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Chot Saboun the Stilt breeds in great abundance amongst the wet grass, choosing for the position 

 of its nest a small tuft, so as just to keep the eggs out of the water. Sometimes, however, this 

 object is not attained, as we occasionally found nests in which the eggs were half immersed. The 

 bird uses its long legs with much greater ease than might be expected ; and its long, deliberate 

 strides, as it stalks about in search of food, are far from being ungraceful. The only time they 

 seem to be in its way is at the moment of taking flight, when they hang awkwardly down till the 

 bird, being fairly started, stretches them out, extending them far beyond the tail. We used to 

 search for the nests of this bird on horseback, and, on observing one sitting, to ride up without 

 taking our eyes off the place. The bird would remain quiet till we were within thirty yards of 

 the nest, when it would walk slowly away, till, aware of our purpose, it would rise and fly, 

 wheeling and screaming overhead. The young Stilt is able to walk almost immediately on 

 leaving the egg ; one we found was capable of moving about while the other three were struggling 

 to free themselves from the shell. The nest is composed of a few bits of dead reed or grass. The 

 complement of eggs laid by one bird is four." 



In a letter to the Editor of ' The Ibis ' (Ibis, 1870, p. 146) some interesting details are given 

 by Mr. A. O. Hume respecting the nidification of this bird in India. " I was," he writes, " delighted 

 at finding the other day that they bred in hundreds at the Sooltanpoor salt-works, which are 

 situated in the Goorgaou district, some five-and-thirty miles south of Delhi. The birds are seen 

 in small numbers throughout the year, but congregate in great numbers early in May about the 

 works, which consist of brine-wells and many hundred acres of shallow rectangular evaporating- 

 pans, from one to two hundred feet square, and from six to ten inches deep. These pans are 

 merely depressions dug in the soil and lined with clmnam or fine lime, obtained by burning 

 hunker, a nodular concretionary limestone, found in beds near the surface, more or less through- 

 out the plains of Upper India. Small strips of ground from one to five or six feet broad, divide 

 the pans ; and on the margins of these, or even in the beds of disused pans, where only a little 

 brine ever stands, the Stilts build their nests. 



" They collect together small pieces of hunker, or the broken lime lining of the pans, into a 

 circular platform, from five to seven inches in diameter, and from two to three inches in height ; 

 on this, again, they place a little dry grass, on which they usually lay four eggs, but not unfre- 

 quently only two or three. They begin to lay towards the end of May ; and by the beginning of 

 July numbers of young are to be seen about, and most of the eggs that remain are hard-set. The 

 majority of the birds lay during the second week in June." 



Mr. G. R. Gray (Hand-1. of B. iii. p. 47. no. 10292) and many other authors call the present 

 species Himantopus autumnalis (Hasselq.), basing the specific name on Hasselquist's description ; 

 but I have convinced myself that this is an error. I have now before me the English edition of 

 Hasselquist's 'Journey,' edited by Linnseus, bearing date 1766, wherein are inserted references to 

 the tenth edition of the ' Systema Naturae.' From it I transcribe the following (Voy. & Trav. in 

 the Levant, p. 1 99. no. 27) : — " Tringa autumnalis longirostris, dorso abdomineque purpurascente. 

 The Autumnal Plover. It is the size of a hen, and is found in Egypt during the autumn." 

 This description cannot in any way be brought to agree with the present species, and appears to 

 me to agree tolerably well with the young of the Glossy Ibis. Besides, in the same work the 

 Stilt is also included under name of Charadrius Mmantopus. 



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