writing from Sind, remarks : " Mr. Doig and I 

 found large numbers of Common Herons breeding in theE. Narra, 

 Sind, at the end of July 1878. The breeding-ground consisted of 

 a dense thicket of tamarisk-trees, extending over several acres of 

 ground in the middle of a large dhund, and in it Herons, Egrets, 

 Cormorants, Snake-birds, &c., innumerable, had collected to breed. 

 At first we experienced some difficulty in collecting the eggs we 

 wanted, as the instant the birds left their nests, flocks of Crows 

 descended and carried the eggs off ; but at last a happy thought 

 struck us, to arm ourselves with a good supply of the commoner 

 kind of eggs we did not care about and use them as missiles, tind 

 in this way we soon drove all of the Crows away. The nests of all 

 of the species I have mentioned were of the usual stick type, vary- 

 ing in size according to the species they belonged to, and extremely 

 numerous, being built at heights varying from 3 to 15 feet from 

 the surface of the water. The Herons and Egrets seemed to breed 

 together promiscuously, but the Snake-birds, Cormorants, White 

 Ibises, and Shell- Ibises built in separate colonies. The eggs, which 

 vary immensely in size, were mostly fresh and three seemed to be 

 the usual number. Mr. Doig informed me that in another part 

 of the Narra, where the water had risen earlier, he found eggs of 

 this and some of the other species at the end of June. 



" I noticed a quantity of Common Herons breeding in a dense 

 bed of tall bulrushes on the side of a tank at Milana, 18 miles east 

 of Deesa, in August 1876. They appeared to have young ones, 

 but the rushes \vere so dense and growing in such deep mud, that 

 we could not enter the bed to examine the nests. I mention this 

 fact as I see Mr. Hume's experience (Nests and Eggs, p. 611) is 

 that they always build on trees." 



And from Sind Mr. Scrope Doig adds the following note : 

 " This Heron and the Purple Heron I found breeding in July and 

 August in company with hundreds of Egrets, Snake-birds, Cormor- 

 ants, &c. The nests of this Heron were made of sticks, and were 

 situated in dense tamarisk-jungle growing in the middle of the 

 swamp. The normal number of eggs laid by the Common Heron 

 was found by me to be four, but several nests had as many as 

 five." 



In Ceylon, according to Colonel Legge, this Heron breeds 

 between November and March. 



The eggs of this species are too well known to require much 

 description. They vary much in shape and in size, but are 

 typically nearly perfect, moderately broad, ovals; very spherical 

 and very elongated varieties are common, and pyriform and very 

 pointed eggs are met with. The shell is firm, rather coarse, and 

 entirely glossless. In colour they are a delicate sea-green or bluish 

 green, very thickly set all over with excessively minute pores, which 

 are generally either white or filled with a white substance, the 

 desiccated droppings of the birds I believe. During incubation 

 and after being kept for some time, especially if exposed to the 

 light, the colour fades much. 



