191 /•] Birds observed at Erzerum. 5 



Starlings being, liowevci', the most numerous. A little 

 later they take to flighting in masses, and towards sun- 

 down every day they almost blacken the sky before settling 

 for the uightj when they throng the branehes of the poplars, 

 clothing them for the nonce in a sable foliage of sinister 

 aspect against the background of endless mud-coloured flat 

 roofs. The young are fledged about the end of May, and 

 early in June the Starlings abandon the town for the culti- 

 vated fields and the Kara Su marshes, where they sj)end the 

 summer. Migration seems to take place in October, but 

 occasional flights and isolated individuals may be observed 

 as late as the 19th of November, and I noted a couple on 

 the 27th of December, 1911, during a spell of comparatively 

 genial weather. 



Pastor roseus. Rose-coloured Pastor. 



On May 4, 1910, I observed seven or eight among a flock 

 of Starlings close to the Tortura Gate, and two days later 

 they were at the same spot, but by themselves. Again, on 

 the 21st of June, a flock of about thirty flew over my house. 



In 1911, on June 1, I observed about twenty birds at 

 Boghaz, and a solitary individual was recorded near my 

 camp on August 8. 



Oriolus oriolus. Golden Oriole. 



I observed in 1910 one, in green plumage, on Septem- 

 ber 3, and two, also in green plumage, on September 12. 

 On August 30, 1911, saw an adult male. 



Cliloris chloris. Greenfinch. 



One was observed on April 22, 1910. 



Carduelis carduelis. Goldfinch. 



So far as I was able to observe, the Goldfinch does not 

 breed in the Erzerum district, which, indeed, oflers scanty 

 inducement to them to do so, orchards and bushes not being 

 a feature of the local vegetation. 



In 1910, I noted, on March 16 and 18, that small flights 

 were singing among the trees in the Armenian cemetery, 

 and others were observed on March 21 and April 8. 



