14. LIST OF BIRDS IN MANIPUR, 



a small snake in its claws. They are about the boldest of the 

 different species of Harriers seen in Assam, as they fly past 

 well within range, but when seated on the ground it is rather 

 difficult to stalk one of them. On the 13th April, 1885, when 

 shooting on one of the churs of the Brahmaputra river with 

 a couple of friends, a female of this species rose off a tangled 

 mass of " Ooloo " {Saccharum cylindricum, Lin.) grass about 

 20 yards ahead of our elephants. On reaching the spot we 

 found one perfectly fresh egg. The nest was a mere depression 

 in an apology of a pad made of the dry stems, &c., of " Ooloo " 

 grass, and was placed on a mass of tangled living grass about 

 two feet off the ground. The country was perfectly open, 

 with a few " Bombax " trees studded about, grass being the 

 only cover for miles. In taking this egg home it got smashed ; 

 the pieces however were saved for comparison with any other 

 eggs I might get of this species. A week later I was for- 

 tunate enough to get another egg at a place called Sepon, 

 several miles inland from the Brahmaputra. There was a 

 stretch of about 2,000 acres of ground covered with only 

 " Ooloo " grass, and while beating this for deer, I noticed a 

 pair of these birds chasing one another in the playful manner 

 most birds do during the hymeneal season. The ? after a time 

 was lost to view, but on our approaching the nest she flew off ; 

 I feathered, but did not get her. The nest and egg were 

 similar in all respects to the first one, and like it got broken 

 while carrying home. The pieces were sent to the Editor of 

 S. F.—J. R C] 



At the Logtak lake I saw several specimens of a very 

 large Harrier quite of the type of females of melanoleucus, but 

 decidedly larger and with a markedly more powerful flight. 

 I was able repeatedly to examine them with glasses as they 

 swept across, a few feet above the surface of the water, right in 

 front of me, at distances of from 80 to 100 yards, and I entertain 

 myself no doubt that they were G. spilonotus. Unfortunately 

 all my craft proved of no avail ; day after day I devoted hours 

 to the attempt, but though there were certainly not less than 

 five about the lake, I never could succeed in circumventing one, 

 and so am unable to enter this species in the list. 



G. spilonotus has not yet, so far as we know, been pro- 

 cured anywhere within our limits. 



54— Circus seruginosus, Lin. 



Not very scarce at the Logtak lake, but only once or twice 

 met with elsewhere in the basin and never in the hills of 

 Manipur. I never saw this species in Sylhet or Cachar, nor has 

 any one of late years recorded it from Assam, though it doubt- 



