MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 755 



about three hundred yards and ate it. Another night the same tiger carried 

 off and ate a buffalo which I had tied up for him the night before, but which 

 unfortunately had fallen over its rope and strangled itself. I found the buffalo 

 in the morning just dead and absolutely untouched by any animal, nor could we 

 see any tracks of an animal near it. We covered the carcase with grass for 

 the day and uncovered it in the evening. The tiger came that ni^ht, broke 

 a very strong rope, dragged the buffilo away about a hundred and fifty yards, 

 and ate a good deal of it. The panther left the jungle after the big tiger came. 

 At any rate we could find no trace of him. 



F. W. CATON JONES, Lieut.- Col., E.A M.C. 



Nasirabad, Rajputana, August 21st, 1905. 



No. XXI.— NOTES FROM NEPAL. 



(1) On the 3rd of August this year a tigress, which was born here in June 

 1895 and had been kept with another tiger of the same litter, gave birth to 4 

 cubs. The tiger resented the appearance of his family and devoured one of the 

 cubs, but was then separated and placed in another den. Since then the tigress 

 and three remaining cubs have done well. This is the first time this pair of 

 tigers have bred here. 



(2) A pair of ostriches belonging to His Excellency Sir Chandra Samsher 

 Jang, G. S. S. I., Prime Minister of Nepal, have also this year reared a brood. 

 Ostriches have been kept in Nepal for a number of years past, but 

 though eggs have been freely laid, no further progress in propagating the species 

 has resulted. His Excellency, however, took a personal interest in the matter 

 and caused a large bed of sand to be made in the enclosure in which the birds 

 are kept. The female began to lay in February and on the 25th the tenth egg 

 was left to see if they would sit ; nine more eggs were laid, and the male bird 

 took over the duty of incubation, the female keeping on the alert as if on guard. 

 Three eggs were hatched on the 2nd of May, four on the 3rd, and three on the 

 5th of May. 



Unfortunately a heavy storm accompanied by furious rain drowned or other- 

 wise did to death 3 of the chicks The rest have thrived splendidly and are 

 ii:>w strong healthy birds well over 3 feet high. The ostriches are fed on pieces 

 of cabbage chopped up, gram, wheat and rice, and are given plenty of sand 

 which they swallow freely with their food. It is a peculiar habit in these 

 birds that as soon the parents discharge any droppings, the young birds run up 

 and swallow them. 



(3) In June a young Magpie Rubin (Copsychus saularis), one of two we 

 were bringing up by hand, was kil'ed in a strange way. The two little birds 

 were sitting out on a patch of grass in the open, having been let out of their 

 cage to feed, when a swallow made a sudden swoop and struck one of them a 

 fierce blow on the head, from which it succumbed shortly after. 



J. MANNERS SMITH, Major. 

 Khatmandu, Nepal, 1st September, 1905. 



