THE INCUBATION OF SERPENTS. 345 



only e gg I procured —as the nests were invariably destroyed by 

 soldiers from the camp before the eggs were laid — was one from 

 the nest taken by Lieut. Giffard, previously alluded to. This is 

 decidedly small for the size and class of bird, of a chalky white, 

 or pale straw when held up against the light" (B). The egg found 

 by Eeid was much larger than those in Lieut. Gitfard's nest, 

 measuring 1-88 in. by 1*41 in. One of the latter in his possession 

 measures only 1*63 in. by 1*19 in. 



Platalea tenuirostris, Tenon., South African Spoonbill.— First 

 seen by Butler, a single bird being noted by him near Newcastle 

 on the 18th September. Afterwards occasionally observed in the 

 " vleys " ; and a small colony were found breeding by Butler on 

 the 1st October, in a thick reed-bed near the Buffalo Kiver, on 

 the Transvaal side, of which he furnishes the following note : — 

 " Found a small colony of Spoonbills, five or six pairs breeding 

 in a bed of bulrushes growing in a ' vley ' near Newcastle, on the 

 1st October, 1881. Nests large, composed of sedge, being built 

 just above the level of the water and placed within five or six 

 yards of each other. All contained young birds, either two or 

 three in number, almost ready to leave the nest, except one, 

 which contained three nearly fresh eggs, white, richly marked 

 with chestnut-brown. The parent birds evinced great anxiety for 

 their young as they hopped out of the nests, on my approach, 

 into the water, flapping their wings and trying to swim, and 

 descended on to the nests fearlessly within a few yards of me. In 

 the old birds, as far as I could see, the legs and feet were red or 

 pink (not black, as in P. leucorodia), and the young birds were 

 white, with black tips to the primaries ; bill livid grey ; legs and 

 feet grey. Not bad eating. The bulrushes, in which the nests 

 were found, were growing in water about three or four feet deep." 



(To be continued.) 



THE INCUBATION OF SERPENTS. 

 By Arthur Stradling, C.M.Z.S. 



Since the word " incubation " has an extended application 

 beyond its literal meaning, let me premise that in the course of 

 this brief account I shall use it only in its most limited signifi- 

 cation — the act of an animal covering its eggs with its body after 

 their extrusion. 



2 Y 



