Birds of Southern Tibet. 63 



such large numbers of Finches : certainly their diet can 

 have had little of variety about it, and must have consisted 

 of no more than seeds of the coai'sest grasses ; yet the birds 

 kept fat and lively. 



Besides those already mentioned, the commonest birds at 

 Tuna during the winter months were Horned Larks (Otocorys 

 ehvesi), the two Snow-Finches {Monti friny ilia blanfordi and 

 M. ruficollis), Columba rupestris, Accentor rubeculoides , 

 Podoces humilis, and Snow-Cocks {Tetraogalhis tibetanus). 

 On the coldest days, especially if snow had fallen, Adams's 

 Mountain Finches {Montifringilla adamsi) came down to the 

 plain ; this species is evidently very hardy, and usually kept to 

 the mountains. Towards the middle of March a few other 

 birds appeared : Melanocorypha maxima, at first in small 

 numbers and later in large flocks, Carpodacus severtzovi, 

 C. rubicilloides, and, at the end of the month, Motacilla 

 hodgsoni. 



At the beginning of April large numbers of Geese and 

 Ducks were assembled on the Hram Tso and Kala Tso lakes 

 between Tuna and Gyantse; for the most part they were 

 very tame, and a good many were shot by the officers of the 

 Commission and the escort. The only species of Goose that I 

 saw was the Bar-headed Goose {Anser indicus) ; the most 

 numerous Ducks were Pintails [Dafila acuta) and Mallards 

 {Anas boscas) ; besides these there were many Teal {Nettion 

 crecca), White-eye Pochards (Nyroca ferruginea) , and a few 

 Shovelers {Spatula clypeata). 



Ruddy Sheldrakes {Casarca rutila) were in immense 

 numbers, both on the lakes and on the banks of the small 

 streams in the valleys ; they were almost ludicrously tame. 



Presumably most of these wildfowl had wintered in India, 

 but it is certain that few, if any, of them had made their 

 way to Tibet up the Chumbi Valley. In that case I could 

 scarcely have failed to notice them at Tuna. Again, within 

 a few days of our arrival at Gyantse, the summer migrants 

 began to appear, though none were seen during our march 

 from Tuna. I think, therefore, that there can be little 

 doubt that the main migration-route in Southern Tibet lies 



