572 

 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



No. I.— BIRDS PLYING AGAINST WINDOW-PANES. 



Is the Purple Honeysucker {Cinwjnn aslaUca) a pugnacious bird '? I have 

 frequently seen the male in February and March, when in breeding plumage, 

 tly furiously at a window, against which he k' eps himself suspended in the 

 air by a rapid motion of the wings, and pecks repeatedly with his beak against 

 the glass. The easiest explanation appears to be that he is attacking his 

 own reliection. I have, however, never noticed the males of this species 

 fighting, as the males of so many species do at the commencement of the 

 breeding season ; possibly they do fight, thoui^h 1 do not happen to have 

 seen them. Perhaps some readers o^ the Journal can suggest some other 

 reason for the bird's flying against the window as above described. I have 

 noticed it fully a dozen times, and not only ai Deesa but also when I was 

 stationed in Cutch. The only other birds I have seen act in a similar 

 manner, were the common Madras Bulbul {Pycnonotus hcemorrhous) and 

 common Sparrow {Passer domesticus), but both these birds seemed to re- 

 cognise their mistake much sooner than the Purple Honeysucker. 



0. G. NURSE, Capt., 



Deesa, li)//i February, 1899. 13th Bombay Infantry. 



No. II.— FOOD OF THE INDIAN GREY SHRIKE. 



What is the limit of the voracity of the Indian Orey Shrike {Lanius lahtora) ? 

 I was once driving aL ng a road when I saw a bird of this species drop down 

 rapidly from a branch on which he was sitting, much in the same manner 

 as the Pied Kingfisher {Cerijle rucUs) drops into the water when catching a 

 fi.sh. I was curious t > see what his prey had been, and was much astonished 

 to find it was a young squirrel, fully three parts grown, still warm and 

 quivering. The beak of the bird had penetrated the back of the skull. 



C.G. NURSE, Capt., 



Deesa, Mth February, 1899, 13th Bombay Infantky. 



No. III.— ON "INDfAN DU(JKS AND THEIR ALLIES." 



1. Nukhta (Sitrcidlornis melanonotus). — I have seen these birds often in 

 flocks in the cold weather, both in the N.-W. P. and in the Panch Mahals, but 

 they appear to keep their pairs even in the flocks, for when one has been shot 

 and the flock has flown away I have observed one remain behind flying round 

 and round searching for its mate. 



2. White-winged Wood-Duck {A sciU/i^alus). — I once shot a duck in the 

 Bilas[.ur district of the 0. P., which from the plate in Hume's "Game Birds 

 of India " appeared to be this species. It was on a tank situated only a few 

 miles from forest-covered hills. 



