172 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVII^ 



Xenorhynchus asiaticus, standing on the edge of her nest. She had just 

 flown up from the jheel a little way off and after a bit she settled herself 

 into the nest. I was unable to visit the nest then but next morning I 

 went to the nest, taking a man to climb. The bird was on the nest but 

 flew off as the man went up. On his approaching the nest, to my surprise 

 two nearly full grown young birds got up in the nest, and as the man got 

 close, flew off; they were very shaky and wobbly, evidently their first and 

 a ' forced ' flight. The man went on to the nest, and to my surprise said 

 there vras an egg. I told him to bring it down, thinking it was an addled 

 one, but on his reaching the ground 1 saw there were two eggs. On blowing 

 them they proved to be perfectly fresh. Surely this is most curious ? 



GoNDA, llth March 1920. F. FIELD. 



No. XII.— EGRET AND LIZARD. 



I witnessed this morning what appeared to me a rather astonishing 

 performance on the part of a common white Egret (Paddy bird or Bogla.), 



When I first noticed it, it had caught either a Chamaeleon or a Lizard at 

 least a foot long. This creature was struggling furiously in the Egret's bill. 

 It repeatedly succeeded in escaping but was always recaptured after 

 running a few yards. After a bit its struggles became feeble and I noticed 

 that it was then always caught by the head, whereas at first the bird caught 

 it by any portion of the body it could catch hold of. The Egret now 

 started to try and swallow its head first. The head and front legs went in 

 but it began to struggle furiously with its hind legs and long tail sticking 

 out. The commotion that went on in the bird's neck was now extraordi- 

 nary to witness. It looked as if the lizard's head or legs must break out 

 through the neck. Several times a black patch appeared on the neck of the 

 bird which looked like the lizard's head coming through but it was only that 

 the skin was stretched very tightly and the colour of the lizard or skin 

 showed through the feathers. At last after fearful efforts the hind legs 

 also went down. The bird then stood working its neck, in which the 

 bulge could still be seen, up and down for about ten minutes. After that it 

 flew away none the worse. When the bird stood holding the lizard in 

 its bill the latter looked quite as long as the bird itself and I would never 

 have beheved it could have been swallowed. 



Khtjmti, Ranchi Dist., H. R. MEREDITH, i.c.s. 



Chota Nagpur, 13^^ May 1919. 



No. XIII.— COMMON POCHARD {N. FERRINA) AT BANGALORE. 



Last Sunday Captain W. Le C. Brodrich while out with me shot a 

 male Common Pochard {Nyroca ferrina) in full plumage. Is it not very 

 rare for this bird to be found so far south as Bangalore ? Both Oates and 

 Finn say that he is not found south of Bellary. 



E. O. KING, Capt., i.a.k.o. 

 Bangalore, 10th March 1920. 



[Stuart Baker in " Indian Ducks and their allies" says that the ocour- 

 rence of these birds in Mysore is very rare — Eds.] 



No. XIV.— MESOPOTAMIAN BIRD NOTES. 



With reference to the Revd. F. C. R. Jourdain's remarks on my notes, ©n 

 Mesopotamian birds, I submit the following in reply. 



