HERODIAS INTERMEDIA. 
1143 
and about 18 inches in diameter, the lining consisting of small twigs. The eggs are three or four in number, 
and are regular ovals in shape, some being slightly pointed at both ends, and others more rounded, with a 
greater diameter. The texture is smooth, and the colour pale sea-green. Several examples in my collection 
measure D93 by T35, 178 by 1*38, T91 by D34, 1-84 by T32, 1-88 by 1-42, 1'93 by D38 inch. 
In India this species breeds in July and August in the north, and in December in the south; it nests 
commonly in towns, according to Mr. Hume, in company with Pond- and Cattle- Herons. In writing of a 
colony in some old tamarind-trees in a graveyard at Etawah, he says, “ On one tree we counted 198 nests, the 
greater number of which were occupied. On one nearly horizontal bough we counted, in a length of 21 feet, 
eighteen nests, all side by side on the flat surface of the bough, with barely room, in most cases, for one bird 
to stand between each nest, and with no room at all in some/’ The measurements given of the eggs are — 
length l - 68 to 2'08, breadth l - 32 to 1‘52 inch. 
