Birds of Kohat and Kurram. 99 



river-route on migration, are induced to halt on their way, 

 affording good sport to " Sahibs '' and Turi villagers. The 

 importance of this river as a migration-route is illustrated 

 lower down, where it debouches into the sandy plains of 

 Bannu, outside of the area which we are now considering. 

 Here vast quantities of Wild-fowl, Waders, and Gulls, on 

 migration to their far-off northern homes from the lower 

 reaches of the Indus and the Manchar Lake in Sind, are to 

 be observed, in the months of February and March, asleep 

 or preening their feathers on the mudbanks in mid-river. 

 The majority of these birds undoubtedly keep to the river- 

 route, there being no other important water-way lying near 

 their line of migration, and must therefore, of necessity, 

 pass up the Kurram Valley. It may be wondered at that 

 the River Indus, bordering Kohat, has not been mentioned 

 as suited to the observation of Water-fowl. But in this 

 portion of its course that great river is confined between 

 hills, and flows over a rocky bed, consequently here it affords 

 no feeding-grounds or resting-places for such birds. White- 

 head came doAvn it in a boat at a time of year when he 

 might have expected to find birds, but his journey proved 

 disappointing. On the whole, then, Kohat and Kurram 

 must be looked on as a profitable locality to the Indian 

 ornithologist. 



The straggling of Western Palsearctic forms, not as yet 

 recorded within Indian limits, into this area is probably of 

 commoner occurrence than might be supposed, and, were it 

 possible for a winter to be spent in collecting in the Upper 

 Kurram, yet new species to the Indian list woidd doubtless 

 be forthcoming. The task we set ourselves in our late trip, 

 so unfortunately interrupted, still remains to be done, and 

 most assuredly new breeding species to India await the 

 discoverer. 



It was at first intended to publish two separate papers, 

 one on the birds of Kohat and another on those of the 

 Kurram Valley, but Mr. Whitehead has decided, wisely as I 

 think, to combine them. The two localities are contiguous, 

 and the latter is, as I mentioned before, the breeding-ground 



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