128 



The late Major Cock found more than one nest of this species 

 in the neighbourhood of Dhurumsala, on almost inaccessible ledges 

 of precipices between 150 and 200 feet high. Of one that he 

 visited on the 6th December before any egg had been laid, he 

 remarks : " The nest had a quantity of old rags and bits of cord 

 about it, and was well lined \\ith flocks of wool quite fresh." 



Later, this gentleman sent me the following note : " I should 

 give this bird from November to the end of March for its breeding- 

 season, as I have observed them pairing in the air in the beginning 

 of March. Another observation I have made is, that all the nests, 

 old ones and new ones, that I am acquainted with, to the number of 

 15, are placed on precipices facing east and south ; not one faces 

 north or west. Vultures and Falcons do not seem to be so par- 

 ticular, as I find their nests placed indiscriminately on cliffs facing 

 north or west. This year 1 have taken the following eyries : On 

 the 2nd of January, at Deveenah, near Rilloo, in the Dhurumsala 

 district, a nest containing three eggs ; a peculiarity here was that 

 there were two nests, placed some 4 feet from each other on the 

 same ledge, both quite new, but only one of them (the nest in which 

 the eggs were) lined with wool. I have frequently visited this place 

 since, as I thought there might be two couples, but there were not. 



" On the 29th January, a nest with two eggs. On the 10th 

 February, a nest with one egg. I left this latter nest for ten days 

 after this egg was laid, and then (I was afraid it would be hard-set) 

 took it, the old bird being evidently incapable of laying another egg. 

 This egg was a particularly large one, measuring 3-65 by 2*9 inches. 

 After 1 had taken the egg, the birds came and destroyed their nest, 

 pulling out all the wool it was lined with, and scattering it about. 

 A fourth nest is now (March 7th) ready for eggs, and it was the 

 owners of this nest that I observed pairing, as before mentioned, in 

 March. I will also add my testimony as to this being a most 

 cowardly bird, suffering itself to be driven off by Gyps liimalayensis, 

 and I have even seen little Falco atriceps put it to flight." 



On a former occasion he thus described another nest : " On 

 the 4th December, 1868, I found the nest of Gypaetus barbatus in 

 a hollow on the face of a steep precipice, situated in a range of hills 

 some 6 miles off the Grand Trunk Koad, two marches from Bawul- 

 pindee on the Peshawur side. It was a large structure of sticks, 

 and completely filled up the hollow or cave in which it was placed. 

 It was lined with locks of the hair of hill-goats, on which the eggs 

 were placed ; there was also one piece of cloth in the nest, some blue 

 cotton stuff, by which I was reminded of this bird's relationship to 

 Neophron. The eggs were set, I should think, from fifteen to 

 eighteen days." 



Mr. B. Thompson writes, that in Kumaon " this species breeds 

 from November to February, late in which latter month the young 

 may sometimes be seen ; it selects ledges of precipices at elevations 

 of 5000 feet and upwards. The nest a huge platform, some 4 or 5 

 feet in diameter, is constructed of small sticks and thick twi#s, 

 placed so as to form a footing for the young, and is lined with 



