HERODIAS. 239 



"During the day the majority are out feeding, and towards 

 evening the various birds begin to arrive in parties of ten, fifteen, 

 or more, and in a short time the trees are literally covered with 

 bird-life : every part of the crown is hidden by its noisy occupants, 

 who fight and struggle with each other for perches. Each tree 

 appears like a moving mass of black, white, and grey, the snowy 

 white plumage of the Egrets and Ibises contrasting with, and 

 relieved by, the glossy black of the Water-Crows and Darters and 

 by the grey and black plumage of the Shell-Ibises. 



" The nests lie side by side touching each other, those of the 

 different species arranged in groups of five or six, or even as many 

 as ten or twenty, on each tree. 



" The nests are shallow, and vary in inside diameter from 6 to 8 

 inches, according to the size of the bird. 



" The Ibises do not build separate nests, but raise a large mound 

 of twigs and sticks shelved into terraces as it were, and each terrace 

 forms a separate nest ; thus eight or ten run into each other. The 

 Shell-Ibises sometimes adopt a similar plan. 



"The whole of the nests are built of sticks and twigs, inter- 

 woven to the height of 8 or 10 inches, with an outside diameter of 

 18 to 24 inches ; the inside is slightly hollowed out, in some more 

 and in others less, and lined with grass ; reeds and quantities of 

 leaves are laid on the nests. In January the callow young are to be 

 seen in the nests. During this time the parent birds are con- 

 stantly moving on the wing, backwards and forwards, in search for 

 food, now returning to their young loaded with the spoil, and 

 again, as soon as they have satisfied their cravings, going off in 

 search of a further supply. About the end of January or early in 

 February the young are able to leave their nests and scramble into 

 those of others. They begin to perch about the trees, and by the 

 end of February or the beginning of March those that were hatched 

 first are able to take wing and accompany their parents on 

 foraging expeditions ; and a week or two later, in consequence of 

 the drying-up of the tanks in the vicinity, they begin to emigrate 

 towards the north with their parents and friends, except perhaps a 

 few whose young are not as yet fledged, and who stay behind 

 some time longer. Thus in succession the different birds leave the 

 place, so that it is completely deserted by the middle of April, by 

 which time the tank also becomes dry ; and the village cattle graze 

 in its bed or shelter themselves under the trees from the scorching 

 heat of the mid-day sun, while the cow-boys find amusement in 

 pulling down the deserted nests." 



I have seen scores of similar breeding-places in Upper India, 

 but these are always occupied with us in July and August. Can 

 it be that any of the birds that breed in the south in December 

 and January breed again with us in July ? Certainly, during the 

 cold season one does not see a tithe of the birds about Etawah, 

 say, that are to be seen during our rainy season. 



Major Biugham remarks : " I found two or three nests of this 

 large Egret in July near ' Reya-ka-tal,' eight miles from Alla- 

 habad." 



