72 
in breadth. The gizzard of the male bird, which I shot rising from 
the nest whence the eggs were taken, was of a strong and rough tex- 
ture, much like that of a fowl; it contained some bright yellow sub- 
stance, a few small stones, a seed, and a few small particles of grass. 
Although the Spoonbill does not build its nest in the same situation 
as the Tantalus or Ibis, I quite agree with Dr. Jerdon that the 
Spoonbill shows more affinity to the Ibis than to the Herons, from 
the size and colouring of its eggs; and I believe that the more the 
study of oology is taken up, the more clearly will it be shown that birds 
may be nearly as well classed by the number and colour of their 
eggs and their mode of nidification, as by their external form and 
internal organization. The egg is white, with a belt of light red 
spots at the larger end. 
Genus Ciconia (Briss.). 
Ciconta LEUCOCEPHALA (Jerdon). WHITE-NECKED STORK. 
I have but seldom met with this handsomely-marked bird, but I 
was fortunate enough to find it in its breeding haunts, and to secure 
its eggs. On the 7th March 1850, I found a pair of these Storks 
breeding in rather a low peepul tree; the nest was composed of 
sticks, and contained four white eggs, nearly 2,5 in. in length, 
by nearly 1,%, in. in breadth. On the same tree a Black Vulture 
(Vultur ponticerianus) had also built its nest, containing one egg. 
In February I found young birds ; when hatched, the beak and bare 
skin of the face are of a dull greenish-black, irides brown; the body 
is covered with light brownish fawn-coloured down, legs and feet 
dull brownish-orange. On one tree were two nests, each containing 
two young. The nests were composed of sticks, and built near the 
top of the tree, a tall Indian fig, the stem of which was partly within 
the walls of a village. These birds, I was informed, breed in the 
same tree every year. 
Genus Tantatus (L.). 
TANTALUS LEUCOCEPHALUS. PELICAN I[sIs. 
The Pelican Ibis, as it is called by Dr. Jerdon, is a common bird 
in the Deccan, frequenting rivers and tanks, and feeding, I believe, 
chiefly on fish. Its large size renders it remarkable, particularly 
during the breeding season, when the back and scapulars attain 
their particularly rich rosy tint. These birds are social, feeding in 
flocks. Iwas told by the natives of a village close to a tank fre- 
quented by them, and close to one of their breeding places, that 
when they fish in the tank they walk in the shallow water in line, 
driving the fish before them. In another village, about ten miles 
from the Godavery River, where there are a great number of large 
banian trees both outside and inside the walls, I found a commu- 
nity of these birds, which had built their nests on them, probably 
to the number of fifty. The trees inside the walls were as thickly 
