MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 661 



Excluding the few birds, which find their way down to the hilly districts 

 in the plains, during the cold weather, it would be interesting to know the 

 loicest elevation at which the majority remain, at that season, in the 

 Himalayas. 



Since Hume's time several Oologists have taken the eggs of this bird, 

 but none of them have put on record an exact and detailed description 

 (e. g., length and breadth, texture of surface, etc.) of the specimens. 



The time of breeding of this species should be April to June, and Quetta 

 should be included in its habitat. (J. B. N. H. S. Vol. XVII, pp. 831-32). 



P. T. L. DODSWORTH, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 

 Simla, S. W., 23)yZ Octohpv 1911. 



No. XIV.— EXTENSIOiSr OF THE HABITAT OF THE COMMON 

 KINGFISHER {ALCEDO LSPIDA). 



In the '' E'auna, " Birds, Vol. Ill, p. 123, Blanford remarks that Alcedo 

 ispida, Linneus, " is only wanting in the Himalayas, where it is rarely 

 met with far above the base of the mountains, etc." It is, therefore, of 

 interest to record that on the loth May 1910, I procured a specimen, an 

 adult male with testes slightly enlarged, in Keonthal territory, not more 

 than 3 miles from Simla, at an elevation of about 5,600 feet. On the 26th 

 April 1911 I again saw another bird in this locality. 



It is undoubtedly a rare species in these parts. 



P. T. L. DODSWORTH, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 

 Simla, S. W., 23?vZ Octuher 1911. 



No. XV.— NOTE ON THE COMMON KINGFISHER {ALCEDO 



LSPIBA). 



It may be of interest to record that on the 23rd of September I saw a 

 common kingfisher '' take " a frog quite 1^ inches long in the body, and 

 after hammering the same against its perch disappear with it into a hole in 

 the river bank near by and almost immediately emerge with its bill empty. 

 When conveyed to the hole the frog was carried longitudinally between 

 the mandibles, its head being beyond the ends and its legs dangling 

 on either site of the gape. 



Now here were two remarkable occurrences. Firstly, this kingfisher 

 taking a frog (and a comparatively big one) and from the Jhelum river 

 swarming with small frogs, and secondly, considering the time of year, 

 conveying it to a nest hole. The latter operation at once gives rise to the 

 question what was in that hole ? It can, I think, only be inferred that 

 there was a mate sitting on eggs, for young in the nest would hardly be fed 

 with such a mouthful as the frog in question. Now and again all through 



