But Mr. Oatcs has seen many more nests of this species than
any of us, and he says :—
" This bird is very common in Lower Pegu, and I have
found no less than eight nests. The breeding season seems to
extend from about the ist of July to the nth October, on which
latter date a nest of wcll-incubatcd eggs was found.
" The nest is a mere pad of soft grass, leaves, and the outer
rind of the elephant grass, about eight inches in diameter and one
thick, placed in a tuft of grass, always near water, and raised a few
inches above the ground. The coarse grass growing round
paddy fields is a favourite locality. The bird sits very closely,
and the nest is not easy to discover. The male bird sits on the
eggs, at least at times, and I killed one with a stick while he was
sitting on seven eggs,
" Seven is the full number of eggs, occasionally six only. In
length they vary from 1-43 to 1 • 18, and in breadth from ro8
to o'g.6, but the average of 31 eggs is i'34 by roo; some are
almost glosslcss, others are considerably glossy. The ground
colour is pinkish stone, pale when fresh and darkening as incubation
proceeds. The shell markings consist of blotches and
splashes of pale purple evenly, but sparingly, distributed over
the egg, and the surface marks consist of large blotches and
streaks of rather bright rusty brown. These marks arc larger
at the thick end than elsewhere, and run chiefly in the direction
of the longer axis of the egg. In some eggs the marks
form a distinct cap, and the shell marks are very few. All the
eggs are exceedingly beautiful."
The eggs of this species obtained in India are regular ovals
of the usual Water-Hcn type. The shell is tolerably fine and
compact, but they have not much gloss. The ground colour
varies from white to salmon pink. The markings consist of
spots, specks, streaks, and blotches, varying from maroon red
to reddish brown, and smaller spots and streaks of dull inky
purple or grey. The markings apparently, never very dense or
numerous, are chiefly confined to the larger end.
The eggs I possess only vary from I'28 to I ' 4 I in length,
and from cgS to 1 T 3 in width, but the average of twenty-four is
1 35 by 1'02 nearly.
THE DIMENSIONS of this species vary very considerably, but I
cannot make out that there is any constant difference in size
between the sexes, though possibly with a very large series of
measurements the females would prove to average slightly larger.
As it is, the largest and the smallest birds we have ever measured
were both females.
Length, c/8 to U ' 5 ; expanse, 14^25 to 17-5 ; wing, 4'5 to
5-0 ; tail from vent, i'5 to 2'25 ; tarsus, 135 to 162 ; bill from
gape, 135 to rS2 ; weight, 36 ozs. to 5 ozs.
These are all specimens measured in the flesh ; in twenty-.
three other specimens from India, Burma, and the Malay
Peninsula, the wings vary from 4 4 to 5-0. There is not a single
specimen in my large series in which the wing exceeds 5'I.
As for the colours of the soft parts, these vary to an extent
that is quite incomprehensible ; the hides are most commonly
reddish brown, but they are also light yellowish brown, yellowish
chestnut, Vandyke brown, Sienna brown, pale brown, Indian
red, and litharge red ; the legs and feet are plumbeous green,
olive green, fleshy grey, greyish brown, brown, greenish brown,
slaty green, leaden blue, " leaden grey, tinged with greenish and
brown" (Swinhoe), and "dirty buff" (Ramsay).
The bill varies equally ; the following are the colours as recorded
by myself and others ;—upper mandible dusky brown ; gape
and lower mandible orange, shading to brown at tip ;—culmen
deep brown ; basal portion of bill rosy red ; terminal portion
greyish brown ;—" bill purplish brown ; base dull crimson"
(Everett);—"bill bright plum colour" (Ramsay);—bill dull
Indian red, except along ridge of culmen, which is dark brown ;—
upper mandible dark brown ; lower mandible and triangular patch
at base of upper mandible pink ;—bill purple ; culmen dark
brown ;—" bill bright madder pink on basal two-thirds, light
violet grey on apical one-third ; culmen dark" (Swinhoe) ;—" bill
bright coral pink, whitish in the centre, brown on the culmen
and at tip of both mandibles" (Butler).
THE PLATE is by no means satisfactory ; the right hand figure
is intended to represent our present species. The face, sides of
the neck, and breast should be a rather pale blue grey instead of
the colour shown ; the whole of the spotting of the crown, nape,
and back of the neck is due to some mistake. These parts should
be unspotted chestnut red, like the streak shown in the plate
from behind the eye. It is only in the young bird that these
parts are mingled with brown, and then the brown is in long
streaks not spots. The white banding on the wings and mantle
is not sufficiently distinctly shown, and, varying as do the colours
of bills and feet, I doubt whether they are ever as depicted in
the plate.
THE NESTLING of this species has the whole upper surface blackish
brown, the feathers of the back margined with brown ; the
chin, throat, and middle of the abdomen whitish ; the rest of the
lower surface chiefly fawny brown, with faint traces of white
barrings on the side of the abdomen ; the little wings are
like the back, except that they exhibit pale dots on either web
of the feathers—the first traces of the barrings that extend in the
adult bird over the entire wings and upper plumage.
In this species the white barrings develop very rapidly, and
may be observed in comparatively quite young birds which have
not yet acquired a trace of rufous on the crown and neck.