MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 951 



Of birds I have observed him catch the swallow and make a bag of four Muaias • 

 the former were caught as they passed him while seated on a^dead branch and 

 after being beaten about for a short tim? wera gulpsd holm bolus " fur, feet 

 and feathers " with great gusto. Of inanimate objects anything brio-ht' and 

 guttering has a great attraction for the bird and it s^m-tini-s ev^n a'ttempts 

 to swallow these. I may mention that any food actually distasteful, and there is 

 mighty httle, is almost immediately ejected, the sam? often follows if it be 

 forcibly fed. Some items however such as table salt which cannot be thrown 

 up and do not agree with the bird's digestion make him wear a thoui^htful 

 expression for some hours. 



The bird bathes itself by jumping from one leafy branch to another in the 

 early morning and shaking the dew oS the leaves on to its feathers; this it do33 

 roughly at intervals of a week. I have hitherto not observed it taking a dust 

 bath as this Hornbill in the purely wild state so delights in doinw. 



On the whole now that the bird is more or less adult it is fairly silent and 

 though numbers of its fellows in the heav\' forest some 200 yards distant may 

 be utteiing their harsh cackle it seldom responds. 



As regards eyesight this is a highly developed sense and it can spot a hawk 

 or other bird of prey (all of which are held in the greatest dread) at distances 

 beyond the range of human vision; it can also see small insects at, in proportion, 

 an equal distance. 



Water or other liquids are not partaken of so in this respect my pet can oive 

 the Pusyfoot and pump-puritan tribe points and a beating. 



To accurately distinguish sex in the very young bird by appearance and 

 form of bill would take a much keener observer than myself as the colour and 

 shape changes much during the first six months of growth. The one I am at 

 present writing of now proves to be a male ; when first brought in I thou^^ht it 

 might be of this sex. in another two months I was convinced it was a female and 

 so on until now, this time however I think there is little mistake. 



The bird Avith a little trouble and care is easily reared and proves a most 

 interesting and comical pet. I enclose a photo. The following members of this 

 family occur here : — 



Dichoceros bicornis. Great Hornbill. 

 Anthracoceros albirostris, Indo- Burmese Pied Hornbill. 

 Rhytidoceros undulatus, Malayan Wreathed Hornbill. 

 Ptilolcemus austeni (Uncommon.) Godwin-Austen's Hornbill. 

 MuRPHULANi, T. E. ALEX. M. PRIMROSE. 



GoLAGHAT P. O.. Assam, 

 5th March 1921. 



No. XVII.— XIDIFICATION OF THE HIMALAYAN LONG-BILLED 

 VULTURE {OYPS TENUIRObTRL^). 



As the nidification of the Himalayan Long-billed Vulture (Gi/ps tenmros'ris) 

 does not seem to have been previously recorded from within the limits of the 

 U. P. it might interest you to know that I have this day taken a m^st of this 

 species which unfortunately contained a young one about a week old. 



The nest was on a Peepal tree (very high up) standing alone at the foot of a 

 spur of the Vindhyas, about four miles west of Chakia, in the B-nar.s State; 

 and was simplv a huge collection of coarse sticks without lining of any sort. It 

 differed from the nest of Pseudogyps bengalensis, in that there were no leaves 

 incorporated in its structure. The young bird was a gosling-like creature, 

 covered Avith yellowish brown, and was being fed by the parent by what looked 

 like a process of regurgitation. 



