MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 505 



it and having nothing to do, I made for the top of the hill and on reaching it 

 found myself on rather an extensive plateau, which bore signs of not very 

 recent cultivation, but with the exception of a few straggling bushes, and many 

 stones, was now as bare as a street of any verdure. 



Here, to my surprise, I saw crowds of Harriers sitting on stones and on the 

 ground and more were coming from every direction. 



It was already late in the afternoon so I got behind a convenient bush and 

 decided to wait and see whether they meant to stop the night there. Before 

 sitting down, however, I strolled through a part of the ground, flushing several 

 of the birds, which did not go far, to see if I could see any signs which would 

 point to this being a regular roosting place of these birds, but to my surprise 

 found none, or at any rate not sufficient to lead me to believe they had been 

 there in any numbers before. I returned to my bush and hid myself as best I 

 could, though concealment was not very necessary, as the birds would allow me 

 to within 30 or 40 yards without rising. I had fortunately brought a pair of 

 powerful Zeiss binoculars with me, so could take careful stock of all the ground 

 before me. I was easily able to identify 3 different species among them and of 

 some I was doubtful, but they may have been youngsters in a transition stage of 

 plumage, so not easy to identify at any distance. 



Circus aeruginosas (the Marsh Harrier) perhaps was the most numerous, then 

 came C. macrurus (the Pale Harrier) and C. melanoleucus (the Pied Harrier) 

 last. I only noticed 2 males of the latter species. 



Next morning I had to pass the hill and was in time to see them making a 

 move. It was evidently not migration they were after (it was rather too early 

 in the year for that in any case), as they scattered in all directions. 



Cau any one tell me if it is customary for Harriers to roost in flocks like this 

 on the ground ? 



I have neither read nor heard of them doing so and certainly never seen 

 them do so before. 



C. H. DONALD. 



Bhadarwa, Kashmir, 15 th May, 1905. 



No. XI.— SIZE AND BREEDING OF SNAKES. 

 A Python from Borneo. 



Mr. John Hagenbeck recently received a large python from the Malay 

 Archipelago (probably from British North Borneo), which laid a batch of eggs 

 after its arrival in Colombo and incubated them herself with success, some 

 thirty or forty young hatching out in due course. 



The following notes have been kindly supplied by Mr. Hagenbeck :— 



Colombo, January 2,0th, 1905. 



A gigantic python which arrived here last year from British Borneo via 

 Singapore laid about one hundred eggs, on the 28th October, almost filling the 

 box in which she was kept. On the following morning she had collected the 

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