44 CORVID.E. 



on the score of size, and I believe that no one now considers them 

 separable. 



Distribution. Kashmir and the whole of the Himalayas as far as 

 Bhutan. The range extends to Europe and Abyssinia on one side, 

 and to China on the other. 



In Kashmir Biddulph informs us that Choughs are common at 

 low elevations in winter, but in summer they keep entirely to the 

 mountains. StoKczka states that in Chini the Chough in summer 

 is found only at elevations above 11,000 feet, and in Spiti above 

 13,000 feet. Blanford observed it in Sikhim from 9000 to 

 16,000 feet. 



Habits, fyc. Mandelli obtained the eggs of this bird from Chumbi in 

 Tibet. They were taken on the 8th May from a nest under the 

 eaves of a high wooden house. Hume describes them as white, 

 spotted and streaked with yellowish brown and purplish grey. One 

 egg measured 1-74 by 1*2. 



Genus PYRRHOCORAX, Vieill., 1816. 



Pyrrhocorax differs from Graculus in having a much shorter and 

 a much stouter bill, and the lower mandible not nearly so much 

 feathered at the base as the upper one. The structure of the two 

 genera is otherwise quite the same, and they do not differ in habits, 

 except that the Yellow-billed Chough appears to be a tame and 

 fearless bird, taking the place of the Common Crow in parts of 

 Kashmir. 



Fig. 19. Head of P. alpinus. 



30. Pyrrhocorax alpinus. The Yellow-billed Chough. 



Corvus pyrrhocorax, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 158. 



Pyrrhocorax alpinus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. vi, p. 568 (1816) ; 



Blyth, Cat. p. 90 ; Horsf. 8? M. Cat. ii, p. 549 ; Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 319; 



Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. ii, p. 56 ; Scully, S. F. iv, p. 162 j 



Sharpe, Cat. S. M. iii, p. 148 : Hume, Cat. no. 680 j Biddulph, Ibis, 



1881, p. 78. 



Fregilus pyrrhocorax (Linn.}, Blanford, J. A. S. B. xli, pt. ii, p. 70. 

 Pyrrhocorax forsythi, Stoliczka, S. F. ii, p. 462 (1874). 



The Alpine Chough, Jerd. 



Coloration. The whole plumage black with a slight gloss ; the 

 wings and tail very glossy. 



