STBENA. 



307 



lay. There were not less than twelve or more than twenty 

 couples. We shot one, a female, which we preserved. Whilst 

 the nests were being robbed, the birds whirled round and round 

 the men's heads, continually emitting their hoarse screaming 

 cry." 



The late Mr. A. Anderson wrote that when at Fyzabad (Oudh) 

 in 1867, he one day early in July came across a vast assemblage 

 of these Terns, flying about a swamp about a mile in circumference, 

 distant only about two miles from the town and within a stone's 

 throw of the main road and of a village that overlooked the water. 

 The swamp was one mass of tangled weeds and aquatic creepers, 

 and watching the birds he soon discovered that they were con- 

 structing on these floating nests, bringing for the purpose long 

 wire-like weeds, some of them two feet in length, from different 

 parts of the swamp. He goes on to say : — 



" On the 7th July we again visited the place, taking a small 

 canoe with us, which was pushed through the rushes and weeds 

 with the greatest difficulty, and we were soon rewarded with as 

 many eggs as we could carry home. 



" Each nest contained one, two, or three eggs, though possibly 

 four may be the proper number had we allowed the birds sufficient 

 time to lay the full complement. 



"The circumference of some of the nests I measured ranged 

 between 3J and 4 feet, and they were about 4 inches thick. They 

 were composed entirely of aquatic plants, and so interwoven with 

 the growing creepers that it was impossible to remove them with- 

 out cutting at the foundation of the structure." 



In India, so far as we yet know, they always make their own 

 nests, generally, as already mentioned, on the surface of floating 

 leaves, but sometimes on tufts of water-grass. It may, however, 

 be well to note that in Northern Africa Canon Tristram found a 

 whole colony of them breeding in the deserted nests of the Eared 

 Grebes, and possibly in some parts of India they may similarly 

 appropriate the old nests of other species. 



The eggs of this species are moderately broad ovals, a good deal 

 pointed towards one end. The texture is very fine and close, but 

 they have little or no gloss. 



The ground-colour varies, and is sometimes a pale olive stone- 

 colour, sometimes an olive-brown, sometimes a bright decided 

 green, or a rich or pale blue-green, sometimes a greenish grey, bat 

 most commonly a pale clear olive-green. The markings, which are 

 generally pretty numerous, consist of streaks, spots, and blotches 

 of deep blackish brown, umber-brown, or reddish brown, and of a 

 number of very pale purplish-brown clouds, streaks, and spots 

 underlying the primary markings. Sometimes the markings are 

 all very small and niggling, sometimes they are large and bold. 

 In a considerable number of eggs the majority of the markings 

 are towards the large end, and not a few exhibit there a bold 

 blotchy irregular zone. Some of the eggs have a very Snipe-like 

 character, with large oblique blotches ; some have only very small 



20* 



