622 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION^ 1908. 



that India lies in two of the great divisions of the ornithological 

 world. The Himalayas form part of the Palsearctic region, while the 

 plains are included in the oriental region. 



The feathered folk that dwell in the mountains and valleys of the 

 Himalayan range differ as widely from the denizens of the plains as 

 do the birds of England from those of Africa. The 30-mile tonga 

 journey from Rawalpindi to Murree transports the traveler from 

 one bird realm to another. In hot, parched, dusty Pindi the most 

 noticeable birds are the kites, sparrows, house crows, mynas, rose- 

 ringed and Alexandrine paroquets, Indian hoopoes, and rollers, 

 bee eaters, paddy birds, tailor birds, rat birds, molpastes bulbuls, 

 king crows, ring doves, little brown doves, orioles, spotted owlets, 

 the "seven sisters," koels {Eudynamis honorata)^ robins, white 

 breasted kingfishers, golden-backed woodpeckers, scavenger vultures, 

 and fantailed and paradise flycatchers. 



Of all these, the kites, orioles, mynas, fantailed flycatchers, and 

 scavenger vultures are the only ones seen on the well-wooded Murree 

 hills. There, instead of the caw of the house crow the deeper note 

 of the corby is heard. The crescendo shriek of the koel is replaced 

 by the pleasing double note of the European cuckoo {Cticulus 

 canorus). For the eternal "coo-coo-coo" of the ring {Tutur risorius) 

 and the little brown doves, the "kokla kokla" of the kokla green 

 pigeon {Sphenocercus sphenurus) is substituted. The chuckles 

 and cackles of the spotted owlet no longer cleave the night air, but 

 the silence of the darkness is broken by the low, monotonous whistle 

 of the collared pigmy owlet {Glaucidium hrodiei). The boisterous 

 rose-ringed and Alexandrine paroquets are replaced by their slaty- 

 headed cousins {PalcEornis schisticeps) . 



The golden-backed woodpecker, the king crow, the coppersmith, 

 the Indian hoopoe, the gray partridge {Francolinus pondiceriantis) ^ 

 and the Molpastes bulbuls are supplanted in the Himalayas by pied 

 woodpeckers {Dendrocopus himalayensis) ^ the ashy drongo {Di- 

 crurus longicaudatus) ^ the great Himalayan barbet {Megala-ma 

 tnarshalloruin) , the European hoopoe {Upupa epops)^ the chukor 

 {Caccahis chucar)^ and the black bulbul {Hypsipetes psaroides). 

 Some birds found in the plains have no Himalayan counterparts,but as 

 a set-off we find many new forms on the mountains, as, for example, 

 the various jays, laughing thrushes, tits, warblers, the white-capped 

 {Chirtiarrhornis leucocephalus) and the plumbeous {Rhyacornis 

 ftdiglnosus) redstarts, the grosbeaks, the ouzels, rock thrushes, green- 

 finches, pheasants, and the woodcock {Scolopax rusticula). But I 

 must refrain from further cataloguing. 



How greatly the avifaima of the Himalayas differs from that of 

 the plains is demonstrated by a comparison of the nesting expe- 



