MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1078 



40 yarcls. So far the villagers assert he made no attempt to have connec- 

 tion with the village cows and at the end of the hot weather he retired 

 into the jungle and was not seen again till last December when he 

 reappeared among the cattle and resumed his former habits. About a 

 fortnight ago, however, he was noticed to be paying particular attention to 

 a young cow that had not yet been crossed, and after a few days he 

 disappeared with her into the jungle and neither of them has been seen 

 since. It remains to be seen whether either will return but they probably 

 will and the result if any will be very interesting, I am glad to say 

 strict orders have been issued that the Tsine is not to be shot or interfered 

 with in any way. It is not an old bull and it is strange why it should 

 have taken to this solitary life. Can it be that it has been driven out of 

 the herds by an older and stronger bull and so forced to come to the' 

 village cattle for companionship ? Considering the usual timidity and 

 wariness of Tsine it seems extraordinary. 



T. A. HAUXWELL, 



Conservator of Forests, Burma. 

 Banmauk, 2Qth February 1912. 



No. XI.— NOTES ON BIRDS FROM LAHORE. 



On April 80th, 1911, I saw a pair of Sparrows building in a Baya's 

 {Ploceus baya) old nest in a Keekur tree. Thinking it unusual I put my 

 glasses on them and found they were a pair of Rufous-backed Sparrows 

 {Passer pyrrhonotus). On May 12th I looked them up again. Seeing both 

 birds in the tree I climbed up and found they had four eggs of the finely 

 freckled type. Incubation was advanced. I shot both birds to put the 

 matter beyond doubt. 



Again on August 6th, 1911, I saw a pair of this Sparrow building in 

 another Baya's nest. On revisiting this locality I was sorry to see the egg 

 chamber had been torn open from the exterior and no Sparrows to be seen. 

 The curious part of this was that all the remaining Baya's nests had been 

 treated in the same way ! What could have done it ? I thought the 

 foregoing might interest some of the readers of the Journal as I see no 

 m,ention of a similar occurrence in " Nests and Eggs " nor the " Fauna of 

 British India " Birds. In May and June I saw many nests of the 

 Golden Oriole (Oriolus kundoo) and with but few exceptions there was a 

 nest of the Black Drongo [Dicrurus ater) in the same tree, in some cases on 

 the same branch. Is this instinct or reason ? Surely the Orioles know the 

 great protection they obtain from the presence of the King Crows. On 

 October 27th while taking a stroll near the Ravi, I heard a familiar note and 

 on going up to the sound was pleased to see a Grey-headed Flycatcher 

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