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



Major Magrath writes as follows on this species : — ,; A resident and fairly 

 common. An example I shot on the 13th of January, 1906 ; was put up in 

 broad daylight from a nullah in which it had just pounced on a huge bull- 

 frog. It flew away with its prey some distance and was killed on the 

 ground. The vast flocks of Pastor roseus that roosted in the cantonments 

 in August 1905 were much harried by Owls, this species being, as far as I 

 could ascertain, the chief depredator." 



This is the common Owl of the District. 



[1180.] Athene brama. The Spotted Owlet. 



Ward, J. B. N. H. S. xvii. p. 727 (Kashmir.) 



441. c? • Kohat, 1,760 ft., 19th February. 



549. <S ■ Thall, 2,550 ft., 15th May. 



A fairly common resident, not found about houses, as is usually the case, 

 but only in cliffs in wild and desolate parts of the District, or occasionally 

 in o-roves. In the cliffs near Thall it is particularly common, and this must, 

 I think, be the species which Colonel Rattray took for A. bactriana. 

 Curiously enough, in the adjoining District of Peshawar it occurs commonly 

 about towns and villages. 



[1191.] Otogyps calvus. The Black Vulture. 



Ward, J. B. N. H. S. xvii. 728 (far from common in Kashmir). 



Rare. I met with a pair near Siau in November 1905, and a solitary 

 individual on the grass-farm in February 1908. These are the only 

 examples that I have observed. 



[1192.] Gyps fulvus. The Griffon Vulture. 



Rattray, J. B. N. H. S. xii. p. 343 (Thall : common) ; Marshall, op. cit. 

 xv. p. 351 (Quetta : very common) ; Ward, op. cit. xvii. p. 728 (breeds in 

 colonies and is resident). 



Common throughout the District, especially on the Samana, where it 

 breeds and is resident. Observed in the Kurram Valley up to 8,500 feet. 



[1196.] Pseudogyps bengalensis. The Indian White-backed Vulture. 



Rattray, J. B. N. H. S. xii. p. 343 ; Ward, op. cit. xvii. p. 728 (rare in 

 Kashmir). 



Colonel Rattray recorded this species from Thall, and made the following 

 notes on it : — " Common on the plains round Thall ; they were feeding on 

 the dead transport animals all along the road from Kohat to Thall." This 

 was during the Tirah Campaign of 1897-98, which doubtless attracted them 

 to this part of the country, where in times of peace they are unknown. 

 The nearest place where I have seen them is at Rawal Pindi, a hundred 

 miles east of our limits, where, in October 1905, on the occasion of thirteen 

 mules being shot, a great number, in company with Gyps fulvus and 

 Neophron percnopterus, assembled in anticipation of the feast. 



[1197.] Peophron percnopterus. The Egyptian Vulture. 



Rattray, J. B. N. H. S. xii. p. 343 (Thall) ; Marshall, op. cit. xv. p. 351 





