822 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETT, Vol. XXIV. 



I do not know if the fact of this Cuckoo parasitising birds laying other 

 than blue eggs has been previously recorded.'" 



Dehka. Dun, 15th Auf/ust 1916, B, B. OSMASTON, i.f.s. 



No. IX.— SAPSUOKERS IN THE U. S. A. 



In connection with Mr. A. E. Osmaston's note in this Journal, Vol. XXIV, 

 pp. 363-6, it may be of interest to note that the work of woodpeckers with 

 which he deals, is of very common occurrence in the U. S. A., both east and 

 west if my memory serves me correctly. The holes are always referred to 

 as made by ' sapsvickers,' though the average woodsman cannot always 

 distinguish the birds responsible from the strictly insectivorous woodpeckers. 

 There, too, a large variety of tree species is attacked including Cornus, sp. 

 and Pyrus, sp. {e.f/., the cultivated apple and pear trees), as well as various 

 oaks, maples, etc. The subject has been studied by the U. S. Biological 

 Survey, which has issued a bulletin on it ; unfortunately I have not yet 

 seen it, but I can quote the following remarks taken from it, from a letter 

 recently received from a friend in the U. S. Forest Service : "Three mem- 

 bers of the (woodpecker) group, the only ones properly known as sapsuckers, 

 are injurious, since their chief purpose in digging into trees is to secure the 

 cambium and sap for food. Altogether the damage done by sapsuckers in 

 the United States amounts yearly -to not less than $1,200,000. The 

 three species referred to are, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker {Sijhyrcqncus ruber), 

 the Williamson Sapsucker (-S'. thyroides), and the Red-throated Sapsucker 

 {S. varius nuclmlis)."' 



W. Almoea Divn., May 1916. H. G. CHAMPION, i.f.s. 



No. X.— OWL CAUGHT ON A THORN. 



A few days ago whilst birds-nesting in a ravine near Dehra Dun, 

 I disturbed a Scops Owl which was sitting in a small tree over which the 

 prickly climber {Ccesalpinia scpiaria) was spreading. The owl in its flight 

 accidentally collided with one of the dry, curved, leafless branchlets of the 

 creeper which is armed throughout its length at intervals of from i to J inch 

 with short recurved spines, mostly in pairs. To my surprise the owl re- 

 mained fluttering and suspended from the spiny twig from which I had 

 considerable trouble in extricating it. It had been caught by the eyelids 

 by at least two thorns both above and below the eye and so securely that 

 I think it improbable that it would have managed to eS'ect its escape 

 unaided. The bird proved to be <S'co^js bakkamcena (the Collared Scops Owl). 

 I kept it a few days in captivitj^, feeding it on cockroaches, and then 

 allowed it to escape. 



Dehba Dun, iWi Auyust 1916. B. B. OSMASTON, i.r.s. 



No. XI. -THE NESTING OF THE RAIN QUAIL {COTURNIX 

 COROMANDELICA) IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCES. 



Many thanks for your letter in regard to the nesting of the Black-breast- 

 ed or Rain Quail {Coturni.v coromandelica). The "closed" season for this 

 bird in the Central Provinces is from May 1st until November 30th. I have 

 always been of an opinion that these dates are open to correction. Would 

 you therefore kindly give me your opinion on the subject after perusing the 

 following observations and comments. Before continuing, I might add that 



