800 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVII. 



1192. Oyps fulvu.s fulvescens, Hume. — The Griffon Vulture. 



Very common. I shot one specimen off a nest and sent to Mr. 

 Hugh Whistler, who kindly skinned it and forwarded it on to the So- 

 ciety, who in their turn also kindly forwarded to England, whence 

 Mr. E. C. Stuart-Baker pronounced it as pertaining to the above race. 

 He says in epist, " Your Vulture appears to me to be a young Gi/ps 

 fulvus fulvescens, it is not himalayensis but I have never seen any spe- 

 cimen of fulvescens like it. The black breast, dark underparts and 

 well- feathered head are unlike anything I have seen in any collec- 

 tion." 



On January 1st I saw several of these birds carrying sticks up ta 

 ' '-Hrious ledges in the cliffs in the hills and on 18th of that month took 

 tne first egg from a solitary eyrie, which was a poor affair composed 

 as it was of a few sticks and lined v/ith dry grass. Next day I 

 - took another egg from an eyrie some distance from the last. Iri this 

 cliff were several more eyries 20 feet to 60 feet apart. Both the 

 foregoing eggs were fresh. Subsequently I took 16 more eggs from 

 different colonies, only one of which is at all well-marked. With 

 the exception of one, which had to be stoned to get her to move, 

 there was little trouble in getting the bird to leave its charge. 



I would here like to say that the distinctive character of the sepa- 

 rating various species of birds of prey by the comparative length of 

 the primaries is most unsatisfactory. Vultures, and many other 

 Raptores, shed these feathers gradually, so that a newl3^-grown fully 

 . developed 3rd primary might easily be longer than an old and 

 worn 4th primary and vice versa. 



Two birds at the largest colony were exceptionally pale, in strong 

 contrast to the remainder which are of a decided ivarm fulvous on the 

 upper parts. 



1198. Neophron percnoptenis, Linn. — The Large White Scavenger Vulture. 



Very common. Only one specimen shot which was attributed to 

 this race. 



1 199. Gypa'c'tus harhatus, Linn. — The Lammergeyer. 



Occasionally seennear cantonments but the hills are the home of this 

 fine bird and here it could be seen almost any day. One nest found 

 in a small cave in an almost perpendicular cliff contained 2 poorly 

 marked eggs on January 5th. Elevation 1,200 feet above sea level. 



1202. Aqiiila hifasciata, J. E. Gray. — The Steppe Eagle. 



Not uncommon. Usually seen seated on the ground near a carcass 

 waiting for the Vultures to leave. 



1203. Aqtiila vindhiana, Franklin. — The Tawny Eagle. 



In such a treeless country this bird naturally was scarce. Single 

 birds were occasionally noted and towards the end of February a 

 pair was found building on the top of a lone " Sheeshum " tree four 

 miles from cantonments. 

 1207. Hieraetus fasciahis, Vieill. — Bonelli's Eagle. 



A pair of these fine birds was ahvays to be found on each visit I 

 paid to the nullahs near Jhalar in the Kala Chitta Reserve. 

 1216. CircaHus galUcus, Gmel. — The Short-toed Eagle. 



Fairly common but what it subsisted on in this barren country 

 was ever a mystery to me. Never seen near a carcass. 

 1223. HaliaHus lencoryphus. Pall. — Pallas's Fishing Eagle. 



A pair seen at their eyrie at the top of a " Sheeshum " tree. This 

 was on the Indus five miles below Attock. 

 1229. Milvus govinda, Sykes.- — The common Pariah Kite. 



Very common about cantonments. A nest taken in February- 

 contained four eggs. 



