486 Mr. G. L. Bates on the 



been set for ducks, over or in the water. According to the 

 account it must have come into the snare not at niglit, hut 

 ahout 8 or 9 o'clock in tlie morning. When ahve, and I'or 

 an hour or two after death, there Avas a bluish tint or 

 "bloom" on the plumage of the head, which disappeared 

 later. The same peculiarity has been noted in the plumage 

 of other Herons and in a species of Dove. 



VlNAGO CALVA. [Ohcng.] 



Sharpe, Ibis, 1907, p. 419. 



Nos. 3807, 4390, and 4487 Avere young birds just able to 

 fly, that Avere caaght and brought in to me, as were also 

 some other individuals like them. They have the head "saj)- 

 grcen" and the feathers of the other upper parts grey Avith 

 *^ sap-green" edges. 



No. 4389, ? adult, had sixteen rectrices; a number of 

 others examined, of both sexes, had fourteen. The wing in 

 this species is diastata\ic. 



1 have records of eight Cheng's nests taken or seen, in 

 every case with one egg only. Three eggs that Avcre pre- 

 served measure 32 x 25, 29 x 23, and 28 x 22 mm. 



In connection with one of the nests there Avas a curious 

 circumstance worth recording. This nest Avas placed in a 

 small atondok tree at the edge of my clearing. In the 

 morning 1 saAv an Obeng fly off, leaving its one egg lying as 

 if lodged on a few chance dry sticks — the only nest this 

 Pigeon makes. About two hours luter I approached the 

 place again, and heard the Avhistling noise made by the 

 bird's Avings in flying off. The little nest Avas there, but no 

 egg. I searched carefully on the ground and among the 

 bushes under the nest, but, as I found no traces of the egg, 

 can only suppose it was carried off by the bird on being 

 disturbed a second time iu one morning. 



As to the way in Avhich the egg had been traus])orted, I 

 may add that the bird hardly had time to take the egg in its 

 mouth before it flew. When the Obeng sits, the egg is kept 

 between the fcatliered feet. It would be possible, I should 

 think, for the bird to carry the egg thus between its feet, 



