1920 ] Ciipe San Anton io, Buenos Ay re?,. 53 



form, and rarely with any tiiier linings the height is only a 

 few inches above tlie water, and the shallow receptacle 

 fourteen to twenty inches across. Needless to say, the bird 

 always leaves or approaches the nest by flight, not by 

 swimming or wading. The Courlan is much victimised by 

 the Rosy-i)illed Duck {Metopiana peposacaWcWx.) ; one o£ my 

 entries mentions a nest containing six eggs of each species ; 

 another refers to there being two only of the rightful owner, 

 and no less than twelve of the Duck. 



Mr. Hudson puts the clutch as high as ten or twelve. I 

 have never known it to exceed seven ; and even five ma}^ be 

 incubated. The large eggs are rather round or elliptical in 

 shape. Two typical sets of six and seven respectively vary as 

 follows in appearance : — First clutch of a dull white ground- 

 colour, marked with spots, blotches, and streaks of pale 

 brown and purple, becoming confluent at the blunt end ; all 

 the eggs having also a general floury appearance. Second 

 clutch pale brown or buff in ground-colour, with strongly 

 marked large brown and violaceous blotches, and some bold 

 brown streaks, all increasing and becoming larger towards the 

 blunt end ; none presented the floury or powdered covering. 

 (N.B. The latter curious effect, though not uncommon in 

 some clutches, is by no means universal.) 



There is little variation on the whole in the size of the 

 eggs, the average measurement of which is 59 x 45 mm. 



385. Parra jacana Linn. Common Jacana. 



The Jacana — which I have seen in conjunction with the 

 Victoria Regia water-lily in the backwaters of the Parana 

 river at Asuncion in Paraguay — is not only a rare visitor to 

 the Ajo district, but, like the Brazilian Teal, is entirely 

 confined to years of exceptional floods. 



Mr. Hudson gives a full description of the species and its 

 habits in words worthy of his dainty and charming subject. 

 For its pictorial delineation, I think only a Japanese or 

 Chinese artist could render the necessary justice. 



The flood of 1877 (subsiding in the early summer) did not 



