12 The Zoologist — January, 1866. 



darters and paddy-birds, &c., make it their rendezvous on these 

 occasions. 



From about the middle of October to the middle of November small 

 floclis of twenty or thirty of some of these birds are to be seen, coming 

 from the north to settle here during the breeding-season. By the 

 beginning of December they have all settled down ; each tribe knows 

 its appointed time, and arrives year after year, with the utmost regu- 

 larity, within a fortnight, later or earlier, depending partly on the 

 seasons. Some, from the lateness at which they arrive, appear to have 

 come from great distances. They commence immediately by building 

 their nests or repairing the old ones, preparatory to depositing their 

 eggs. When they have fully settled down, the scene becomes one of 

 great interest and animation. 



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 to be a moving mass 

 of black, white and gray, the snowy white plumage of the egrets and 

 curlews contrasting with and relieved by the glossy black of the 

 water-crows and darters, and by the gray and black plumage of the 

 storks. 



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 six to eight 

 inches, according to the size of the bird. 



The curlews 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 

 storks sometimes adopt a similar plan. 



The whole of the nests are built of twigs and sticks, interwoven to 

 the height of eight to ten inches, with an outside diameter of eigliteen 

 to twenty-four inches; the inside is slightly hoUow^od 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 arc constantly 

 moving on the wing, backwards and forwards, in SRarch of food, now 

 returning to their young with the spoil, and again, as soon as they have 

 satisfied their cravings, going off in search of a further supjjly. About 



