680 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXL 



No. XXVIII.— FALCONS AND THEIR PEEY. 



In a recent number of the journal I noted an attack by a falcon on the 

 gulls in Aden harbour ; last week I witnessed another determined and 

 successful attack by the falcon, the victim on this occasion being one of 

 the smaller terns ; the falcon struck her prey down to the water and must 

 have killed it at once as I never saw it move afterwards. The gulls and 

 terns united in mobbing the falcon but she picked her quarry from the water 

 at about the third attempt and forced her way out through the crowd finally 

 soaring high above them to the land. It was interesting to see the way 

 in which the falcon disposed of the dead tern so as to make it easier to 

 carry. When she first picked it from the water it hung by one wing from 

 her talons but I could see from my boat that she was as it were rolling 

 the bird up and finally she made a small neat package between her feet. 

 There is only one pair of these birds in Aden and I am collecting evidence 

 which I think points to the fact that they breed here, somewhere in the 

 cliffs on the south side of the Shum Shum range near the Artillery lines. 



The ospreys on Round Island have built another nest making three in 

 all on the top of the island. I hope to be able to report the eggs in my 

 next note. 



S. E. PRALL, Lt,-Col., i.m.s. 

 Aden, 7th January 1912. 



No. XXIX.— ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE COMMON WOOD 



SHRIKE {TEPHRODORNIS P0NDICERIANU8) AND THE 



CENTRAL ASIAN BLACK BIRD {MERULA MAXLMA), 



NEAR PESHAWAR. 



It may be of interest to record the occurrence of the following locally 

 rare species in Peshawar, viz : — 



(a) The Common Wood Shrike {Tejjhrodornis pondicerianus). 



(b) The Central Asian Black bird {Merula maxima). 



(a) I met with, when out shooting on the 4th November in a wooded 

 nullah at the foot of the Cherat Hills due south of Peshawar. There were 

 at least two or three of these birds moving about from tree to tree. They 

 were very tame, one individual allowing me to approach within 15 or 20 feet. 

 This bird uttered a pretty note of three or four syllables which 

 unfortunately I did not record at the time. The supercilium was huffish 

 white. This was the only occasion on which I observed this Shrike, al- 

 though I visited the locality several times subsequently. 



{b) Was shot on the artillery jheel within two miles of Peshawai. It 

 flew up out of a deep drain and settled in a tree uttering a note of anger 

 or alarm not unlike that of the Missel thrush, at the same time vigorously 



