142 Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



shooting withiu the limits of the station (the boundaries of 

 which, owing to the scattered nature of the houses, extend 

 several miles), and thus effectually putting a stop to my personal 

 bird-collecting propensities. 



Of Bullfinches he had only a pair of Pyrrhula erythrocephala. 

 Several examples of Alsocomus hodgsoni, which I had previously 

 only obtained at Darjeeling, and which does not apparently 

 occur in the immediate vicinity of Simla, though common in 

 the interior. 



The other Gemitores are Turtur rupicolus, T. humilis, and 

 Columba rupestris. 



Dr. Stoliczka has observed Phyrrhocorax alpinus, and thinks 

 it has a yellow bill with red legs, like the European bird ; but 

 this is a point which requires further evidence to settle satisfac- 

 torily, as well as other opinions relative to this rare bird. He 

 had a few specimens of Fregilus himalayanus. 



Of Nucifraya hemispila several specimens occur in the collec- 

 tion ; but of the rarer N. multimaculata it appears the Doctor 

 has only procured one, and that last year in Cashmere. Of the 

 former I have occasionally seen a pair, within the last few days 

 only, in this neighbourhood (Simla) above Annandale. They 

 probably visit the woods here in the winter months only in any 

 numbers, although a few may venture about this month, at- 

 tracted to the neighbourhood by the half-ripe walnuts, of which 

 they are very fond, and the kernels of which they scientifically 

 extract, after boring a good-sized hole through both skin and 

 shell with their powerful beaks. 



Hypo trior chis severus and several young of Tinnunculus alau- 

 darius are the only Hawks; of Owls, Glaucidium hrodiei; of 

 Swallows, only one species, which is common here in the summer, 

 Hirundo daurica. Palaornis schisticeps is the only Parakeet. 



Cuculus himalayanus and C. poliocephalus, the Cuckoos ; of 

 the true identification of the latter I am not, however, quite 

 satisfied without comparison. A Honeysucker is jEthopyga 

 gouldice; of Myzanthe ignipectus fine specimens of both sexes. 

 The female is very like the females of Dictsum. A creeper is the 

 common Cei'thia himalayana — a very abundant species in these 

 hills, which breeds in the vicinity of Simla in May and June. 



