MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 755 



1141. On the 18th of May, I heard in a tree overhead the kissing noise 

 which the young of the Slatey-headed Paroquet {Paloiornis schisticejjs) make 

 when being fed by their parents, and, thinking it early for young to be hatched, 

 looked up and saw a male feeding an adult female, his mate, on a branch 

 outside the nest-hole iu which phe was evidently hatching off a bx-ood. When 

 the male had given her all he could regurgitate, she dived into the nest-hole 

 again to resume her sitting. It would be interesting to know if the female 

 of this species always comes out of the nest-hole to be fed, 



1175. The note of the Spotted Himalayan Scops Owl [Scops spilocephalus) is 

 as described in the " Fauna ", the pitch being a treble F but sometimes E. 

 The hoot is only heard after dark. This little owl is sometimes easily attract- 

 ed to a tree over one's head by imitating its call. 



llSli. As regards cadence the call of The Collared Pigmy Owlet, Glaucklium 

 brodiei is as described in " The Fauna, " that is " Hoot— Hoothoot — Hoot", but 

 the timbre of the note is remarkably like that " The Copper-Smith," {Xantho- 

 Iccma hce/natocephala). The pitch is C lower than that of the last species. A 

 monosyllabic "hoot" is given by the young fledgelings. I have never heard 

 this Owlet's note after dark 



An excellent method of attracting small birds to the trees around one is to 

 imitate the hoot of this little owl. Tits, Willow Warblers, Verditer, Flycatchers, 

 and Minivets especially will, if in the vicinity, always quickly appear and 

 use their best " Bengali " on their supposed enemy, giving one a splendid 

 opportunity to study them at close quarters. 



1217. On the 13th June I saw a Crested-Serpent Eagle (S/?27orrtes cheela) 

 being badly harried by a pair of Jungle Crows (Corvus macrorhynchus). When 

 first I saw the Eagle it was on the ground with the crows in the trees above. 

 Whenever it attempted to get away, the crows kept above and worried it badly, 

 its loud kite-like cry beirg constantly uttered in its distress. I did not see 

 the end of the fray, but it appeared to be a one-sided affair for the unfortun- 

 ate Eagle. 



1260. The habit of the Hobby {Falco snbbuteo) of hawking in flocks 

 for flying insects high in the air after the manner of swifts is not noticed in 

 " The Fauna " but is mentioned by Murray in his " Indian Birds." This habit 

 is, I think, characteristic of The Hobby, and I saw it constantly executed 

 by a flock of 8 or 10 of these splendid little falcons which frequented a 

 certain hill-side in Dunga Gali for several days. 



One of the flock, an adult 9 , was knocked over and shown me by a friend. 

 No easy shot at the pace they travelled. 



Frequent and severe storms throughout May and June interfered to some 

 extent with the breeding season of 1(109 in the Galis, and genera such as the 

 Sibias, Drongos, Minivets, Cuckoo-shrikes, Grosbeaks and others which nest 

 in open and exposed situations sutiered considerably. 



H. A. F. MAGRATH. Major. 



Dunga Gali, Uth July 1901). 

 26 



