PARKING. 711 



into a less marked yellow neck stripe, and the brown band is also 

 less distinct. 



This handsome bird, like the last, is spread throughout India and 

 Ceylon, in similar localities, but it perhaps less affects conceal- 

 ment, exposing itself on the top of some Lotus or floating plants, 

 and when approached generally flying off and not endeavouring 

 to conceal itself in the herbage. Some of the males appear to get 

 the breeding plumage very early, or not to lose it, for I have seen 

 it in February with its summer vesture, long tail, &c. : most of the 

 birds however do not change till from April to June. It makes a 

 large floating nest of dried pieces of grass and herbage, sometimes, 

 according to some accounts, of the stalks of growing rice which 

 it bends downwards and intertwines, and it lays, in July or August, 

 from four to seven eggs, sometimes more, of a fine bronze 

 brown or green. It has a loud call, likened by some to the 

 mewing of a cat, or a kitten in distress, by others to the distant 

 cry of a hound; an imitation of the sound is attempted in the 

 Hindustani names, Piho, and Meewah. The Cingalese, also, accord- 

 ing to Layard, call it the Cat-teal. Like the last species, it feeds 

 chiefly on vegetable matter but also on shells and water insects. 



In Purneah the natives say that before the inundation, i. e., 

 during the breeding season, it calls dub dub, i. e. } go under water ; 

 and afterwards, in the cold weather, powar, powar, which, in 

 Purneah dialect, means next year. 



Gould, in his birds of Asia, states that the filamentous appen- 

 dages of this bird militate against its flight: this certainly does 

 not appear to be the case, and he further says, (probably from 

 imperfect information) that the seasonal changes have not been 

 fully ascertained. In winter this species is gregarious, though 

 perhaps less so than the last bird. If only wounded it is difficult 

 to find, as it dives at once and remains with its bill only out of the 

 water. The flesh is said to be excellent. Blyth states that he 

 has kept both this and the previous species in confinement, and 

 that they thrive well on shrimps. The present bird was, in the 

 aviary, rather quarrelsome with its kind. 



The genus Parra is restricted to some American birds, and one 

 of the best known is P. jacana, Lin., from Brazil. In this group 



