SU JOUENAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XlV. 



H. L. H. was Judge for four years in the same station where I am, and 

 during that time we collected eggs assiduously with very satisfactory results 

 and gathered a great deal of information of interest about birds, which we 

 intend to publish some day in the near future. We found that the Banded 

 Crake was a fairly common bird in the jungles along the coast during the 

 monsoon ; and we obtained altogether some dozen nests with eggs varying 

 in number from four to seven in the clutch, bes'des finding many empty 

 ones. All the nests with eggs were found in the months of June to Sept- 

 ember, i.e., during the heavy rains. Many nests were found robbed of 

 their contents by mongooses, &c., the empty egg-shells lying on the ground 

 below, some few there were in which the eggs were rotten. The nests are 

 placed in bamboo clumps, on creeper-masses, on the top of a tree stump, &c,, 

 and were at the most six feet from the ground. The size of the egg is 

 about rSO" X 1" on an average ; one of the largest ouc of a series of 50 

 measures 1"40" X r20". The birds breed in the dens,est jungles as well 

 as in the scrub jungles, from sea level up to the tops of the highest hills which 

 are here about 1800 feet, 



Mr. Davidson noticed this bird first in Kanara as mentioned in his 

 Birds of North Kanara, in Vol, XII, p, 60 of this Journal, What he says 

 there about its habit of calling in the mornings and evenings is correct ; but 

 it calls at other times during heavy, misty weather. The cry is rather like 

 that of the common hen after laying an egg ; but there is a difference. Sud- 

 denly disturbed, it utters the cry of the common paddy bird (^Ardeola grayi) 

 when alarmed ; if suspicious of danger, it makes a noise like ' krrrrr" 

 pronounced in a subdued voice. It is extremely shy of open ground and 

 will invariably fly across even a few feet of open path in the jungle ; when 

 flushed, it takes to the nearest tree or any thickly fol'aged place available, 

 and is quite at home perched on a branch. We have put up many during 

 our walks, generally with dogs. I have never seen one during the dry 

 months, though I am coustantly in their breeding htiunts during that time_ 

 Whether they migrate or not from the district we do not know for certain, 

 but it seems probable. It would be interesting to know where they go. 



I have kept this Crake in a cage on several occasions in my bungalow, and 

 the birds have, after a few hours, become quite unconcerned as to the un- 

 accustomed surroundings. When thus caged they are very pugnacious and 

 will instantly go for a finger or hand inserted through the bars. In the 

 jungles they go about with their wings slightly hanging. They feed on 

 insects. 



GorsacJdus melanolophus or the Malay Bittern was first discovered b^ 

 J. Davidson in Kanara. He published his observations about this bird iu 

 Vol. XII, p. 70 of this Journal {The Birds of North Kanara). What he 

 says there as to its habits is absolutely correct. It is not a rare bird in 

 Kanara when one knows where to look for it. I have found many nest-* 

 perhiips some two dozen in all ; but it is hard w\.'rk ut the best of ti.tue^ 



