ARKIY FÖR ZOOLOGI. 



BAND 2. N:o 9. 



Short Notes on a collection of Birds from 

 Tianshan. 



By 

 EINAR LÖNNBERG 



With 1 plate. 

 Communicated December 14 by Hj. ThÉel and Chr. Aurivillius 



The Birds of the Paleartic region are, for the present, the 

 object of eager study from the side of the ornithologists as 

 it has become evident of late that our knowledge about them 

 still has many defects. It has been recognised gradually 

 that many if not most species of Birds are represented by 

 different and aberrant forms or types within different re- 

 gions. These geographic subspecies or races are, however, 

 not yet known all of them, the degree of variation is not 

 ascertained in every case; nor is the distribution of each type 

 of variety stated. This modern problem of the geographic 

 variation can not be solved at once because the needed ma- 

 terial cannotbe brought together suddenly, but the solution 

 must come as the summed up result of many investigations. 

 In such a case every little contribution is of value. 



This autumn I have succeeded in procuring a collection 

 of birds from the Tianshan district. When naming these I 

 made a comparison between them and corresponding swedish 

 specimens. The material has not been sufficiently large, but 

 in several instances differences in size or colouration have 

 been demonstrated which may help to distinguish some geo- 

 graphic subspecies when more material has been obtained, 



Arkiv för zoologi. Bd 2. N:o 9. 1 



