FIRST LIST OF TIIE BIRDS OF THE SOUTH KONKAN. 91 



1*18. On the 20th April following another nest, with one fresh 

 egg, was found in a similar situation. 



933. — Ardetta cinnamomea, Gm. 



Malvan. Savant Vadi. 



In addition to the localities mentioned I shot a Chestnut 

 Bittern in a Snipe ground near Dapuli, but did not preserve 

 the specimen. I imagine it will be found to be very sparingly 

 distributed in suitable places throughout the district. 



937.— Nycticorax griseus, Lin. 



Mdlvan. | Dhainapur. 



Rare. I did not see the species at all in the northern parts 

 of the district, but may of course have overlooked it. 



939.— Platalea leucorodia, Lin. 



I Chiplun. | 



Up till this year I believed that this species, as well as Tanta- 

 lus leucocephalus, Anastomus oscitans, Inocotis papillosum, and 

 Falcinellus igneus, all comparatively common on the rivers of 

 the adjoining Sattara district, never descended the Ghats into 

 the Konkan. Last November, however, I was surprised and 

 interested to see for the first time a couple of Spoonbills on the 

 Vashishti. They were in miserable plumage, and were evi- 

 dently stragglers, who, like Artemus Ward during a trip by 

 steamer, " felt sick and sorry they'd come/' The laws which 

 govern the distribution of species having the same habits, and 

 requiring the same food, do occasionally seem capricious. Why 

 should Ibis melanocephala be comparatively common, while 

 Tantalus leucocephalus was a total stranger ? 



941.— Ibis melanocephala, Lath. 



| Mahapral. | 



Comes to the Savitri and Vashishti rivers in considerable 

 flocks in the cold weather. Its flesh is thought an especial 

 dainty by both Marathas and Musalmans, although described, 

 says Jerdon, as execrable by a writer in the Bengal Sporting 

 Review. 



944.— Phsenicopterus roseus, Pall. 



Ratnagiri. 



Flamingos occasionally are seen on the mud flats at Ratna- 

 giri. Dr. Armstrong got several specimens in 1877-78, and 

 I got a pair on 31st October 1879. 



3 1 st October 1879, Female. — Length, 43; wing, 15 ; tarsus, 

 12 ; bare portion of tibia, 1{ ; bill from base to tip round curve ; 



