MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 149 



rufiventris ever remain to breed on these Hills ? The bird has undoubtedly 

 been shot on the plains of India in the summer, as Mr. Gates' note in " Nests 

 and Eggs," ii, 64, shows. 



A. G. CAEDEW. 

 OoTACAMAND, 20i/t June, 1895. 



P. S. — Since the above was written I have also obtained two nests of Arach- 

 nothera longirostris, regarding the breeding habits of which in India no infor- 

 mation was available when Mr. Gates wrote. Mr. J. Davidson has meantime 

 taken the eggs in North Kanara. Of my nests one was on a Plantain leaf, the 

 other on the broad leaf of a jungle plant. The nest is large, built of fine fibres, 

 and ornamented on the outside with " Skeleton " leaves. The eggs were two 

 in number, white, with reddish-brown spots. 



A. a. c, 



ISth September, 1895, 



No. v.— THE NESTING OF THE LONG-EARED OWL {ASIO 

 OTUS) IN INDIA. 



As there appears to be no record of the eggs of the long-eared owl (Asio 

 otus) having been taken in India, possibly the following might be of some 

 interest. 



"While after bear ( U. isahellinus ) on the Hills above Gurais in Kashmir 

 on 4th June. 1895, I found a nest containing four eggs of this owl in a 

 sycamore '.tree, at a height of about twelve feet from the ground, and I also 

 shot one of the parent birds for identification. 



The nest which was a mere platform of sticks, with no pretence . at a lining, 

 had doubtless, from its weather-beaten and delapidated appearance, been origi- 

 nally occupied by some other bird, probably a crow. 



The eggs were much incubated and would, I think, have hatched in a few 



They are broad white ovals, slightly glossy and measure 1-62" x 1'35". 



On several occasions I heard owls hooting in the evening, which I believe 

 belonged to this species, so that it is probably not an uncommon bird in 

 Kashmir at suitable elevations. 



The eggs I took were found, as far as I could judge, at an elevation of 

 about 9,000 feet, but I heard birds lower than this. In the neighbourhood of 

 the valley itself, say, from 5,500 to 6,500 feet the only owl I saw or heard 

 was Bubo bengalensis. 



22nd July, 1895. BERTRAM A. G. SHELLEY, Lt., R.E. 



No. VI.~MEASUREMENT OF TIGERS' SKULLS. 

 "With reference to Mr, W. S. Millard's note on this subject, dated Decem- 

 ber, 1893, (vol. viii, page 447), and Surgeon-Captain H. F, Cleveland's communi- 



