MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 285 
Murray states that the bird “is said to breed on inaccessible cliffs’ but Barnes 
in his “‘ Handbook to the birds of the Bombay Presidency ’’ states that he has 
seen their nests in Central India on lofty trees but that he has found nests near 
Deesa in thick thorny, ‘ ber’ bushes about ten feet from the ground, 
My shikarri, Ukha, who has collected birds’ eggs for two generations of British 
Officers and is exceptionally well informed about birds, tells me that the Black 
Vulture nests in small thorny trees in Cutch but once he found a nest in a 
large cactus bush and he described how the bush had to be cut away to get 
at the nest. His story may be accepted as absolutely true. . 
It would be interesting to have the experiences of other members on the sub- 
ject and one would like to know if a nest has ever been found on a cliff. 
Buus Curcs, E. O’BRIEN, Lt.-Cononet. 
21st April 1921. 
No. XXIJI—SOME CURIOUS NESTING PLACES. 
On the 10th of April this year I noticed a pair of hoopoes going into and com- 
ing out of a small round hole in the door of an old out-house in my compound in 
Rawal Pindi. The out: house is half full of old packing cases. I opened the door, 
which had been locked for about four months, and was surprised to find a hoopoe’s 
nest on the floor in one corner. The nest, containing young birds, was hollowed 
out of a heap of sawdust and rubbish. I have never before found a hoopoe’s 
nest on the ground, and I think that such a nesting place must be most unusual. 
There was no smell from the nest, which is usual when the nest is in a hole in a 
wall or tree. The out-house is not a dark one, as it possesses one large glazed 
window. As I opened the door one of the birds brushed past me, and flew to the 
nest. As soon as I walked to the nest, it flew rapidly out of the door, hitting 
my head with its wing in its flight. 
On the 26th of April, Lt.-Col. Lindsay Smith, of the S. and T. Corps, showed me 
a wild cherry tree near Rowbury’s Hotel, Murree, on which he said that he felt 
