10 



associate in vast numbers, it is tolerably plentiful in those regions, being 

 scattered over the country in small flocks of from six to twelve in num- 

 ber. It is remarkable for a bird like the present, so conspicuous for its 

 beautiful jilumage, and having been known to all our Indian ornithologists 

 for over seventy years, that its breeding-grounds have remamed, like those of 

 many of its congeners, undiscovered ; we therefore still have to record the 

 structure and position of its nest and the details of its eggs. 



Mr. A. Leith-Adams (P. Z. S. 1858) tells us it is " confined to the 

 Himalaya ranges. Never seen in the plains of India. By no means com- 

 mon anywhere. Its habits exactly similar to the Piiri'lada vi/Ii/aris ; but 

 its call-note is not so loud. Frequents dense jungle. The P. erythro- 

 cephala was not seen during my visit to Cashmere, although frequently 

 observed on the rans^es near Simla." 



In the ' Birds of India,' vol. ii., published in 1863, Mr. Jerdon 

 remarks : "This Bullfinch has much the form of the European bird, but 

 the tail is slightly longer and more forked. It is found throughout the 

 Himala3"as, more common in the north-west, somewhat rare in the south- 

 east. I procured it at Darjeeling, but it is rare there, and only a winter 

 visitant ; and Mr. Blyth had not previously seen specimens from Sikkim. 

 At Mussooree, Hutton states it to be common ia winter, feedmg on the 

 ground, as well as on berry-bearing bushes, and it perches high on the top 

 of trees." 



It has been procured at Spita, in Ladak, by Dr. A. Stoliczka ; at Dar- 

 jeeling by Captain Beavan ; in Kotegurh, in Thibet, accordmg to Herr A. 

 V. Pelzeln ; at Dangali by Mr. W. E. Brooks, who says : " This was the 

 only Bullfinch I saw near Darjeeling, and on the Senchal hill a httle 

 beyond the grassy open, where I obtained Anthus ludoviciamis.'^ Major C. 

 H. T. Marshall in his notes on the birds of Chamba says : " I met with 

 a flock of ten or twelve Bullfinches early in April at Dalhousie ; as I had 

 no gun, I failed to secure a specimen. I watched them for some time, and 

 believe they belonged to this species." 



The only remaining notice of this bird is contained in Surgeon- General 

 L. C. Stewart's ' Natural History and Sport in the Himalayas,' pubhshedin 

 the ' Zoologist,' 1886, as follows : " Fagoo, October 14. — I had a very suc- 

 cessful day, and might have obtained many more sj^ecimens, but, as it was, 

 got more than enough for the stufter to prepare properly. Starting at day- 



