Miscellaneous notes. m 



finds it too tough a nut for his powerful jaws to crack, though he feeds 

 largely on the cultivated variety with a thinner shell. The only animal, as 

 far as I know, which can circumvent the excessively thick and hard shell of 

 the wild walnut is a species of rat (probably Mus niveiventer). When 

 stationed for some years in the North -West Himalayas (Chakrata) I con- 

 stantly came across wild walnuts with the round holes described by Genl, 

 Osborn, bored iii a systematic manner in either side of the nut, but the holes 

 showed evident marks of the teeth of a small rodent, and, though I never 

 actually saw the rat at work, I think there can be little doubt but that he is 

 the culprit. 



The chief food of N. hemispila is the seed of the Blue pine {Pinus excelsa) 

 in forests of which they do considerable damage by extracting the seed from 

 the ripening cones. 



They also feed on the seed of the Spruce fir (^Picea morinda). 



They are not migratory in the N.-W, Himalayan region between Chakrata 

 and Simla, but are found, according to season, at elevations of from 3,000 to 

 10,000 feet. 



I naver saw the Larger Spotted Nutcracker (iV. multiputiclata) in the N.-W. 

 Himalayas^ but here in Sikkim it appears to be the only species found. 

 It frequents chiefly the fir forests at high elevations 10 to 12,000 feet. 



The only specimen of iV. caryocatactes I ever shot was in Germany, and 

 its crop contained six uncracked hazel nuts. I doubt if the Nutcracker is 

 much given to cracking nuts, and certainly his bill seems ill-adapted for the 

 purpose, 



B. B. OSMASTON. 

 Daejeeling, &th December, 1902. 



[In view of the above suggestion regarding the cause of the perforations 

 in the walnuts, the specimens sent by Genl. W. Osborn have been carefully 

 examined, and it would certainly appear that the holes in the sides of the 

 nuts bear the marks of rodents' teeth. 



B. Comber, 

 Hony. Secy., Bird Dept., 

 Bombay Natural History Society.] 



No. IX,— THE CHESTNUT-HEADED SHORT-WING (OLIGURA 

 GASTANEICORONA TA). 



I see Mr. Whymper has noted at page 607 of Vol. XIV. of the Journal 

 the occurrence of the Chestnut-headed Short-wing {OUgwa castaneicoronata) 

 in Kumaon, whereas the distribution of this bird is given in Gates as extend- 

 ing from Nepal eastwards. 



I found this bird not uncommon in the hills of Tehri-Garhwal (north- 

 west of Chakrata). In the winter it is to be found in the low valleys at 

 3,000 to 4,000 feet elevation, but in June I found it common on Kedar Kanta 



