466 



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Sir, — I have, during the last three or four months, had peculi- 

 arly good opportunities of observing the different habits of the 

 Waders in their breeding haunts. Full notes in regard to each 

 and all of these that I observed I send for the new edition of 

 " Nests and Eggs," but one curious general fact that came to my 

 notice in regard to a whole community of these birds may be 

 worth separate notice. 



In July, I found five large colonies of these birds breeding 

 in the middle of a large swamp called the " Mukku Dhund." 

 Their breeding grounds were far removed from the haunts of 

 man, and were dense tamarisk jungle, mostly composed of young 

 trees growing in water from four to eight feet deep. 



The first breeding ground I visited, I got out of my canoe 

 and waded into it, the water being up to my chin. The birds 

 had all completed their nests, but with the exception of one or 

 two Blue and Purple Herons, none of them had laid eggs. 



I was extremely careful to make no noise, half wading, half 

 swimming, with nothing but my head above water ; and, as soon 

 as I was satisfied that the birds had not, with very few excep- 

 tions, as yet begun to lay, I stole out, got into my canoe, and 

 paddled away. The clamour the birds made could be heard a 

 long way off, and when inside amongst the nests the uproar 

 was deafening, and some of the sounds most diabolical. 



Some five days later, I returned with my canoe, laden with 

 tin boxes to pack the eggs in, but on getting close to the place, 

 none of the usual sounds met my ear ; neither did I see any 

 birds flying about the place, except one or two Blue and Purple 

 Herons. 



On wading into the jungle, I found that not only had the 

 birds deserted the place, but that they had carried away every 

 single stick belonging to their nests too ! 



Where, on my former visit, there were thousands of nests, 

 there was now not a vestige of one to be seen, so clean swept 

 was it that I almost thought I had mistaken the place, but a 

 box, which I had on my former visit left in a fork of a tree, 

 was clear evidence of my being on the original spot. The 

 one or two Herons which had begun to lay on my former visit 

 were the only occupants of the clump of jungle. 



It took me a week to find the new ground to which the 

 birds had taken themselves and their nests, and which was 

 some three miles away. This place I was very careful not to 

 go near until I was quite certain the birds were laying. 

 Numerous other birds came and joined in, and in the course of 



