1082 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HLST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



Apparently the nest-hole was 1 foot deep, and as far as I could feel, 

 almost the whole of the small ti'ee had been hollowed out. and only a thin 

 surrounding wall about 2" in width being left. 



The interesting^ point is, the bird, if my man's story is true, continued 

 excavating after the eggs had been laid. Is this a usual practice with 

 Woodpeckers I wonder? If so, it may be that the birds continue to- 

 excavate, as incubation of eggs progresses, in order to have a sufficiently 

 large enough chamber prepared to receive the young. 



The incubation of eggs I took had well set in, and in another -5 days- 

 would have been impossible to blow. 



J. P„ COOK. 

 Camp, 6th February 1912. 



No. XVII.— A KITE'S LARDEE. 



Yesterday I saw here a common Pariah kite [Milvus (/ovinda) sitting on 

 the edge of what appeared to be a large nest built in an Indian cork tree 

 ( Millinytonia Jiortensis), and as it refused to move, although several stones- 

 were thrown at it, I climbed the tree to see if the nest contained any 

 eggs. 



To my surprise I found that the nest contained no eggs, but a regular- 

 larder containing several dead squirrels, parroquets, crows and some old 

 bones, all in various stages of decomposition, showing that the bodies had 

 been placed there at various times. We had been shooting squirrels and 

 parrots, etc., lately, as they had been a nuisance. 



The nest appeared to belong to three kites, all of whom appeared to be 

 adult birds, and all of whom came to the nest at various times to feed. 



Is it a common practice amongst these birds to make a larder ? 



G. L. REMINGTON. 

 Bajntdikui, Rajputana, I'tith February 1912. 



No. XVIII.— OCCURRENCE OF THE COMMON PEAFOWL 



{PAVO CRIST ATUS, Linn) IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD 



OF SIMLA, N.-W. HIMALAYAS. 



The C jmmon Peafowl (P. cristatus) has generally been supposed not to- 

 be a bird of high elevations, but this is hardly correct so far as these 

 parts are concerned. It is common in the Ghana-ka-hati Jungles, 

 (elevation about 5,500 feet), in the Dhami State, which are reserved for 

 His Excellency the Viceroy, and which are not distant more than seven 

 miles from Simla. Again it is found in considerable numbers below the 

 cart-road in Patiala territory, about 8 or 9 miles from Simla, and at about 

 an elevation of 5,000 feet. Lastly a pair of these birds, which were^ 



