MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 373 



in this part of the Punjab that they are very fond of. It has a small flower 

 like a " forget-me-not." In cloudy and windy weather they feed during the 

 middle of the day, but they are then very wild, and it is next to impossible to 

 shoot them. Colonel Reginald Heber-Percy, of " Badminton " Library fame, 

 who paid Sirsa a short visit at Christmas time in order to try for record 

 Black-Buck and Chinkara heads, told me he found many " Houbara " south 

 of this place and practically lived on tbem all the while he and his wife 

 were in camp. I may add that although they were not fortunate enough to bag 

 any record heads, Miss Heber-Percy shot a good Chink just under record 

 dimensions. Mrs. Heber-Percy while in Kashmir during the summer of 1904 

 shot 2 record Thar 14£ and 13£ respectively, and these were officially measured 

 for the Kashmir Record book. The Colonel and his wife left Calcutta on the 

 15th for Burma, as he wishes to obtain a good example of the Thamin, Cervus 

 eldii, for the joint collection of his brother (Major Algernon Heber-Percy) 

 and his own at Hodwet Hall in the old country. 



A few birds began to arrive at the end of September, but they did not become 

 plentiful till December 1st, when reports from many villagers came in of the 

 quantities seen. The cold snap immediately following Christmas time again 

 seems to have scattered the birds, which have since become scarce. Imperial 

 Sand-grouse have not been at all plentiful this year, but a great number of birds 

 travelled south and over Sirsa on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of January. I hear 

 since that the Imperial has been shot here near Ajmere, in Rajputana. The 

 Houbara leave us about the 15th of March for Afghanistan and Tibet. 

 Blanford tells us that " a few stragglers may remain and breed in the 

 Bikanir Desert." I, however, have never seen or heard of one during the hot 

 months, though several times I have had Jcubher brought in of the Great 

 Indian Bustard, Eupodotus Edwardsi, and a fine bird weighing lGf lbs. was 

 brought to me killed about 12 miles out. 



Sirsa, 20th January, 1905. REGINALD H. HEATH. 



No. XIV— OCCURRENCE OF THE BLACK-CAPPED KINGFISHER, 

 HALCYON PILE AT A, IN WALTAIR. 



On the 15th of this month, whilst camped on the Naidupatem creek, a 

 tributary of the Upputern river, I obtained a specimen of Halcyon pileaia, the 

 Black-capped Kingfisher. The Upputern river flows from the Kolem lake to 

 the sea between the deltas of the Godavery and Kistna, and the latitude of 

 Naidupatem is approximately 16°N, and the longitude approximately 81°67'E. 

 The bird was sitting on the stump of a dead tree near the creek opposite to 

 the village. 



The next day I saw another specimen of the same Kingfisher near the 

 Lutchmepuram lock on the Upputern river. I send you by post the specimen 

 I shot at Naidupatem. This, it would appear, is the first occasion on which 

 this beautiful Kingfisher has been reported from this locality. 



Waltair, P. ROSCOE ALLEN. 



Camp Chelupett, \Wi January, 1 905. 



