Major J. Biddulph oti the Birds of Gilyit. 71 



ruary the males begin to assume the rufous tinge of under- 

 plumage and the grey on head and neck. The females do 

 not commence to assume their breeding-plumage till the mid- 

 dle of March. By the end of March the breeding-plumage 

 is fully assumed. 



I had entered this bird as A. sp'moletta ; but Mr. Brooks, 

 on seeing some specimens, pronounced them to belong to this 

 species, and distinct from true European specimens of A. 

 spinoletta, which has a richer brown on the back and is less 

 striated, with the breast-spots large and cloudy. 



123. Cephalopyrus flammiceps (Burt.). 

 Tliree shot, on 1st September at 9000 feet. 



124. Leptop(ecile sophle, Sev. 



A winter visitant, but seldom comes below 6000 feet ex- 

 cept in very severe weather. 



In 1874, after returniug from Yarkund with some speci- 

 mens of this bird, I found a young one labelled as having 

 been shot at Leh, but not identified at the time. On show- 

 ing my collection to Mr. Hume, he suggested that the label 

 must have been attached by mistake, and that the specimen 

 must have been procured with the others north of the Kara- 

 korum. After procuring the bird at Gilgit, I doubt not that 

 my label was correct, and that specimens are to be procured 

 at Leh ; but the bird is at all times so difficult to see and to 

 shoot, that it is not surprising that it has hitherto escaped 

 notice. Dr. Scully also informed me that he found it in the 

 Nobra valley in Ladak. 



The plumage is very thick and soft ; and the basal part of 

 the feathers and down on the lower surface is deep black, 

 concealed by the colour of the tips. 



The male only has been figured by Gould ; but the letter- 

 press contains an accurate description of the female by 

 Severtzoff. 



•125. -^GITHALISCUS LEUCOGENYS, MoOre. 



This species was described by Moore in the P. Z. S. as long 

 ago as 1854, from specimens in the India Museum, labelled 

 from Afghanistan ; the description is accompanied by a short 



