54 



is said by some to inhabit the plains of Tibet generally ; while, ac- 

 cording to others, it is confined to those plains which are within 

 sight of mountains, especially of the Hemachal mountains. It 

 cannot bear even the moderate heats of the valley of Nepal ; an in- 

 dividual belonging to the Lama of Digurchee, having died at the 

 commencement of the hot season, when the maximum of tempera- 

 ture was only 80°, a temperature seldom reached for two hours a 

 day or for two days of that month, March. 



The Chiru is extremely addicted to the use of salt in the summer 

 months, when vast herds are often seen at some of the rock-salt- 

 beds which so much abound in Tibet. They are said to advance 

 under the conduct of a leader, and to post sentinels around the 

 beds before they attempt to feed. 



To complete this abstract of Mr. Hodgson's account of the Chiru, 

 it may be added, that at the following meeting of the Committee 

 there was exhibited a drawing of its head and horns, which had 

 been subsequently transmitted by that gentleman ; together with a 

 duplicate of his paper, to which he had added that he had recently 

 seen a very old male, in which the dark parts had become grizzled 

 and almost white. 



Mr. Vigors recalled the attention of the Committee to the sub- 

 ject of the Himalayan Birds ; confining his observations this evening 

 to some species of the family of Merulidce or Thrushes. Among 

 these was a new species closely allied to the common European 

 Blackbird, exhibiting the yellow bill and general black plumage of 

 that bird, but differing from it in the varied markings of the wing. 

 It was characterized as follows. 



Turdus pcecilopterus. Mas. Turd, corpore nigro, abdomine 

 imo subcinerascenti-Jusco ; remigum mediarum pogoniis externis 

 pteromatib usque cineraceo-griseis, his apice albis ; rostro pedi* 

 busquejlavis. 

 Fcem.? Corpore suprh brunnescenti-griseo, subtus pallidiori ; ptero- 

 matibus remigumque mediarum pogoniis externis ui in mari nota- 

 tis, sed colore subrufescenti tinctis. 

 Statura fere Turdi Merulce, Linn. 



A species of Cinclus was exhibited, differing from the European 

 in the uniform colouring of the plumage. Mr. Vigors expressed 

 his opinion that it was the same species as that discovered in the 

 Crimea by Pallas, and described by M. Temminck in his ' Manuel' 

 as having " tout le plumage, sans exception, d'une seule nuance 

 brune, couleur de chocolat." 



The following may be given as its specific character. 



Cinclus Pallasii, Temm. Cincl. unicolor, i?dense brunneus ; 



rostro pedib usque fuscis. 

 Statura Cincli aquatici, Bechst. 



Mr. Vigors referring to the bird which had been described by the 

 Prince of Musignano among the species from the Rocky Moun- " 

 tains, added to his Synopsis of North American Birds in the 'Annals 

 of the Lyceum of New York,' [p. 439, sp. 94 bis], and which was 



