observed in Dras and Sum. 371 



of the Zogi-la ; elevation 11^000 feet. After that it is com- 

 mon, no village being without three or four pairs of Magpies 

 about it. 



Mr. Oates (Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, vol. i. p. 24) says the 

 Magpie is common in Kashmir at about 5000 feet. Personally 

 I have never seen it in the valley itself, which, I think, is curious, 

 considering it is a woodland bird at home, whereas here it pre- 

 fers the almost treeless country of Ladakh to the well- wooded 

 valleys and hills of Kashmir. I have crossed the Zogi-la three 

 times, and always expect to see Magpies at Metayan. Beyond 

 this place they never penetrate further up the pass, which in 

 summer is merely a long grassy valley, with a few banks of 

 snow left here and there. Adams, in his ' Wanderings of a 

 Naturalist in India/ also remarks on the Magpie never 

 occurring in Kashmir itself, but confining itself "to the 

 bleak and sterile region of Ladakh. '' I noticed a pair on 

 the Suru side of Bhut-kol pass (14,370 feet), but none were 

 seen by us in Kainthal, on the Wurdwan side of the pass, 

 Of course, if Mr. Oates includes Ladakh and Suru in Kashmir, 

 then his statement is correct. Personally, when referring to 

 Kashmir, I mean the country bounded on the south by the 

 Pir Panjal and Kaj-Nag ranges, and on the north by the 

 great ranges which contain the Gorais, Sona-Marg, Lidar, 

 and Wurdwan valleys, from which passes lead into Astor, 

 Skardu, Ladakh, and Suru. So far as I know, P. rustica 

 never occurs south of the high ranges that separate the pine- 

 clad hills and valleys of Kashmir from the treeless hills ot 

 Ladakh. Plenty of willows and poplars of good-sized growth 

 occur round all the Ladakh villages, and it is here the Magpie 

 is met with ; unlike his English brother, he prefers the abodes 

 of man, and is as tame and cheeky as an Indian Crow. I have 

 found the nest in willow and poplar trees, about six feet 

 from the ground. 



18. CORVUS FRUGILEGUS. 



I did not observe any Rooks in Kashmir, though this 

 species is common at Rawal Pindi, arriving about the end 

 of October — old and young coming together Thousands roost 



