NOTES ON THE FRESH-WATER FISHES OF INDIA. 461 
by detachments of Cormorants, who came to watch our move- 
ments, and then return to the main flock on the lake. The day 
was very unfavourable for small birds; but we heard the Cuckoo, 
Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff, and Willow Wren, besides seeing 
Starlings, Jackdaws, Magpies, and Sparrows. 
The eggs of the Spoonbill varied much in size, shape and 
colour. Some were long and narrow, with the small end almost 
as blunt as the large end, and scarcely varied in shape from the 
typical eggs of the Cormorant. Others, again, were so round 
that they might easily have been passed off by unprincipled 
dealers as eggs of the Kite. Many were scarcely spotted at all; 
in others the whole surface was evenly, but somewhat sparingly, 
sprinkled over with chestnut-brown spots; whilst in others the 
spots were accumulated in a zone round the large end, and 
frequently confluent. In one nest I picked up a small egg, 
almost round, not much larger than that of a Little Owl. As 
was to be expected, when I came to blow it I found that it 
contained no yoke. 
NOTES ON THE FRESH-WATER FISHES OF INDIA. 
By Francis Day, F.L.S. 
(Continued from p. 437.) 
Tue common Perch, at half-a-pound weight, has been found 
to contain 20,000 ova or upwards; at nearly three pounds, 127,240; 
at over three pounds, 155,620; and in one, the size of which is not 
mentioned, Picot found nearly 1,000,000. They are about the 
size of poppy-seeds, glued together by mucus into stringy bands 
or mesh-work, having much resemblance to frog-spawn. The 
female selects a spot where rushes, reeds, or grass grow in the 
water, or else seeks a piece of wood, or some hard substance, 
against which she rubs herself, or presses until one end of the 
gelatinous band of ova has become attached, then gently swimming 
away, the eggs are voided. The Sticklebacks, both marine and 
fresh-water, form nests for the reception of their eggs, as do many 
tropical fishes. The siluroids, Ariine, appear to have a still more 
difficult task to perform, as the male carries about the large eggs 
in his mouth until hatched, or it may be that he only removes 
them from some spot when danger is imminent. However this 
may be, I have netted many with from fifteen to twenty of the 
