658 MR. H.J. ELWES ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL [June 17, 



most of those peculiar and interesting birds so unlike any found else- 

 where that their classification has been a constant puzzle to ornitho- 

 logists. Whole genera, such as Paradoxornis, Yuhina, Siva, Minla, 

 Ixulus, Stachyris, Leiothrix, Pteruthius, Allotrius, Pnoepyga, and 

 many isolated forms such as Acanthoptila, Sibia, Cutia, Lioptila, 

 Conostoma, Oampsorhynchus, Myzanthe, Pachyglossa, Rimator, 

 Grammatoptila, Mysornis, are nearly if not quite restricted to this 

 region, though in winter they are sometimes forced by cold to 

 descend lower in search of food. The habits, nidification, and struc- 

 ture of these birds are at present very little known, and are likely to 

 remain so until some resident, possessing the energy and love of 

 nature which has enabled Mr. Swinhoe to do so much for the birds 

 of China, will devote a few years to their study. 



During the rainy season, which lasts from April to the end of 

 October, but few Raptores and Game-birds are found in the middle 

 region. Owing to the great abundance of leeches between 4000 and 

 9000 feet, no terrestrial birds or other animals are safe from their 

 attacks, and it is not until we reach the region of the dwarf bamboo 

 that any of the Phasianidae reappear. 



In the North-west Himalaya this is not so ; for, owing to the 

 difference in climate and vegetation, Pheasants seem to be found at 

 much lower elevations than at Sikim, where the Monal (Lophopkorus) 

 does not occur below 12,000 feet in summer, and the Tragopan (Ceri- 

 ornis) is rarely seen below 8000 or 9000. 



As there are no lakes in this region, and the rivers are rapid 

 torrents, waders and waterfowl are conspicuous by their absence. 

 Pigeons are not numerous ; and though the variety of species is so 

 great, birds are not generally so conspicuous or abundant as at lower 

 elevations. 



In the interior valleys of Sikim the character of the vegetation at 

 9000-10000 feet has assumed a different aspect, and is again almost 

 insensibly blended into the upper region, which, though possessing 

 a number of species peculiar to itself, has a strong general re- 

 semblance to the Paleearctic region, both in vegetation and zoology. 



This zone commences on the outer hills at about 11000 feet, and 

 in the interior at from 8000-10,000, many of the birds belonging to 

 it being driven down in winter to a much lower elevation. 



Here the forest is principally composed of coniferse, shrubby rho- 

 dodendrons, and a small kind of bamboo, which in some places 

 reaches an elevation of 12,000 feet. The valleys become more open, 

 though it is not until we get above the limit of trees at 1 2,000-13,000 

 feet that any really open country is found, the hill-sides of the 

 lower and middle regions being almost without exception steep and 

 wooded, except where cultivation has destroyed the forest. 



Warblers of the genera Phylloscopus, Reguloides, and Abrornis, 

 mingled with several species of Paridce, are the most abundant birds 

 in these pine-woods. The Blood-Pheasant (Ithaginis cruentata), 

 Wood-Pigeon (Alsocomus hodgsonice), and many Ruticilline birds, 

 such as Ianthia, Tarsiger, and Ruticilla, are commonly seen. 

 Finches of many genera, especially Propasser, Carpodacus, and 



