372 GiiuiB^. 



much the appearance of those of T. taigoor, but of course far 

 smaller. Pour was the largest number of eggs I ever got in one 

 nest." 



The eggs of this species are very similar to, but much smaller 

 than, those of T. taigoor; they are even smaller (markedly narrower) 

 than those of T. tanJci. 



They are moderately broad ovals, much pointed towards one end, 

 and very fairly glossy. They have a pale yellowish stone-coloured 

 ground^! minutely freckled all over with specks of yellowish and 

 greyish brown, overlaid with somewhat larger streaks, spots, and 

 mottlings of dark earthy brown, varying in shade in different eggs, 

 and often much more dense towards the large end, where in some 

 they form a sort of mottled irregular cap. Small spots or clouds 

 of pale inky purple are usually scattered amidst the other 

 markings. 



The eggs that I have seen have only varied from 0'81 to 0-89 in 

 length, and from 0-63 to 0-68 in breadth. 



Family GRUIU^. 



Grus antigone (Linn.). The Sams Crane. 



Grus antigone {Linn.),Jerd. B.lnd. ii, p. 662 ; Hume, Rough Draft 

 N. ^ E. no. 863. 



The Sarus breeds freely over the whole of the North- West 

 Provinces, Oudh, and Upper Bengal, and more rarely in the Pun- 

 jab, Cis-Sutlej, the eastern portion of Eajpootana, and parts of the 

 Central Provinces. 



Tbey breed in July and August, some few laying in some seasons 

 as late as November. Soon after the first burst of the rains, i. e. 

 towards the close of June, the old birds, which I may mention pair 

 for life, begin to construct their nest. These are in nine cases out 

 of ten on some firm spot in the midst of the largest jheel or swamp 

 that they can find — not always an island, for they often build on 

 sites completely overflowed, but some spot that would be an island 

 if the water fell eight or ten inches. 



The nest is a hugh heap, a broad truncated cone, composed of 

 reeds and rushes and straw, varying much in size according to 

 situation and circumstances. At top it is about two feet in diame- 

 ter, mth a central depression from four to eight inches deep for 

 the eggs. If, as is commonly the case, the nest is placed in water, 

 the bottom of the egg-cavity will be from eight to twelve inches 

 above the surface of the water, and there may be six inches to two 

 feet of nest below water. On more than one occasion, when in 

 sudden and heavy falls such as we get in India, six and eight inches 

 of ram falling within twelve hours, the jheels were rising very 

 rapidly, I have seen the birds very busy raising their nests. One 

 nest that had thus been raised I measured a couple of months 



