MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 547 



then half a mile from the shore ; it was 14 inches long, and was well marked. 

 As snakes frequently find their way on board ships, particularly the true water 

 snakes, Bydrophidce, it is well to remember the venomous nature of these 

 visitors, but it is my first experience of a cobra there. 



One day, on shore, I saw a full-sized cobra strike a lizard, Varanits draccend, 

 the snake was frightened away, but the victim died in about two minutes, the 

 lizard being over four feet long. 



P. W. BASSETT-SMITH, R.N. 



No. XIII.- SEEDLING ORANGE TREES. 



From published statements it appears that Orange Trees, for fruit-bearing 

 purposes, are frequently raised from seed in America. In this country the 

 usual practice is to sow the seeds of the citron, Jumburi, and graft on that 

 stock, by the process termed " budding, " the variety of Orange selected. 



In 1888 I sowed seeds of the best Nagpur Cintra Oranges, and one of the 

 trees raised has given produce. The fruit of the seedling has more 

 numerous seeds, a deeper colour of pulp, a stronger inner stem (endocarp), 

 and a more abundant bitter in the skin. It is nearly equal in size with its 

 parent, and some of the fruit is tight-skinned, other specimens have loose 

 skins. As a fruit-tree this seedling is decidedly inferior to its parent. 



For the purpose of obtaining improved varieties it is desirable to raise 

 trees from seed of superior oranges, and those which prove inferior may be 

 grafted with approved kinds after the natural fruit has been produced. 



G-. MARSHALL WOODROW, 



No. XIV.— THE COMB DUCK OR NUKHTA. 



With reference to Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker's remark on page 175 of the 

 present volume, that the Comb Duck probably occurs throughout Burma, 

 I may mention that on 23rd March last I got three close to Kyaukse (30 

 miles south of Mandalay) out of a flock of 24, and saw some in the same neigh- 

 bourhood on 29th May and again in August. Tbey were, on all occasions, 

 found feeding in cultivated rice when the fields were fully irrigated. Their 

 flight strikes me as being decidedly heavy and not over fast. 



They are, or were, also common in Yamethin, where they breed. 



J. H. SEWELL, Major. 

 Allahabad, November, 1897. 



No. XV.-DOES THE BROWN BEAR HYBERNATE ? 



I have lately returned from shooting in the Himalayas, but regret to say 

 that I could fir d out nothing reliable regarding the hybernation of the 

 Himalayan brown bear (Clrsus arctus). Everyone^ from whom I made 

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