MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 659" 



No. X.— OCCUERENOE OF EUROPEAN STRIATED SWALLOW 

 {RIItUNDO RUFULA), IN KANGRA. 



At the end of May I was marcliing along the road from Palumpur to the 

 Bhuhu Pass in Kangra district, when on May 31st between Baijnath and 

 Dhelu I met with a species of Striated Swallow— to quote from my 

 note book, " another swallow was common — some Striated species, and I 

 found three of their nests, built under ledges of rock. The first contained' 

 4 white eggs, but they were nearly hatching and I could not save one. 

 The nests are of mud and are of the shape of a half a cognac flask 

 with long neck ( section taken lengthwise ) fastened underneath ledges. 

 They are lined with a little dry grass and feathers. The second nest con- 

 tained a fully feathered young Swift ( C'ppsehis affinis ). The third was 

 ready for eggs." Finding the nests, I shot a bird for identification ( skin 

 register 407, S ol. "V. 1910, Dhelu, Maudi N. S.) which remained unnamed 

 in my collection for some time. This skin was recently sent to England with 

 others to Dr. C. B. Tichurst, M.B.O.U., who had it named by Dr. Hartert. 

 He stated that it was undoubtedly H. daurica scullii (Seebohm). As this 

 sub-species apparently corresponds to Fauna of B. I. No. 824, H. riifula, this 

 note may be of interest. If observers along the Western Himalayas were 

 to look out for this species, it would perhaps prove to be a well distributed 

 breeding species. 



H. WHISTLER, 

 Indian Police. 

 Ferozeporb, January 1912. 



No. XI.— NIDIFICATION OF THE TWEEDDALE SCIMITAR 

 BABBLER {POMATORHINUS NUCSALLS). 



On the 30th October I found a nest containing 2 fresh eggs and although 

 I did not actually obtain the parent bird, I am quite sure it belonged 

 to the Scimitar Babbler common in the locality — P. nucJmlis. The eggs 

 were pure white and glossy and measured '93 x '7. The nest was placed 

 in a bamboo clump about 3 ft. from the ground and egg-shaped in form, the 

 aperture being much closer to the top than the bottom ; the lower part 

 of the nest was a fairly deep cup. It was carefully lined inside with dried 

 grass and packed exteriorly with dried bamboo leaves, so that the nest on 

 first sight looked like a collection of leaves. 



I think the 30th of October an unusual time of year for any of the babblers- 

 to be laying. 



J. P. COOK. 



Thayetmyo, ZOth November 1911. 



