tg22.] the Birds of Sind. 647 



acquires a yellow plumage resembling that of the adult 

 female, hut is distinguished by its greyer throat and upper 

 breast. In May and June both sexes are undergoing a com- 

 plete moult, — body, wings, and tail, — which will bring them 

 into full breeding plumage again by July or August. 



The juvenile, which has a reddish-yellow iris and a black 

 bill, may also be distinguished by the fulvous tij)S to the 

 tertials, coverts, and tail ; the bill begins to turn red about 

 Februar}', and moult begins in April. 



Bucanetes githagineus crassirostris (Blyth). 



I found this species to be a fairly common winter visitor 

 to the low hills west of Karachi and the desert in their im- 

 mediate vicinity ; away from this I never met with it. Even 

 here these birds appeared to have their favourite haunts, and 

 one might walk all day and never see a bird unless one knows 

 of some rocky hill, where they are always to be found feeding 

 on the seeds of some desert plant or along the high-water 

 mark left by the rain floods; moreover, they are exceedingly 

 difficult to detect on the desert ground, so well do they match 

 it in plumage. However, I found the best method for ascer- 

 taining their presence was to watch by some tiny perennial 

 spring or " rains " pool ; if in the vicinity, one would not wait 

 very long before a small flock would appear from the neigh- 

 bouring desert hills to settle on the rocks near by prior to 

 drinking, for they appear to be very thirsty birds and come 

 about every hour. Hume and others found them along the 

 Khirthar foot-hills in winter. 



There can be little doubt that this species is really resident, 

 moving down altitudinally from the higher hills of the 

 Khirthar to winter in the lower hills and foot-hills, from 

 the north right down to the Habb Kiver in the south. AVhen 

 they arrive I have no certain knowledge of : the earliest I 

 havti seen them is 11 Novemb(;r, and they leave again eaily 

 in March, by which time hardly a trace of the brilliant 

 summer dress is yet discernible. 



Blyth's type of JJ. g. crai'slrostvis came from Afghanistan 

 (J. A. S. B. xvi. 1847, p. 47b), and 8ind l»irds agree well 



