536 i\Ir. F. T. L. Dodswortli on the Valtares 



years, we only remember seeing it on three occasions. Once 

 at Simla (elevation 7000 feet) in December; then again a 

 single bird in February about 25 miles south of Simla, at an 

 altitude of 5000 feet ; and, lastly, a solitary bird, in March, 

 at Kandlu, near Bilaspur, at about 2500 feet. 



This Vulture is said to be resident in the Himalayas, and 

 Hume was of opinion (' Rough Notes,' p. ] ) that it breeds 

 in these mountains, west of the River Ganges, and thought 

 that nests were likely to be found anywhere in precipitous 

 places, or on large trees in the sub-Himalayas. Bearing in 

 mind the remarks of this great Ornithologist, we made an 

 exhaustive search last winter for eggs over large tracts of 

 these hills, bnt without success. Not a single nest was 

 seen anywhere. 



For the only egg which we possess we are indebted to 

 the generosity of L^-Col. H. Delme-Radcliffe, who took it on 

 the 5tli of April last, on the Zarghun Mountain (10,500 feet) 

 in Balucliistan, shooting the- old bird off the nest. We 

 understand that Lt. -Col. Delme-Radcliffe has sent a separate 

 account about the taking of this egg to the ' Journal of the 

 Bombay Natural History Society/ and shall therefore 

 confine ourselves to mentioning onl}' the following facts 

 connected with the specimen : — 



In shape the egg is a broad oval, pointed towards one 

 end. The texture is coarse, and there are some white 

 pimply lumps on the large end. The lining is a pale 

 yellowish green. The ground-colour is white, and it is 

 smudged and speckled, chiefly towards the small end, with 

 dark red-brown. It measures 3*5'' by 2*75'^ 



Blanford states that " in India this bird is resident in 

 Afghanistan, etc.'' This statement is not very clear as it is 

 geographically inaccurate, but it is apparently based on the 

 remark made by Barnes in volume ix. of ' Stray Feathers,' 

 page 214, to the effect that V. monachus is found in the 

 neighbourhood of Chaman, and nests on the Khojak. As 

 these tracts have now been included in British India, under 

 the Indo-Afghan Boundary Settlement of 1893-1894, and as 

 this Vulture has recently been found breeding in Baluchistan, 



