50 Dr. O. Finsch's Ornithological Letters. 



where we successfully hunted the Argali sheep. Under the 

 escort of Kirgises we were conducted to where a man 

 possessed a Golden Eagle {Aquilafidva) trained to hunt foxes 

 and wolves. 



Alauda tartarica was plentiful in the steppe, A. albigida 

 and A. brachydactyla scarce. In the mountains we found 

 Anas rutila, Petrocincla saxatilis, and a species of RuticUla 

 (? aurorea) . From the Arcad we went to the large lake Ala-kul, 

 by way of Sergiopol, where we arrived on the 7th of May, 

 observing there for the first time Cuculus canorus and Hirundo 

 7'ustica — the white-vented form, the only one we met with 

 during our voyage. The Ala-kul is the resort of thousands 

 of water- fowl ; but it is difficult to shoot them, owing to the 

 density of the reeds on the margin of the water. The more 

 interesting species we observed were Larus ichtliyaetus, Pele- 

 canus onocrotalus (?), Anas rvfina, and other Ducks, such as 

 Anas boschas, A. strepera, A. acuta, A. peneJope, A. querque- 

 dula, A. crecca, A. leucopldhalma, &c. Anser cinereus was 

 the only species of Goose we saM^ ; and it had hatched its young 

 on May the 9th. 



Ardea alba, Recurvirostra avocetfa, Himantopus rufipes, 

 and Grus ci?ierea were not rare, nor were Larus ridibundus 

 and L. canus, or a species allied to it. 



Of small birds I saw Saxicola rubicola, numbers of Reed- 

 Warblers, amongst them Calamoherpe locustella and the Black- 

 capped Wagtail. 1 paid great attention to this last-named 

 species throughout my journey. We first met with the grey- 

 headed form {Motacilla cinereocapilla) ; afterwards, near a 

 place called Karakol, the true M. melanocephala, living to- 

 gether with the former. Amongst the black-capped birds I 

 also collected birds with the white superciliary stripe, a 

 form which has also been separated specifically. On the 

 Ala-kul M. melanocephala was most abundant, as also in the 

 steppe region. Grey-headed birds, however, were nowhere 

 absent. 



A Lark we obtained is apparently Alauda pispoletta. 

 Turtur gelastes breeds on the steppe, where also we procured 

 Turdus atrogularis, though the whole region is destitute of 



