Birds of the Zarafschan Basin. 139 



the forest-zone and typical of the high mountain-ranges of 

 Central Asia. 



A country thus situated midway between the Indian region 

 and Siberia is naturally crossed in spring and autumn by a 

 very large number of migrants. The resident birds in the 

 Zarafschan Valley are comparatively rare ; the majority are 

 summer visitors from Afghanistan and India, but of the 

 summer visitors some few go further north to breed, and 

 only pass and repass the Zarafschan Valley. A smaller 

 number still are winter visitors from Siberia. These consist 

 mostly of waders and water- fowl, besides the Grey Crow and 

 the Black-throated Thrush. The strongest wave of migra- 

 tion in spring takes place between the 28th of April and the 

 5th of May. 



Arriving in Samarkand on the 1st September, 1907, I was 

 in time to watch the autumnal migration and to obtain 

 some of the common resident birds. As the winter advanced 

 bird-life became very scarce in the cultivated area along the 

 middle course of the Zarafschan. By the 1st of November 

 the migration was over, and all the summer birds had 

 passed south. The mountain region being closed during the 

 winter, I devoted myself to mammal and bird collecting on 

 the low deserts, west of Bokhara. Here there was a plentiful 

 supply of ducks, geese, and waders, as well as of pheasants. 

 Incredible numbers of wild-fowl assemble on the small lakes 

 of the steppe during the winter, and good shooting is to be had. 



Spring came early and with a rush. I met the northern 

 migration at the lowest altitude, making a large collection 

 at 2,000 feet, and then gradually moving up higher as the 

 summer advanced. By doing this I caught all the summer 

 visitors in their breeding haunts. By the middle of May 1 had 

 finished the desert and the steppe-region, then a month was 

 devoted to the cultivated areas at 2000 feet and the rocky 

 foot-hills up to 7,000 feet. During this month the bulk of 

 my collection was made. 



In the middle of June I started work on the high moun- 

 tains, and made a large collection in the Hissar range which 

 borders the Zarafschan Valley on the south. On this range 



