Nest plant selection of the Andaman

International 2008), inhabits marshland inside the forests (Taylor & Perlo 1998). There is paucity of information on the breeding biology of the Andaman Crake (Ali & Ripley 1969; Taylor & Van Perlo 1998; BirdLife International 2001) except for the records of nests, eggs (Baker 1934) and casual observations (BirdLife International 2001). Hence, a study was conducted on the breeding biology of the Andaman Crake. Study Area: Andaman and Nicobar Islands form a major group of oceanic islands in the Bay of Bengal, India, located between 605’-14045’N & 920-940E. Andaman Islands comprise north, middle, south and little Andaman (Das 1999; Das & Palden 2001). Our intensive study was at Pathilevel in North Andaman, where the main forest type is moist deciduous with irregular top storey of predominantly deciduous trees which grow to 40m or more harbouring woody climbers. The second storey consists of numerous species with shrubby evergreen undergrowth of Licuala peltata, where the major tree species were Pterocarpus dalbergioides, Terminalia bialata, Bombax insigne and Tetrameles nudiflora