Birds of the Pamir Range. 59 



tectricibus minoribus alarum in mare roseis, in femina 

 fulvo-rufescente limbatis. Femina a mare semper di- 

 stinctissima, praecedentis feminae simillima. 



+ Leucosticte hamatopygia, Gould. 



Prsecedenti similis, sed uropygio toto roseo, apicibus pluma- 

 rum coccineis ; tectricibus minoribus alarum cinereis, 

 rubedine marginali nulla ; maculis scapularibus dorsi 

 fuscis latissimis. Femina milii ignota. (Spec. typ. in 

 coll. Gould.) 



Hab. High alpine regions of Tibet generally. 



I compared in London, in 1875, my specimens of L. brandti 

 with the type of L. luematopygia ; and more recently I have 

 compared a large series of L. brandti and L. pamirensis, 

 which I discovered during my last expedition, and which is 

 intermediate between the first two, both in colouring and in 

 geographical range. 



The most northern of the three is L. brandti, which in- 

 habits the alpine zone of the whole Tian-shan system up 

 to the perpetual snow, descending in winter to the sunny 

 rocks, not below 5000 feet, and feeding there upon seeds. 

 It also inhabits the northern parts of the Pamir system, the 

 Alai and the Trans-Alai ranges, reaching its southern limit 

 near the Karakul lake. 



L. pamirensis was found throughout the whole Pamir 

 system, as far as I visited it, also on the snowy peaks south- 

 east of Ferghana, between the Tian-shan and the Pamir, and 

 on the crags on the tablelands of southern Tian-shan, but 

 only south of the Naryn river. On the southern Tian-shan 

 it is much scarcer than L. brandti, as this last is scarcer than 

 L. pamirensis on the northern Pamir. In the winter L. 

 pamirensis does not descend in the mountains of South-east 

 Ferghana lower than 6500 feet, and not until the middle of 

 November. I found it still at the top of the Kysil-art pass 

 at the end of October ; and I think that they may winter on 

 snow -free places on the southern slopes of the Pamir ranges 

 as high as their summer haunts. 



The last species, L. hamatopygia, inhabits the high alpine 

 regions of the whole of Tibet, ranging perhaps into the Tag- 



