538 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XX. 



being chosen though sometimes that of a laughing thrush is selected, and 

 Mr. Stuart Baker has recorded two instances where eggs were found in the 

 nest of a small Nepal babbler {Alcippe nepalensis.) It might, however, be 

 worth mentioning that a cuckoo belonging to the same genera, the spotted 

 cuckoo C. glandarious of S. Europe and N. Africa, lays its eggs in the 

 nests of crows and magpies. Crows were, of course, always ready to mob 

 any strange bird ; for instance, two weeks ago an Indian Pitta, halting on 

 migration, was rescued from their clutches in the University Gardens and 

 brought to the Museum. A crested cuckoo can, however, hardly be called a 

 strange bird after the first few days of its arrival, and the crows must surely 

 have some other reason for mobbing it. He suggested to members that 

 they should endeavour to note when last Pied-Crested Cuckoos were seen at 

 the end of the rains, and that those who happened to be in the country in 

 the neighbourhood of Bombay, during the cold weather might keep a look- 

 out for this species and report its occurrence. He added that any observ- 

 ations which might help to elucidate the cause of the great antipathy which 

 crows have for Pied-Crested Cuckoos would always be of interest. 



PAPER READ. 

 Note No. 2 on the giant water-storing Climber (Calycopteris jioribunda) 

 Lamk, by Lt.-Col. K. R. Kirtikar,I. M.S. (Retcl.), with a microscopic demons- 

 tration of sections of the plant by Prof. V. N. Hate, B. Sc. 



PROCEEDINGS 

 OF THE MEETING HELD ON THE 25th AUGUST 1910. 



A Meeting of the Members of the Bombay Natural History Society took 

 place on the 25th August 1910 at the Society's Rooms, Major C. R. Hoskyn, 

 R.E., presiding. 



The election of the following 47 new members since the last meeting 

 was duly announced : — Mr. Kawasji Dadabhoy Dubash (Bombay); Mr. E. W. 

 Lace (Waltair, Vizagapatam Dist.) ; Dr. A. G. H. Smart, M.B. (Kelanton 

 via Singapur) ; Mr. M. M. Wadia (Bombay) ; Mr. E. A. D'Abreu (Kur- 

 seong) ; Mr. J. H. Manning Fox (Barrackpore) ; Mr. I. W. Stokes (Bombay) ; 

 the Mess President, 1st Connaught Rangers (Dagshai) ; Mr. G. H. Welch- 

 man (Parlakimedi, Ganjam Dist.): the Mess President, 101st Grenadiers 

 (Mhow) ; Mr. Joston Homfray (Gauhatti, Assam) ; Mr. James I. Smith, I.C.S. 

 (Koraput, Vizagapatam Dist.); Mr. J. A. Anderson (Rangoon); Mr. A. de C. 

 Carson (Jaffna, Ceylon) ; Mr. A. J. Kilmartin (Jaffna, Ceylon) ; Mr. K. M. 

 Balfour (Jhansi) ; the Mess President, 41st Dogras (Cawnpore) ; the 

 Director, Dept. of Agriculture (Eastern Bengal and Assam) ; Lt. L. H. L. 

 Mackenzie, I.M.S. (Bombay) ; Mr. J. H. Smith (Bhuj) ; Mr. P.N. W. Wilson 

 (Jubbulpore) ; Mr. H. M. Hope-Johnston (Jubbulpore) ; Major J. R. Carter 

 (Jetalsar, Kathiawar) ; Mr. W. A. Nicholetts (Tejpur, Assam) ; Mr. D. S. 

 Withers (Sibaagar, Assam) ; Mr. N. Macmichael, I.C.S, (Chatrapur, Ganjam 



