<PAGE> PAGE 1
000 B000000 02/29/96
000 C000000 0000896665
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
000 G000000 N
000 H000000 N
000 I000000 3.0.a
000 J000000 A
001 A000000 SENIOR HIGH INCOME PORTFOLIO, INC.
001 B000000 811-7456
001 C000000 6092827165
002 A000000 P.O. BOX 9066
002 B000000 PRINCETON
002 C000000 NJ
002 D010000 08543
002 D020000 9066
003 000000 N
004 000000 N
005 000000 N
006 000000 N
007 A000000 N
007 B000000 0
007 C010100 1
007 C010200 2
007 C010300 3
007 C010400 4
007 C010500 5
007 C010600 6
007 C010700 7
007 C010800 8
007 C010900 9
007 C011000 10
008 A000001 FUND ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-12485
008 D010001 PRINCETON
008 D020001 NJ
008 D030001 08543
008 D040001 9011
011 A000001 MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INC.
011 B000001 8-7221
011 C010001 PRINCETON
011 C020001 NJ
011 C030001 08543
011 C040001 9011
012 A000001 THE BANK OF NEW YORK
012 B000001 85-05006
012 C010001 NEW YORK
012 C020001 NY
012 C030001 10286
<PAGE> PAGE 2
013 A000001 DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
013 B010001 PRINCETON
013 B020001 NJ
013 B030001 08540
015 A000001 THE BANK OF NEW YORK
015 B000001 C
015 C010001 NEW YORK
015 C020001 NY
015 C030001 10286
015 E010001 X
018 000000 Y
019 A000000 Y
019 B000000 180
019 C000000 MERRILLLYN
020 C000001 0
020 C000002 0
020 C000003 0
020 C000004 0
020 C000005 0
020 C000006 0
020 C000007 0
020 C000008 0
020 C000009 0
020 C000010 0
021 000000 0
022 A000001 GENERAL ELECTRIC CAPITAL CORP.
022 C000001 200073
022 D000001 0
022 A000002 GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
022 B000002 13-5108880
022 C000002 13968
022 D000002 8915
022 A000003 CITICORP SECURITIES, INC.
022 C000003 12109
022 D000003 5626
022 A000004 BT SECURITIES CORPORATION
022 C000004 10902
022 D000004 4143
022 A000005 LAZARD FRERES & CO. LLC
022 B000005 13-5545100
022 C000005 3940
022 D000005 8053
022 A000006 PAINEWEBBER INCORPORATED
022 B000006 13-2638166
022 C000006 2498
022 D000006 9232
022 A000007 SMITH BARNEY INC.
022 B000007 13-1912900
022 C000007 9972
022 D000007 1015
022 A000008 CS FIRST BOSTON CORPORATION
<PAGE> PAGE 3
022 B000008 13-5659485
022 C000008 8007
022 D000008 2519
022 A000009 DONALDSON, LUFKIN & JENRETTE SECURITIES CORP.
022 B000009 13-2741729
022 C000009 5000
022 D000009 3713
022 A000010 CHEMICAL SECURITIES, INC.
022 B000010 13-3379014
022 C000010 3000
022 D000010 3968
023 C000000 286414
023 D000000 58735
024 000000 N
026 A000000 N
026 B000000 Y
026 C000000 N
026 D000000 Y
026 E000000 N
026 F000000 N
026 G010000 N
026 G020000 N
026 H000000 N
027 000000 N
045 000000 Y
046 000000 N
047 000000 Y
048 000000 0.500
048 A010000 0
048 A020000 0.000
048 B010000 0
048 B020000 0.000
048 C010000 0
048 C020000 0.000
048 D010000 0
048 D020000 0.000
048 E010000 0
048 E020000 0.000
048 F010000 0
048 F020000 0.000
048 G010000 0
048 G020000 0.000
048 H010000 0
048 H020000 0.000
048 I010000 0
048 I020000 0.000
048 J010000 0
048 J020000 0.000
048 K010000 0
048 K020000 0.000
049 000000 N
<PAGE> PAGE 4
050 000000 N
051 000000 N
052 000000 N
053 A000000 N
054 A000000 Y
054 B000000 Y
054 C000000 N
054 D000000 N
054 E000000 N
054 F000000 N
054 G000000 N
054 H000000 Y
054 I000000 N
054 J000000 Y
054 K000000 N
054 L000000 N
054 M000000 Y
054 N000000 N
055 A000000 Y
055 B000000 Y
056 000000 Y
057 000000 N
058 A000000 N
059 000000 Y
060 A000000 N
060 B000000 N
061 000000 0
062 A000000 Y
062 B000000 0.0
062 C000000 0.0
062 D000000 0.0
062 E000000 0.0
062 F000000 0.0
062 G000000 0.0
062 H000000 0.0
062 I000000 0.4
062 J000000 0.0
062 K000000 0.0
062 L000000 0.0
062 M000000 0.0
062 N000000 0.0
062 O000000 0.0
062 P000000 65.0
062 Q000000 0.0
062 R000000 53.9
063 A000000 0
063 B000000 6.7
064 A000000 N
066 A000000 N
067 000000 N
068 A000000 N
<PAGE> PAGE 5
068 B000000 N
069 000000 N
070 A010000 Y
070 A020000 N
070 B010000 N
070 B020000 N
070 C010000 Y
070 C020000 N
070 D010000 N
070 D020000 N
070 E010000 Y
070 E020000 N
070 F010000 N
070 F020000 N
070 G010000 Y
070 G020000 N
070 H010000 N
070 H020000 N
070 I010000 N
070 I020000 N
070 J010000 Y
070 J020000 Y
070 K010000 Y
070 K020000 N
070 L010000 Y
070 L020000 Y
070 M010000 Y
070 M020000 N
070 N010000 Y
070 N020000 N
070 O010000 Y
070 O020000 Y
070 P010000 Y
070 P020000 N
070 Q010000 N
070 Q020000 N
070 R010000 N
070 R020000 N
071 A000000 150115
071 B000000 178360
071 C000000 295748
071 D000000 51
072 A000000 12
072 B000000 29694
072 C000000 0
072 D000000 0
072 E000000 607
072 F000000 1501
072 G000000 109
072 H000000 0
072 I000000 63
<PAGE> PAGE 6
072 J000000 32
072 K000000 0
072 L000000 66
072 M000000 24
072 N000000 0
072 O000000 0
072 P000000 4640
072 Q000000 0
072 R000000 43
072 S000000 49
072 T000000 0
072 U000000 28
072 V000000 0
072 W000000 222
072 X000000 6777
072 Y000000 0
072 Z000000 23524
072AA000000 1927
072BB000000 5973
072CC010000 10796
072CC020000 0
072DD010000 23432
072DD020000 0
072EE000000 0
073 A010000 0.9232
073 A020000 0.0000
073 B000000 0.0000
073 C000000 0.0000
074 A000000 1
074 B000000 0
074 C000000 849
074 D000000 153545
074 E000000 0
074 F000000 281
074 G000000 0
074 H000000 0
074 I000000 126916
074 J000000 0
074 K000000 0
074 L000000 4950
074 M000000 184
074 N000000 286725
074 O000000 1500
074 P000000 118
074 Q000000 47000
074 R010000 0
074 R020000 0
074 R030000 0
074 R040000 1971
074 S000000 0
074 T000000 236136
<PAGE> PAGE 7
074 U010000 25640
074 U020000 0
074 V010000 9.21
074 V020000 0.00
074 W000000 0.0000
074 X000000 13617
074 Y000000 0
075 A000000 0
075 B000000 231304
076 000000 9.25
077 A000000 Y
077 B000000 Y
078 000000 N
080 A000000 ICI MUTUAL INSURANCE CO.
080 C000000 750
081 A000000 Y
081 B000000 109
082 A000000 N
082 B000000 0
083 A000000 N
083 B000000 0
084 A000000 N
084 B000000 0
085 A000000 Y
085 B000000 N
086 A010000 251
086 A020000 2286
086 B010000 0
086 B020000 0
086 C010000 0
086 C020000 0
086 D010000 0
086 D020000 0
086 E010000 0
086 E020000 0
086 F010000 0
086 F020000 0
087 A010000 SENIOR HIGH INCOME PORTFOLIO, INC.
087 A020000 81721E107
087 A030000 ARK
088 A000000 N
088 B000000 N
088 C000000 N
088 D000000 N
SIGNATURE GERALD M. RICHARD
TITLE TREASURER
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<CIK> 0000896665
<NAME> SENIOR HIGH INCOME PORTFOLIO, INC.
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> 12-MOS
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> FEB-29-1996
<PERIOD-START> MAR-01-1995
<PERIOD-END> FEB-29-1996
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 279745072
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 281590620
<RECEIVABLES> 4949615
<ASSETS-OTHER> 184528
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 286724763
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 1500000
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 47000000
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 2089067
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 50589067
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 243112884
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 25639592
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 25388292
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 4016428
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> (12839164)
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> 1845548
<NET-ASSETS> 236135696
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 0
<INTEREST-INCOME> 29694310
<OTHER-INCOME> 607462
<EXPENSES-NET> (6777384)
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 23524388
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT> (4045820)
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT> 10795412
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS> 30273980
<EQUALIZATION> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME> (23431545)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER> 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD> 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED> 0
<SHARES-REINVESTED> 251300
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS> 9128662
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR> 3923535
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR> (8793824)
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR> 0
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR> 0
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES> 1500647
<INTEREST-EXPENSE> 4639838
<GROSS-EXPENSE> 6777384
<AVERAGE-NET-ASSETS> 231303814
<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN> 8.94
<PER-SHARE-NII> .92
<PER-SHARE-GAIN-APPREC> .27
<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND> (.92)
<PER-SHARE-DISTRIBUTIONS> 0
<RETURNS-OF-CAPITAL> 0
<PER-SHARE-NAV-END> 9.21
<EXPENSE-RATIO> 2.92
<AVG-DEBT-OUTSTANDING> 68472678
<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE> 2.69
</TABLE>
