369 



By Scropb B. Doig, Esq., C.E. 



It is with considerable hesitation that I venture to place 

 before the readers of " Stray Feathers" an account of mj 

 observations ou the nidification of some few birds in the 

 *' Eastern Narra." 



I feel that I am very ignorant of ornitholog-y as a science, 

 having only lately directed my attention to the subject ; but, 

 on the other hand, I have been very fortunate in discovering the 

 breeding haunts of several species, of whose nidification in 

 India, little or nothing has been hitherto known, so that a brief 

 record of the results of my discoveries may not be altogether 

 valueless. 



I have, therefore, at the request of the Editor, strung together 

 a few notes on the subject in which I have endeavoured to put 

 the information I have gathered into as concise a form as 

 possible. 



Any little success which has attended my efforts is due first 

 to the assistance I have received from my friend. Captain B. A. 

 Butler, and secondly to the kindly interest taken in my work 

 by Mr. Hume. 



I propose to divide my paper into three sections, and, as the 

 " Eastern Narra^^ is probably a te7Ta incognita to many, will 

 begin by giving a brief description of it. 



Section I. 



The Eastern N arra : Its Geographical position, its physical fea- 

 tures^ and a tentative list of the birds which breed there. 



The Eastern Narra is supposed formerly to have been a 

 branch of the Indus. At present, however, except in years of 

 flood, its only connection with the river is by an artificial chan- 

 nel some twelve miles in length, taking off from the river at 

 Robree. For the first two hundred miles of its course the 

 Narra runs through the territory of H. H. Meer Ali Murad, the 

 banks on both sides being a sandy desert. In about north lati- 

 tude 26°15' it debouches into the plain, and hugging with its 

 left bank the sand hills along the desert, it runs in a southerly 

 direction parallel to the Indus, and at a distance of about 80 

 njiles from it, until it finally empties itself into the Biuun of 

 Kutch at Lukput. 



