584 Letters, Extracts, Notices, ^c. 



from the River Voi to the Tsavo. At this place Weavers 

 and Hawks predominate ; the latter, I think, are attracted 

 by the quantities of mice and rats in the ' shambas/ !Co 

 Weavers make nests for roosting in during the non-breeding- 

 season ? I ask this, as there is a bird here about the size of 

 the common Whydah bird without the tail ; in colouring it 

 reminds me very much of the Waxwing, with a dull white 

 crown. The nest, which is built of grass throughout, has 

 two holes underneath, and is used for roosting in. I have, 

 however, found several nests with one hole filled up, con- 

 taining young ones or eggs, which latter are pure white. 

 For the last two months most of the birds have been moult- 

 ing, and, consequently, out of every three birds killed only 

 one is fit to skin. By-the-bye Coliuspasser eques is very 

 common all the way from Teita up to here. Trachyphonus 

 erythrocephalus is very common up here, also a much smaller 

 species. A beautiful little Black Swallow with small white 

 crown also plentiful, a Bee-eater which is new to me, and 

 two or three Weavers are the most important additions." 



Abundance of Phasianus principalis on the Upper Mur- 

 ghab. — At Maruchak, on the Upper Murghab, in Northern 

 Afghanistan, on the 19th of December, 1885, Major Durand 

 and Major Yate, as recorded in the latter officer's ' Letters 

 from the Afghan Boundary Commission,' brought in a bag 

 of nearly 50 pheasants {Phasianus principalis) killed during 

 the afternoon. '^ It is extraordinary," Major Yate remarks, 

 " what a number of pheasants there are in the reed-swamps 

 of this valley, and this year they seem to be even more numer- 

 ous than last. I know of no country in the world where one 

 can get such good real wild-pheasant shooting as this. On 

 the 21st we also brought in a bag of 72 pheasants, but, as 

 on the first day, lost a good many wounded birds. The 

 reeds are so thick, and the birds, especially the old cocks, so 

 strong, that it is very hard to bag one's bird even after it is 

 shot." 



