404 Major C. H. T. Marshall on the Birds ojChamba. 



XLI. — Notes on the Birds of Chamba, in the N.W. 

 Himalayas. By Major C, H. T. Marshall. 



(Plate X.) 



Chamba is a native state, lying between 32°-40° N. lat. and 

 76°-78°E. long., bordered on the nortb and west by Kashmir 

 and Ladakh, on the soutli and east by Kangra and the plains 

 of the Pnnjab. It contains 3200 square miles of mountainous 

 country. Of this large area only 100,000 acres are cultivated ; 

 the rest consists of snowy and rocky mountains, grassy hills, 

 and vast forests of cedar, pine, oak, birch, &c. Through it 

 run the rivers Ravi and Chenab and the three great ranges of 

 mountains — the Western Himalayas, the Mid Himalayas, 

 and the Outer Himalayas. The first borders the Chenab 

 river and the Pangi valley, the snowy peaks averaging 20,770 

 feet and the passes 15,700 feet. The second cuts through 

 the middle of the State and divides the Chenab from the Ravi ; 

 its snowy peaks average 19,000 feet and the passes 15,000. 

 The third forms the boundary between Kangra and Chamba, 

 averages about 13,000 feet, and is clear of snow in the 

 summer. 



The climate is, as might be. supposed, very varied, from 

 the suffocating heat in summer of the low closed-in valleys 

 to the bracing cold of the glaciers among the eternal snows. 

 The species included in the subjoined list form a very varied 

 selection, comprising the Rose- Finch and Chough, dwellers 

 among the highest passes, with the Ring-Dove and Grey 

 Shrike of the plains. 



I have been administering the State for the last four and 

 a half years for the Raja, who is a minor. I have had many 

 opportunities of observing the avifauna of the neighbourhood, 

 though I must confess that I have not done so much as I 

 might, and I fear my list is not very perfect as far as the 

 birds of the higher regions are concerned. 



The greater part of my observations M'ere made within a 

 radius of ten miles of the town of Chamba itself, where I 

 spent the winter months. It is on a plateau overhanging the 



