WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 5 
“waters. In Sind, at any rate, its haunt is always near water. 
Circaétus gallicus is reported; I have not seen it. 
The Harriers abound, especially the Marsh Harrier. This, a large 
Buzzard, and the Dwarf Hagle frequent marshy ground and the 
edge of water. Mr. Hume has recorded his Malvus major and the 
Grey Kite (Elanus cwruleus), occurs on the Indus; the Brahminy 
Kite is pretty common, and breeds, and so does the Fish Owl 
(Ketupa ceylonensis). The aquatic raptores, it will be observed, 
retain a strong tropical element, though, on the whole, the Palearctic 
forms slightly predominate, and are by far the most noticeable. 
_ Of Kingfishers we have one northern species, the Huropean King- 
fisher, Alcedo ispida, said to breed; and one tropical, Alcedo benga- 
- lensis, which it is said does not. Halcyon smyrnensis and Ceryle 
rudis, both of which breed in Sind, are sub-tropical forms extending 
from the Mediterranean to the Equator. I, knew a:kingfisher to 
breed in a suspended grass-woven nest, probably originally the work 
of a Ploceus or allied bird, in the bank of a canal near Shikarpur. 
I supposed the bird to be A. bengalensis, but it was probably A. 
ispida. We have here none of the Malayan forms like Ceyx, or 
even Pelargopsis. 
Amongst Storks, Sind possesses the great Adjutant, the Jabiru 
( Mycteria australis), the true Black Stork, more frequent here than 
in our former provinces, but only a winter visitor; the Black White- 
necked Stork, a resident, and the Huropean Stork, abundant in the 
cold weather only. ‘The Grey and Grass (Purple) Herons abound, 
with several species of White Egrets and Dwarf Herons, Night 
Herons, and Paddy-birds innumerable. Nearly all breed here. 
The European bittern is not very rare in the cold weather; and of 
dwarf bitterns, Ardetta flavicollis, cinnamomea, sinensis and minute 
occur, and probably all breed. The first and last certainly do. 
The Spoon-bill is common in the cold weather. I do not think 
it breeds here; but the Pelican Ibis, Shell Ibis, White, Black, and 
Glossy Ibises all do, especially in the marshes and islands of what 
is called the Hastern Narra, now the uppermost branch of the Indus 
on its left bank, draining off towards the Great Desert, east of the 
Ghar Hills. 
In Sind, the Snipes and their allies are all of northern types, 
with one exception, the Painted Snipe, which breeds here. The 
Woodcock is not recorded from Sind. Of the Parrine we have the 
Water-Pheasant (Hydrophasianus chirurgus), which is resident, but 
