406 General N. M. Prjevalsky 



in extremely arid^ desert tracts) have a pale coloration, 

 especially of the ultramarine feathers of the tail-coverts, 

 throat, breast, and flanks. In size and other respects the 

 paler are not distinguishable from the darker specimens. 

 This pale variety, however, has been made into a separate 

 subspecies by our celebrated ornithologist Dr. M. Meuzbier, 

 and described by him in ' The Ibis,^ 1885, p. 353, under the 

 name of L. sophia, var. mnjor. 



In habits L. sophicB is non-migratory, and chiefly belongs 

 to the mountains, where it may be met w^ith in the various 

 ranges of its distribution at heights varying between 3,000 

 and 13,000 feet of absolute elevation. In the oases at the 

 foot of the Thian Shan, such as Ak-su and Utch-Turfan, 

 this little bird is common enough, but in the wide expanse 

 of plains along the Tarim and in Tsaidam it is rare. It 

 only frequents thick copses, whether of barberry, willow, 

 wild rose, or tamarisk, in the defiles of the southern slopes of 

 the Thian Shan ; or the thickest shrubberies of rhododendron, 

 Carogana juhata, Potentilla, and Salix, in the alpine zone of 

 the Kan-suh mountains; or, lastly, thickets of Myricaria, 

 kharmyk, and tamarisk in the defiles of the Tibetan moun- 

 tains bordering Tsaidam and the Tarim lowlands. In the 

 forested belts of mountains, as already stated, it lives chiefly 

 in the alpine zone of underwood, and only occasionally de- 

 scends to the lower wooded region along defiles of moun- 

 tain-torrents. It is a nimble climber in underwood and a swift 

 runner. Its note is a feeble whistle. In the alpine zone of 

 the Kan-suh mountains L. sophice is frequently met with ; 

 usually in small flocks, associated with Poecile superciliosa. 



In the forests of the Upper Hoang-ho, notably on Mt. 

 Jakhan-fidza, I found one of its nests on the 16/28 April, 

 1880, quite ready, but as yet empty. This nest was suspended, 

 at a height of about 7 feet, from a branch of juniper, another 

 supporting it below ; it was formed of moss, sheep's-wool, 

 and down from the flowers of the willow, lined with the downy 

 coverts of Crossoptilon auritum. In shape it was round like 

 a ball, 5 inches in diameter, with a narrow opening above. 



