NATURAL HISTORY AND SPORT IN THE HIMALAYAS. 825 
Theog, Oct. 7th. — Elevation 7400 ft.; distance from Fagoo 
five miles and a half; a good road, and lovely scenery. Started 
after an early breakfast, and reached this place late in the after- 
noon, stopping here and there at likely places for ornithological 
gains. It was a delightful ramble, the weather perfect, and the 
scenery beautiful, beyond my poor powers of description. A good 
little staging bungalow here, though somewhat out of repair; the 
rains had been heavy, and the ceilings and walls bore signs of 
dilapidation therefrom. In course of the day I saw at least a dozen 
Lammergeyers, Gypdetus ; they are easily distinguishable a long 
way off, which most of them were, by the peculiar wedge-shaped 
tail. The Great Himalayan Vulture, Gyps fulvescens, sails along 
in much the same majestic style, but is easily recognised by its 
square tail and the upturning of the tips of the wing-feathers. 
Somebody (I think Hutton) separates the Himalayan from the 
European Bearded Vulture. I have not seen the latter wild, 
but the captive examples in the Zoological Gardens, though 
adult, have not a trace of the ferruginous colour which pervades 
the whole under parts of the Himalayan bird when mature; and 
I think that, although two blacks do not make a white, distinct 
species have certainly been manufactured with less reason. The 
Briton in India always calls this bird the “Golden Eagle”; the 
native name for it here and at Mussoorie is Hel, which signifies 
Eagle. All Vultures are called Geed. 
I got nothing new nor particularly interesting on the way 
home, but among other acquisitions may notice a Sparrowhawk, 
A. nisus undoubtedly, which in my experience is equally common 
with A. badius on these hills, where both species breed; Merula 
Wardii; Oreocincla dauma and O. mollissima, both beautifully 
soft-plumaged Thrushes; T'wrdus viscivorus, and another member 
of the same family, which I did not make out at the time, but 
which proved to be Geocichla unicolor, and was the only example 
procured in this outing. Subsequently I shot it in many wide- 
apart localities, the Western Ghats among others. Of this group 
of the Thrush family another is represented on these hills, G. 
citrina; but we did not meet with it, although it is common at a 
lower elevation; and a third, G. cyanotus, occurs in the Malabar 
forests, and is by no means scarce at Mahableshwur. 
(To be continued.) 
