Birds of the Jhelum District. 41 



comparatively few left by the end of the month. A few 

 birds continued throughout March, a flock of about a 

 hundred being seen as late as the 22nd. The last seen was 

 a single bird ou March 31. 



From the vast quantities of Rooks which sleep in the Eak 

 at Jhelum and the fact that I was unable to learn of any- 

 other roosting-place, I believe that the species is only found 

 in the district within an easy flight of Jhelum : at any rate, 

 I only saw it further afield on one occasion, when a small 

 party (probably migrating) were seen on the tonga road on 

 February 22. 



Morning and evening the birds pass to and from the Rak. 

 The evening flight commences early, and birds arrive in 

 large flocks at intervals for two or three hours before dusk ; 

 during the warmer weather in October and November the 

 sand-banks by the river are black with the birds that settle 

 to drink, but this " nightcap " is stopped as the nights 

 become cold. The morning flight is a much shorter affair, 

 the birds departing more en masse soon after sunrise. 



[The form C. f. tschusii Hartert is said to occur in 

 north-west Punjab in winter ; it differs from the typical 

 bird in its weaker, straighter, and thinner bill. The Jhelum 

 birds which I have examined, however, cannot be picked out 

 from a series of the typical birds from England, whence 

 I have birds whose bills are equally weak, straight, and thin, 

 equal or even shorter in the wing, and whose feet are 

 precisely similar to the Jhelum birds ; therefore I must 

 assign Mr. Whistler^s specimens to the typical race. — 

 C.B.T.^ 



Corvus splejidens. The Indian House-Crow. 



697 fl. 28.4.1913. Jhelum. Wing 243 mm. 



697. „ „ Wing 270 mm. 



811. 12.8.1913, „ Juv. 



Resident and extremely abundant everywhere, except, of 

 course, that but few are found on the higher portions of the 

 Salt Range, where there is not much to attract them. Nidi- 

 fication begins about the middle of June, most eggs being 



