19 1 7-] Birds observed at Erztrain. 3 



account of its running waters and small grooves of trees, 

 which make it an attractive haven of rest for thousands of 

 migrants. 



In putting together these notes I have, in the m:un, 

 adhered to the nomenclature adopted in the recently pul)- 

 lished B. O. U. list, and I desire to express my obligations 

 to Dr. E. Hartert and Dr. W. Eagle Clarke, who have 

 kindly read through the !MS. and given me invaluable 

 encouragement and assistance. 



Corvus frugilegus. Uook. 



In 1910 I noticed the first Rook on March 16, and on 

 the succeeding days, the weather being sunny and windless, 

 I saw small parties winging their way northwards towards 

 the Kop Dagh Pass. It was not, liowever, until the 20th of 

 the month that the Rooks appeared in numbers in the town 

 and neighbourhood, and on tlie 30th they had begun to 

 repair their nests. They seem to take their departure 

 early in October, the last flock having been observed on 

 October 12, 1911 ; but I have seen stray birds in 

 company with Jackdaws as late as the 1st of December. 



Corvus monedula. Jackdaw. 



The ramparts, as well as the mosques and other public 

 buildings, swarm with these birds and every house shelters 

 a pair or two in its Avails or halfway down its chimney. 

 The Erzerum Jackdaws all belong to one pronounced type, 

 the nuchal collar being of a very silvery grey, passing in 

 many instances into pure white, and they would thus 

 appear to belong to the subspecies C. m. coUaris. Partial 

 albinism is not uncommon, and one bird which haunted 

 my house had half the pinions of the right wing snowy 

 white. 



Most of the Jackdaws seem to remain paired during the 

 winter, and when, as appears often to be the case, food is 

 scarce, they present a doleful picture, perching with ruffled 

 plumage in the bare poplar trees, or on the projecting beam- 

 ends with which every house bristles. Towards evening, 

 however, the entire Jackdaw population rises in a vast black 



e2 



