584 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XL 



same nestling have sufficient grasping power to maintain its position on 

 the old bird's back during flight. 



Occasionally they breed in very remarkable situations. Hume says 

 that they " lay in holes in trees and even fallen logs, and in deserted 

 nests of birds of prey." Tristram found it breeding in a cliff in Northern 

 Galilee amongst Griffon Vultures in May, and in the Eastern Atlas 

 associating with the Raven, the Black Kite and Egyptian Vulture. 



" So too in Ladakh its nests have been found associated with one of 

 the Thibetan Raven." 



He also quotes Prjevalsky as follows : — u They build in holes and clefts 

 in the ground and sometimes even in the fire-places of the villages 

 deserted by the Moguls, and in the latter places the females, while 

 hatching, get almost black with soot." 



Then, again Messrs. Elwes and Buckley say that in Dobreedscha 

 the bird sometimes lays its nest in a hole in the centre of a cornfield 

 where naturally it is not easy to find. 



The nest itself seems to be much like that of the common Sheldrake, 

 a mass of twigs, &c, lined with down; sometimes however, it Is found 

 to consist almost entirely of down and feathers, and altogether it 

 appears to be less bulky and to have fewer materials other than those 

 just mentioned. Strange to say I can find no record anywhere of the 

 depth of hole most often resorted to for nesting purposes, but from 

 what has been written it would seem to matter little to the bird how 

 deep or shallow it was, provided the situation proved convenient. 



Within our limits, and probably everywhere else also, the birds 

 commence to lay in May, and nestlings just hatched have been seen and 

 procured well on into July in India, Thibet, Ladakh, and even in 

 Southern Russia. 



Different writers give the number of eggs laid as varying between 

 six to ten, but eight appears to be the number most frequently laid. 



I have seen no eggs of this species, but eggs sent to Hume from South 

 Russia are described by him as being moderately broad ovals, slightly 

 pointed at one end. The colour is said to be a creamy or ivory-white, 

 and the shells very smooth and comparatively thin. 



They varied in size between 2*4" and 2'7" and in breadth from VI" 



to 1'9", but, as he says, a larger series would probably shew a wider range 



of difference. 



(To be continued^) 



