EGRETS, HERONS, ETC. 177 



mynas and sturnopastors ; but in the spring of 

 1894 it was suddenly invaded by a troop of night- 

 herons, who adopted it as a roost, and a little 

 later in the season nested in it. During the 

 following year they did so in greatly increased 

 numbers, and remained in undisputed possession; and 

 it was not until the next season that cormorants 

 began to appear, at first in small numbers, but 

 afterwards in such constantly increasing multitudes, 

 that every available nesting-place seemed to be 

 fully occupied before any snake-birds came forward 

 as claimants for accommodation. Such a colony is 

 a truly remarkable sight during the breeding season, 

 when all the trees and shrubs are fully tenanted by 

 birds and bowed down under the weight of the 

 crowded nests. A continuous performance of " Box 

 and Cox" goes on for many weeks, as the herons 

 go out at dusk and return at dawn to drowse out 

 the daylight hours, during which the other members 

 of the community are busily fishing. 



Various kinds of wild ducks occasionally make 

 brief halts in garden-ponds during the course of 

 their autumnal and spring migrations. They seldom 

 stay for more than a day or two, but, where they 

 light upon a pond to their liking, they will occa- 

 sionally make it their head- quarters for a season, and 

 even return to it year after year. An instance of 

 such an event occurred in the Zoological Garden 

 at Alipur, where one of the ponds was, for six or 



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