6 THE SARUS. 
“With us the Sarus is shy and difficult to shoot, except from 
a bullock cart, or during the rains from a canoe. From the 
latter, especially, they are easily killed. 
“The female calls at daylight, during the time of incubation, 
standing on the top of her nest, and any one desirous of find- 
ing a nest should go out in a canoe to a likely place before day- 
light, and watch from a high “ ¢az,” or paddy grower’s hut, with 
binoculars. 
“The Burmans have many legends illustrative of the strong 
affection borne by these birds for their mates, and are rather 
averse to their being shot.” 
Taking the facts noted by Mr. Davis of the appearance of 
these birds in large flocks early in August about Thatone, in 
connection with what Dr. Anderson tells us of seeing large 
flocks passing over head at Ponsee, in Upper Burma, apparently 
migrating, the suggestion naturally arises whether it may 
not happen that in Burma this species is, to a certain extent, 
migratory, numbers of the Upper Burman birds coming south 
to near the Gulf of Martaban to breed. The point is one well 
worthy the observation of sportsmen in Burma, where, by the 
way, Mr. Davis tells me he often used to shoot and send them 
to friends at Moulmein, “who considered them a great luxury.” 
De gustibus, &c. But people ave very hard put to for meat in 
many parts of Burma. 
THE SARUS breeds freely over the whole of the North-West 
Provinces, Oudh, and Upper Bengal, and more rarely in the 
Punjab, Cis-Satlej, the eastern and southern portions of Raj- 
putana, and parts of the Central Provinces. 
Captain Butler and Mr. Davidson found numbers of nests in 
Guzerat, north of the Nerbudda. Ramsay obtained the eggs 
near Tounghoo, Oates in Lower Pegu, and generally, I believe, 
we may say that the species isa strictly resident one, and breeds 
wherever it occurs at other seasons of the year. 
They lay in different parts of the country from July to 
November, in which latter month Mr. Davidson has taken fresh 
eges in Guzerat. 
In Upper India they breed in July and August,* some few 
laying in some seasons as late as the middle of September. 
Soon after the first burst of the rains, z.e., towards the close 
of June, the old birds begin to construct their nest. These are 
in nine cases out of ten on some firm spot in the midst of the 
largest jhil 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. 
* Occasionally however they certainly breed also in the spring. Quite recently 
Mr. Chill wrote to me from near Delhi :—‘‘Last month (April) my men brought me 
in a young Sarus about 20 days old, so it must have been hatched about the end of 
March ! It is quite a new thing to me to find this bird breeding in the spring.” 
