268 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 90 



think I saw the Spotted Dove (Tnrtur surateiisis) more fre- 

 quently in the cities than elsewhere, and the Little Brown 

 Dove {Turtiir camhayensis) was found of tenor beside the 

 country road. So plentiful in some places is the Blue Rock 

 Pig-eon (Coliuiiba intermedia) that it seems to be a positive 

 nuisance : this is true in particular of Jaipur, where the spe- 

 cies literally covers large spaces in the wide streets, where it 

 crowds into and defiles such buildings as the Hall of Public 

 Audience of the Maharajah. This is a building that no one 

 ought to fail to see, for without ocular confirmation it is hard 

 to believe that there could' have been built such a hideous 

 structure within a short railway ride of the Taj Mahal at 

 Agra, or the Hall of Private Audience at Delhi. 



The Vultures have been left until the last ; and it seems 

 obviously proper to make those species of this familv the 

 ve-ry last, that would make the last of us very speedily if they 

 got a chance. Consequently the White Scavenger Vulture 

 {Neophron giiiginianus) claims first consideration. It is a 

 common species, and was seen wherever I went, except near 

 the coast From my window in the Cecil Hotel, Agra, one 

 of them was seen sitting in a bulky nest in a neem tree not 

 more than twenty-five feet away. A position on the roof, 

 overlooking the nest, was sought at once, but the nest was 

 empty when the bird left. Such a location was highly ad- 

 vantageous for study when the nest life was in 'p'^ogress. 



The White Scavenger Vulture at times has a woe-begone, 

 dishevelled appearance, as if it appreciated the contumely 

 heaped upon it by mankind. In view of its single shortcom- 

 ing it is a pity that the bird cannot talk back. If it could its 

 reply would probably be something like this: "Oh, vain- 

 glorious man! wherefore do you cast such volumes of re- 

 proach upon me? Am I not a faithful spouse and a devoted 

 ])arent? Do you ever see me figuring in the divorce courts 

 because of inconstancy, or my offspring deserted by me, left 

 to the tender mercies of strangers in my tribe? Do you see 

 me robbing my brothers or slaying millions of them in unholy 

 war? Your sole accusation against me is that I am a scav- 



