Cashmere and the Dras District. 223 



nests of Lanius erythronotus ; near oue I perceived the old 

 bird eating a young Sparrow, which had been well able to fly. 

 Jerdon, on the authority of Mr. Phillips, says this Shrike never 

 attacks birds, only preying on insects. I also found a nest 

 of Otocompsa leucogenys, built, as described by Mr, Hutton 

 (Jerdon^s 'Birds of India,' vol. ii. pt. 1, p. 90), of grass, and 

 lined with very fine grasses ; it contained five eggs, nearly 

 hatched out, of a pale rosy ground, covered with purple and 

 claret-coloured blotches. On an island near Nusseem Bagh 

 were several nests of Corvus splendens, built in pollards and 

 low mulberry-trees not more than twelve or fifteen feet in 

 height ; some contained young birds, in others the eggs were 

 nearly hatched, and in one only were they fresh laid. 



June 8th. Left for Islamabad. The journey from Srinagar 

 takes two days up the Jhelum in boats. Noticed at evening 

 large flocks of Merops apiaster dying down from the hills to 

 roost in the chunor trees. Saw also a pair of White-tailed 

 Eagles {Pofioaetus ichthyaetus). 



June loth. Arrived at Bowun, near Islamabad. Pitched 

 the camp in what has been an old garden, as there are stone 

 channels for irrigation. The tents are shaded by huge planes ; 

 above the garden are two large tanks, lined with masonry, 

 and with steps leading to the water ; these are full of tame 

 fishes, some of which are very big ; when you throw food on 

 the water the surface becomes immediately packed by a 

 dense jostling crowd, as close as if enclosed in a net. Found 

 the nest of Tchitrea paradisea in an apple-tree, and disturbed 

 the old bird from it, in chestnut plumage with long tail. This 

 nest contained four eggs, of a very pale rosy colour, with 

 burnt-sienna spots ; it was constructed of grass, bound 

 together with cobwebs and a small cocoon ; the lining was 

 of hair and fine roots ; a number of crows' feathers were 

 worked into the outside. Numbers of Bee-eaters were hawk- 

 ing round the low hills. In the afternoon I walked to the 

 ruins of the temple sacred to the sun ; the architecture is 

 Indo-Grecian, and dates from about 250 b.c. The central 

 shrine is surmounted by a cloistered court, with Ionic pillars 

 and spaces for windows between ; the walls have niches filled 



