CASAECA EUTILA. 121 



In Soiitheni Russia, Asia Miuor^ and Central Asia, the noniial site 

 chosen hy this Jiick is either the deserted liurrow of some animal, or a 

 natural crevice or hole in a mountain side or bank, sometimes on level 

 ground. In the Himalayas, the Brahminy breeds, more or less, in 

 company, though the nests may be some distance apart. They are here 

 generally placed in holes or crevices in the high clifls overhanging 

 streams or lakes, generally close to, but at other times some distance from, 

 them. The nest-holes are often at very great heights from the ground, 

 and as the nestlinss have been seen on the water when verv vouug indeed. 

 it follows of necessity that they are taken there by their parents. 



The Ladakhis say that they are carried in the feet ; and this I think 

 must be the case, though Hume, on the contrary, considers it more likely 

 that they are carried on the backs of the old birds. His argument is that 

 the feet are not adapted to grasping ; but if a strong adult bird could not 

 grasp with sufficient strength to hold up a nestling, how could the same 

 nestling have sufficient grasping-power to maintain its position on the old 

 bird's back during flight ? 



Occasionall}' they breed in very remarkable situations. Hume says 

 that they " Lay in holes in trees and even fallen logs, and in deserted 

 nests of birds of prey."' Tristram found it breeding in a clitF in Northern 

 Galilee amono-st Clriflron Vultures in Mav, and in the Eastern Atlas 

 associating with the Raven, the Black Kite, and Egyptian Vulture. 



" So too, in Ladakh, its nests have been found associated with one of 

 the Thibetan Raven.^' 



He also quotes Prjevalsky as follows :^"' They build in holes and 

 clefts in the ground, and sometimes even in the fireplaces, of the villages 

 deserted by the Moguls, and in the latter places the females, while hatching, 

 get almost black with soot."' 



Then, again. Messrs. Elwes and Buckley say that in Dobrudscha the 

 bird sometimes lays its eggs in a hole in the centre of a cornfield, where 

 naturally it is not easy to find. 



The nest itself seems to be much like that of the Common Sheldrake, a 

 mass of twigs, &c., lined with down : sometimes, however, it is found to 

 consist almost entirely of down and feathers, and altogether it appears to 

 be less bulky, and to have fewer materials other than those just mentioned. 

 Strange to say, I can find no record anywhere of the depth of hole most 

 often resorted to for nesting-purposes, but, from what has been written, it 

 would seem to matter little to the bird how deep or shallow it was, provided 

 the situation proved convenient. 



