MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 189 



No. IV.— THE NILGIRI WILD GOAT {HEMITRAGUS 

 HYLOCRIUS, JERDON). 



It is usually considered that a buck Nilgiri goat that has once gained 

 his "saddle" never loses it again. No mention is made by Jerdon, 

 " Vagrant " (A. C. McMaster), Douglas Hamilton, or in the " Fauna " of 

 its being a seasonal feature. My own experience is far too limited to 

 entitle me to an opinion, but I would mention that in one locality abound- 

 ing with "ibex " 1 have seen only one " saddle-back " in March or April of 

 four consecutive years. At that season I have seen a number of very dark 

 and evidently fully matured bucks that had no " saddle " distinguishable 

 at a short distance. Most of those shot at that time seen by me had nob 

 the saddle mark very prominent. 



Towards the end of May and up to January many " saddle-backs " are 

 to be seen in the same locality. 



Those familiar with this animal in the Nilgiris only will not allow that 

 the "saddle " disappears at any season. On the other hand, planters with 

 ample opportunity for observation in the Annamalai Hills (both in British 

 territory and in the Travancore State) have informed me that they have 

 not the slightest doubt that if the mark does not disappear entirely, at 

 least it becomes so faint as to be indistinguishable except at very close 

 quarters. 



I trust that members who have had experience will be good enough to 

 place their observations on record in these pages. 



With regard to the size of herds, 1 recently counted 86 in one, and there 

 were a few more individuals lying hidden from me behind a spur and which 

 I only saw when I showed myself and put the herd to flight. The total must 

 have been just about 100. 



C. E. C. FISCHER. 



CoiMBATORE, Is^ June 191o. 



No. v.— NOTE ON A WAGTAIL NEW TO THE INDIAN LIST. 



At the Meeting of the British Ornithologists Club on 10th February 

 1915, Dr. C. B. Ticehurst exhibited a male specimen of the very rare 

 wagtail, Motacilla ftava leucoeephala (Przew.), obtained by Mr. Hugh 

 Whistter on the 2nd of May, 1913, at Jhelum in the Punjab, and made the 

 following remarks : — 



" This race, which is remarkable for the head, cheeks, earcoverts, and 

 chin being pure white, was described in 1887 by Przewalski (Zapuski 

 Imper. Akad, Nank. St. Petersburg, Iv. 1887, p. 85, and noticed in "The Ibis'' 

 for 1887, p. 409) from specimens obtained during the spring migration on 

 the River Irtisch and in the Southern Altai, Dzungaria, Apparently no 

 other specimens have been obtained until this single bird was procured over 

 1,000 miles south-west of the type-locality. The breeding quarters and 

 winter quarters of 3/./". leucoeephala are unknown. The bird secured was 

 probably only a straggler to the Punjab, as Mr. Whistler, who has always 

 kept a sharp look-out for wagtails, tells me it was the only one of its kind 

 seen, and was on migration in company with many yi. f. beema (Sykes). The 

 breeding quarters are doubtless further north than the Altai Range, and 

 are perhaps in the valleys at the source of the river Yenesei. I have not 

 been able to compare this bird with the type, but Dr. Hartest, who has 



