34 



man is, there, sooner or later, it will surely be. found. Probably 

 originally purely a plains' bird it has followed rail and rond 

 routes into the hills almost everywhere, being now found in hill 

 stations at elevations of 6,000 and 7,000 feet or even higher. 

 Whitehead says that in the Kurram (this is probably zugmayeri) 

 it remains in the hills all the year round except in very severe 

 weather but in most of the higher haunts it is a winter visitor 

 only. It is one of the boldest, yet one of the most astute of birds, 

 and whilst on the one hand it will snatch food from the very 

 hands of the Indian servants, a very few shots will keep every 

 crow in the neighbourhood out of shot until the gun is put away. 

 In many cities and towns they are so numerous as to become an 

 actual pest and measures have to be taken to suppress them. 



(12) Corvus splendens zugmayeri. 

 THE SIND HOUSE-CROW. 



Corvits zugmayeri Laubm., Orn. Monatsb., xxi, p. 93 (1919) (Las 



Bela, S.E. Baluchistan). 

 Corvus splendens. Blarif. & Gates, i, p. 20. 



Vernacular names. Pat-Kawar (Hind.). 



Description. Like C. s. splendens, but with the pale parts 

 almost white and showing in sharp contrast to the black. 



Colours of soft parts and Measurements as in the Common 

 House-Crow. 



Distribution. Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Sind, Mekran coast 

 and S.E. Persia as far north as Fao. It is common in Kashmir, 

 where it breeds, and wanders into the Punjab. 



Nidification. The breeding season of the Sind House-Crow 

 appears to commence in the latter half of June as soon as the 

 monsoon breaks. It breeds in immense numbers all round and in 

 Karachi and as nesting sites are here not too common, for trees 

 are comparatively few, many eggs are thrown out of the nest 

 during squabbles between the owner of the nest and other crows. 

 Nest and eggs are like those of the other races but the nest is often 

 placed on quite low bushes, especially if they are thorny ones. 



Sixty eggs collected for me by General R. Betham average 

 37-5 x 25-8 mm. 



Habits. These do not differ from those of the other races. 



(13) Corvus splendens insolens. 



THE BURMESE HOUSE-CROW. 



Corvus insolens Hume, S. F., ii, p. 480 (1874) (Tenasserim) ; 

 Blanf. & Gates, i, p. 21. 



Vernacular names. Kyeeyan, Chegan (Burmese). 



