Field Notes : — This is a rather difficult bird to flush but 
sometimes when one is walking- across swampy g^round it 
will jump up in front of one and after a low, short flight drop 
to the ground again. They look ven,' dark in the air and as the 
tegs arc held out behind the body in flight they are usually 
conspictious. It will alw^ays be flushed alone although several 
may be met with in a small area. We have put up six or more 
in one evening when out for snipe. Some nestlings in the 
Raffles Museimi were taken in the month of June. 
Other habits t—T^rom " The Fauna of British India'' we 
extract the following: — "The nests are pads of grass varying 
in thickness, in swampy ground, and the eggs are usually 
from 5 to 7 in number, pinkish stone-colour, spotted or 
blotched, chiefly about the larger end, with reddish brown and 
greyish lilac'*. 
The pad of grass appears to be t>f considerable size for 
another authority says, "The nest* a pad or heap of gra?s 
varying from one to twelve inches in height and from six 
to ten inches in diameter at top, where there is a small 
depression for the eggs, is always placed in grass, rushes, 
or standing rice in the immediate neighbourhood of water". 
This refers to the bird in India, 
[69] 
