THE BIRDS OF GILGIT. 305 



6.— Falco peregrinus, Tunst. (8). 



Always about on the faces of rocky precipices. A number 

 are caught always in October, which is the great season for 

 catching them. I procured one specimen, a male, just com- 

 mencing to get the grey feathers on the back, shot on the 

 14th April, at an elevation of 5,000 feet. Dimensions as fol- 

 lows : — Length, 16*5 inches; expanse, 38*2 ; wing, 124; tail, 

 6*7 ; tarsus, 1*85 ; middle toe, 2 ; culmen, 0'8 ; bill from gape, 

 1*25. Cere and legs, greenish yellow; irides, dark brown. 

 Weight, 1 lb. 4 oz. 



The Peregrines breed in the neighbourhood of Gilgit at 

 about 6,000 feet, on the face of precipices. A few remain 

 throughout the winter ; but the greater number leave in the 

 autumn. 



7.— Falco subbuteo, Lin. (13). 



A summer visitor. It arrives about the end of April, and 

 is very common throughout the summer ; it appears to breed 

 at about 9,000 feet elevation. 



8.— Falco sesalon, Tunst. (15). 



Tolerably common, but not venturing, as a rule, far from 

 the mouths of the ravines leading up to the high mountains, 

 except in the depth of winter. The dimensions of a male 

 are : — Length, 11 inches ; wing, 7*7 ; tail, 5*2 ; tarsus, 1*4 ; and 

 of a female the wing measures 8*85. The latter is much paler 

 than the male specimen, and appears more fully adult ; the 

 blackish tinge on the grey of the head and shoulders has 

 almost entirely disappeared. 



9.— Cerchneis tinnunculus, Lin. (17). 



A few seen all through the winter. In summer it appears 

 in great numbers, especially about harvest-time, when I have 

 counted upwards of twenty together hovering over a newly 

 reaped corn field, hunting for mice. 



10.— Astur palumbarius, Lin. (21). 



A number are caught yearly in all the neighbouring valleys 

 and higher up in the Gilgit valley ; but I never shot one, and 

 only once saw a pair, in Gilgit itself. 



White ones are occasionally caught, and considered a great 

 prize. I saw one that had been caught in Wakhan and was 

 being conveyed to Aga Khan, in Bombay. Birds in this 

 phase of plumage are called " Taighoou/' a name given to 

 all albinos. 



