358 PAEEIBJE. 



we had observed several nests, and we found them all swamped. 

 On another tank, however, I found two eggs and several half-finished 

 nests. 



" On 19th September I took four nests and on 3rd October four 

 more. On 26th October, observed a nest with four eggs. On 3rd 

 November it was in same state. Five days later it was found 

 hatched out and the chicks gone. 



" On 21st November, whilst snipe-shooting, I met a man with 

 three 3'oung of this species, two of them half -grown and one a tiny 

 thing of two or three days. 



" In my searches after these nests, I noticed a peculiar fact, that 

 the Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed Jacanas never bred on 

 the same tank if it was small; and if the tank was large or long, 

 the ends or sides were appropriated by different species. 



" I may add that I often found nests floating on water which 

 was 8 feet deep." 



Mr. Oates writes from Pegu : — " I procured a nest with four eggs 

 on the 6th of August." 



The eggs of this species are amongst the handsomest I have ever 

 seen. 



In shape the eggs are moderately broad ovals a good deal pointed 

 towards one end, and, especially when fresh, have the most superb 

 lustre of any egg I know ; indeed, it is often difficult to convince 

 people who see them for the first time that they are not made of 

 agate, or, when they feel tliem for themselves, fancy imitations 

 made in the lacquer-Mork in which the natives of some parts of 

 India so greatly excel. This extraordinarily high polish grows some- 

 what less bright after the eggs have been kept some time, but even 

 when years have passed away they still remain the glossiest of our 

 Indian eggs. 



The ground-colour varies much : in some it is a very pale stone- 

 brown, in others a rich cafe-au-lait colour ; in others again a reddish 

 olive-brown, and in some a ^ei-y deep rufous or at times oli\e-brown. 

 The markings are chiefly blackish brown, at times aU but black, and 

 here and there paling to a deep reddish brown, and they consist almost 

 exclusively of lines, finer or coarser, intertwined and entangled, as 

 it were, one with the other in inextricable confusion. Here and 

 there a few spots and even blotches are noticeable, but the general 

 character of the markings is as above described. 



In length the eggs \ary from 1'3 to 1'55, and in breadth from 

 0-96 to 1-OS ; but the average of fifty-eight eggs is l-i? by 1-03. 



Hydrophasianus chirurgus (8cop.). T7ie Pheasant-tailed Jaea/ut. 



Hvdi'ophasiauus chirurffus (Scop.), Jerd. B. Lid. ii, p. 709; Sume, 

 'Rough Di-aft K. (§■ jE.-no. 901. 



The Pheasant-taUed Jacana, unlike the preceding species, is 

 really found all o\er India, ascending the hills to some extent and 

 breeding freely, for instance, in the lakes in Cashmere. Long since 

 I described the nidification of this species, and I have nothing 

 further to add to what I then said, which I now quote : — 



