220 THE RUDDY CRAKE. 



Stoliczka found it breeding on the Woolar Lake, Kashmir, in 

 July. Captain G. F. L. Marshall writes : — 



"A female shot in one of the small morasses near Bhim 

 Tal on the 19th June had the ovary so highly developed that 

 it was clear that they were breeding then and there." 



Hodgson notes that they " breed in Nepal in July, building a 

 nest six inches from the ground fixed in large tufts of wild rice, 

 or by knitting the stalks of this together make a platform on 

 which the eggs are deposited." 



In Lower Bengal this species lays from July to September, 

 making a nest of weeds and grass, reed or rush, just like Bail- 

 Ion's Crake, and in precisely similar situations, but somewhat 

 larger and more substantial. 



Two nests that I found contained five and three eggs respec- 

 tively, the former slightly incubated, the latter fresh. 



A nest kindly sent me from Jessore, but without particulars, 

 contained seven eggs, which must have been quite fresh, to 

 judge from the minute holes. 



The eggs are moderately broad ovals, somewhat pointed occa- 

 sionally at one end. The shell is tolerably fine, but there is 

 little or no gloss. The ground colour is pinky or creamy white, 

 and the eggs are more or less streaked, spotted, and blotched with 

 brownish red or reddish brown. There are a number of pale 

 inky purple spots intermingled, chiefly at the broad end, with 

 the red markings, which latter, I should note, vary much in 

 shade and hue, being in some eggs almost deep red, in others 

 almost dull brown. The markings are nowhere dense, but they 

 are much more numerous towards the large end. 



In length they vary from ri6 to 1-27, and in breadth from 

 0*8 to 0*89, but the average of these 15 eggs is 1*2 by 0*84. 



PERHAPS in this species the males may average a shade larger, 

 but there is practically no difference in the size of the sexes, 

 though individuals of both vary considerably in dimensions. 



Length, yS to 87 ; expanse, 12*0 to 14-5 ; wing, 375 to 4-3 ; 

 tail from vent, r8 to 2'2 ; tarsus, 1*4 to 1*55 ; bill from gape, 

 o*9 to ro ; weight, 



The bill varies from blackish brown to horny, with a greenish 

 tinge, sometimes it might be called dusky olive green. The 

 irides are red, of varying shade, generally nearest crimson, in 

 younger birds orange ; the edges of the eyelids coral red to 

 vermilion ; the legs and feet are at all seasons red (a little 

 dusky on toes and joints), varying somewhat in shade, from a 

 dull coral to almost bright vermilion. 



I may add, for comparison with erytkrothorax, that the mid- 

 toe and claw of the Indian bird varies from 1*6 to l*8i. 



The PLATE cannot be called satisfactory ; the bill has scarcely 

 the tint which it always exhibits in life ; the bright red orbital 



