446 Lieut. R. G. Warcllaw- Ramsay's 



looking Lammergeyer attracts the attention of the least ob- 

 servant as he sails majestically round the camp. Besides 

 the Egyptian 'Neophron, this is the only Vulture I have seen. 

 A few pairs of Kites {Milvus govinda ?) only frequent the 

 camp. The Grey Whitethroat's [Sylvia affinis, Blyth, No. 582, 

 Jerdon) song is heard on all sides : the bird is excessively com- 

 mon, and was breeding by 27th May. The Whinchat [Pratin- 

 cola indica, Blyth) is the commonest of ail birds in the open 

 country, perhaps excepting Emberiza stewarti, Avhich is exces- 

 sively abundant, and, I take it, about to nest, if some have not 

 already commenced, for I have seen the birds collecting 

 materials for building. The note of this bird is a very feeble 

 imitation of that of our familiar English Yellow-hammer. 

 Small flocks of the Short-toed Lark [Calandrella brachy- 

 dactyld), and here and there a pair of Blue-throated Warblers 

 [Cyanecula suecica), complete the list of birds which frequent 

 the open country, so far as I have seen. 



The Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is common, as usual; but 

 Harriers are conspicuous by their absence. No Owls as yet 

 observed ; but the cry of what I take to be Syrnium nivicolum, 

 Hodgson, from its similarity to that of our European Tawny 

 Owl {S. aluco), is heard almost nightly. I have not, as yet, 

 shot any Swallows or Swifts; but one species of each is com- 

 mon, probably Cotile riparia and Cypselus apus. Numbers 

 of Bee-eaters arrived on the last day of April and 1st of May, 

 but disappeared as rapidly as they came. I could not deter- 

 mine to what species they belonged, for they were flying at 

 a considerable height, and travelling apparently in a north- 

 westerly direction. It may be tliat these were flocks o^Merops 

 apiaster or M. (Bgyptius in course of migration. The Indian 

 Roller [Coracias indicus) is not uncommon near the skirts of 

 the pine-forest, and the same may be said for Upupa epops. I 

 have only seen one specimen of a Cuckoo [Cuculus canorus). 



The Alcedinidae are very scarce, if, indeed, there are any 

 about our mountain-streams. I have wallsed along the banks 

 of streams that are teeming with fish, and have never seen a 

 Kingfisher. In the Kuram river, hoAvever, on the other side 

 of the Peiwar Kotal, Ceryle rudis was tolerably common. 



