256 AUDEID^E. 



of the ideality of the eggs, as there were two pairs of the birds in 

 the clump of rushes in which I found the nest, a single bird rose 

 close to the nest, and there was no other bird to be found anywhere 

 near the tank that the eggs could possibly have belonged to. On 

 the 24th instant I found another nest exactly similar in every 

 respect, but built in a clump of bulrushes growing quite on the 

 outside of the bed. The bird rose off the nest within a yard of 

 me, but there were no eggs, and when I returned a few days later 

 the nest was deserted. I only saw about three pairs of the birds 

 altogether, one of which I shot, and a fortnight later when I 

 visited the ground they had all disappeared, so that probably they 

 only remain here during the rains." 



Mr. Scrope Doig, writing from the E. Narra, Sind, says: "This 

 Little Bittern is very common here during the hot weather : I have 

 found their nests in May and again in August. Five is the usual 

 number of eggs in one nest. The nest is sometimes situated in 

 the centre of a tussock of grass, or in a bunch of reeds growing in 

 the centre of a tamarisk-bush in the water, and two nests I found 

 in the middle of some rushes ; the tops of the rushes had been bent 

 down and tied together, forming a little platform, about three feet 

 over the water, and on this the eggs were laid. Several nests 

 which I found containing one egg I left, returning some four clays 

 after expecting to find five eggs, but in each case I found the nest 

 deserted and the egg gone. One nest, which was in the middle of 

 a lot of rushes and was found by my man, contained two eggs ; I 

 went with him the next day to see the nest, hoping it might be 

 one of A. minuta ; to my disgust on getting to the nest I found 

 the eggs smashed and the parent bird (female) lying dead on the 

 nest, and half eaten. What could have killed the bird I cannot 

 say. The eggs of this Bittern are very nearly spherical in shape, 

 and are, when first blown, of a delicate pale sea-green, but after 

 a time they get almost white. They vary from 1-15 to 1*25 in 

 length, and from -90 to '95 in width, the average of 21 eggs being 

 1-19 in length and -95 in breadth." 



Mr. Oates has the following note on the breeding of this 

 Bittern in Pegu : " Common as this bird is, its nest is one of 

 the most difficult to find, and when found, to secure. It selects 

 the matted leaves of immense reeds, and places its nests on the 

 summit where wind and rain have entangled the leaves and worked 

 them into a platform. The nest itself is a mere pad of dry grass 

 and leaves. 



" I have only taken one nest, which contained four eggs. They 

 are without gloss and a pale green colour. They measure 1-26, 

 1-31, 1-3, and 1-28, by -95, -95, -97, and -93 respectively. They 

 were found on the 20th August and were fresh." 



The eggs are small, regular, symmetrical and sometimes some- 

 what cylindrical ovals. The shell is extremely fine, smooth, and 

 has a slight gloss ; the colour is a very delicate greenish white. 



Numerous eggs vary from 1-2 to 1*39 in length by 0*88 to 1*0 

 in breadth. 



