430 Mr. J. Scully on the 



points ; hut the young males of these two species are very 

 much alike^ both having the whole crown crimson and the 

 lower surface yellowish and slightly dark-streaked. The young 

 birdsj however, can be readily separated by the colour of the 

 ear-coverts ; in P. major this part is whitish throughout ; in 

 P. himalayensis the anterior upper half of the same region,, 

 behind the eye, is dusky or blackish. 



40. Gecinus squamatus (Vig.). 



A permanent resident in the district, found in the lower 

 valleys from November to May, and during the rest of the 

 year at an elevation of about 9000 feet. In six specimens 

 the Avings measured 6"4 to 6"6 inches^ tails 5 to 5-4, bill from 

 gape 177 to 2'1. The specimens mentioned by Captain 

 Marshall as having the neck and back grey were probably 

 birds about a year old, with the feathers worn and faded, and 

 at the next moult would have assumed the usual green colour. 

 A moulting female in my collection, shot on the 4th August, 

 has the hind neck and upper back brownish grey ; but a few 

 new feathers which have appeared on those parts are quite 

 green. Mr. Blanford, in his 'Zoology of Persia,^ p. 135, 

 describes a parallel stage of Gecinus viridis in a specimen 

 which was scarcely mature (probably a bird of the preceding 

 year) and with the plumage worn. 



41. h'Nx TORQUiLLA, Linn. 



The Wryneck is common from the middle of April to the 

 first week in October. A male shot on the 22nd April had 

 the irides hazel. In none of my specimens is there any trace 

 of rufous on the underparts, as mentioned by Major Bid- 

 dulph ; the colour which pervades these parts to a variable 

 extent is buflf-yellow. 



42. CucuLus CANORUs, Linn. 



The Common Cuckoo is a summer visitor, and is fairly 

 common from the beginning of May to September. Some 

 of my Gilgit specimens are rather small ; but they are all 

 doubtless referable to C. canorus. Two adult males have 

 the wing 8*6 to 8*8 inches; four full-grown females have the 



