Major J, Biddulpb on the Birds of Gilyit. 87 



one ; and many more were seen. They were generally in small 

 flocks of four or five^ and rather difficult to approach^ keeping 

 on open stony places. They are very restless birds, and con- 

 stantly take short flights, uttering a twittering note. A spe- 

 cimen was apparently secured in Sind during the same winter 

 {vide ' Stray Feathers/ vol. vii. p. 122) ; Mr. Hume, speak- 

 ing of the specimen in question, says that, as far as plumage 

 is concerned, it is absolutely identical with European speci- 

 mens. This is not the case with these, which are all markedly 

 paler and with more white about them than three English 

 specimens I have compared them with. In the English spe- 

 cimens the white edgings to the primaries, which, when the 

 wing is closed, form a conspicuous bar less than i inch long, 

 in these form a patch 11 inch in length. All the primaries 

 ai-e margined with white to the tip, whereas in the English 

 specimens none are. The centre tail-feathers, which in the 

 English bird have very faint pale margins, in these have a 

 broad margin of snowy white for half the web. 



The large amount of white on the upper tail-coverts, and 

 the broad white margins to all the tail-feathers, are very con- 

 spicuous when the bird is flying. In size, also, they differ 

 from the. English specimens, the wing of several of the males 

 being fully 3j inches, and the tail 2^ inches. 



Dr. Scully writes that they have been common during the 

 present winter, though during the winter of 1879-80 none 

 were seen. 



172. Fringilla montifringilla, Linn. 



A few specimens were shot in March and April on their 

 way northwards in both years. Mr. Hume doubts the occur- 

 rence of this Finch in Indian limits (Str. Feathers, vol. vii. 

 p. 465). These had most undoubtedly come from the south. 

 A male, shot on April 15, had the breeding-plumage nearly 

 complete. 



The wing-bar formed by the white spot on the outer web 

 near the base of the quills does not extend right across the 

 wing ; it is absent from the first three primaries, commencing 

 on the fourth. In other respects these birds correspond 

 exactly with the description given by Dresser in the ' Birds of 

 Europe/ 



