Major J. Biddulph on the Birds of Gilgit. 85 



though more narrowly than, those of the back. The feathers 

 of the chin, throat, and neck are not silvery-white-^Ac/Ze^/, 

 but have a silvery streak near the tip of each feather; and 

 this silvery streaking hardly extends onto the breast. It 

 also shows whitish at the centre of the abdomen near the 

 vent, and at the hinder end of the superciliary streak. 



It differs from P. thura in having a broad frontal band 

 rose-pink, in the lores and a narrow band round the base of 

 the bill crimson, and in the silvery streaks on the chin, 

 throat, and breast, while on the back the general hue is much 

 less dark. 



The female answers well to Blyth's description, and differs 

 from that of P. thura chiefly in lacking the broad pale super- 

 cilium, and in the ground-colour of the face, abdomen, and 

 lower tail-coverts being white instead of light yellowish brown 

 — a. F. L. M.] 



167. Pyrrhospiza punicea (Hodgs.). 



These birds seem loath to leave the mountains. I never 

 saw them below 10,000 feet, except in one place (the mouth 

 of a ravine leading into the plain) , and there only in the middle 

 of January 1878, at the time of greatest cold. 



The markings of the back in winter are much more defined 

 than in the summer plumage ; and one female specimen has 

 broad buff tips to the wing-coverts, which form a conspicuous 

 wing-bar. The outer edges of the secondaries are also broadly 

 tipped with whitish buft\ 



The plate of 'this species in Bonaparte and Schlegel's 

 'Monographic des Loxiens' shows the upper plumage as 

 darker and more uniform, while the red tint of the under- 

 parts extends further down the breast, and is less scarlet in 

 tint than in any of the specimens obtained in Gilgit. 



168. Carduelis caniceps (Vig.). 



Small flocks appeared from time to time during the season 

 of extreme cold, but never seemed to remain more than two 

 or three days at a time. They breed at about 9000 feet, and 

 are common in Cashmere in summer as well as in winter. The 

 lores are black, interrupting the scarlet round the bill, which 

 latter is rather wider in the male than in the female. 



