THE BIRDS OF GILGIT. 347 



161.— Pyrrhula aurantiaca, Gould. (732). 



This Bullfinch appears to be very local, but in certain 

 localities is common, especially among pine forests. They are 

 permanent residents. 



The upper tail-coverts are velvet black, not white (as stated 

 by Jerdon.) 



162. — Erythrospiza incarnata,* Sev. (732 bis A). 



A constant resident, but seldom comes below 6,000 feet, 

 except in severe weather. I found it at about 10,000 feet 

 In the Astor valley in June, when it was no doubt breeding". 

 I have seldom seen it except in large flocks of twenty or thirty. 

 On 29th April I shot seven out of a flock, which all turned 

 out to be males. 



The plate in Pere David's " Oiseaux de la Chine" represents 

 the bird as far darker than any of the Gilgit specimens, espe- 

 cially about the cheeks and nape. 



163.— Carpodacus rubicillus, Guid. (737). 



Very common in Gilgit, in flocks of twenty and thirty, 

 from the middle of December to the beginning of March in 

 1877-78, but never seen again at any season or elevation. 



* [This species is referred to by Severtzoff, S. F., III., p. 422, in which he himself 

 says tnat it is identical with Carpodacus mongolicus of Swinhoe. He retains his own 

 name, on the grounds that he discovered the bird in 1864, and *Mr. Swinhoe in 1865, 

 but unfortunately it is a question, not of discovery, ^but of publication. Now Mr. 

 Swinhoe described his bird P. Z. S., 1870, p. 447, whereas I cannot discover that 

 Severtzoff described his bird before it appeared at p. 117 of Tome VIII., Vapousk 2, 

 of the " Izviestia Imperatorskavo obstchestvaliouvetelei estestvoznania, Anthropo- 

 logii ethnographii, in other words Transactions of the Imperial Society of amateurs 

 of Natural History, Anthropology, and Ethnography ; in his " Verlikalnoe i horizontal- 

 noe raspredlenie Turkestanskikh jevotnikh," or Vertical and Horizontal Distribution 

 of the animals (?) of Turkestan, which was edited by A. P. Fedchenko and L. P. 

 Cabanis, and published by the Society at Moscow in 1873. Under these circumstances 

 it appears to me that we must necessarily retain Swinhoe's name, and the species which 

 our museum contains not only from Gilgit but also from Ghaman, Sfc, in South 

 Afghanistan, must stand in our list as 732 bisA. — Ebythbospiza mongolica, 

 8 win. 



Severtzoff, loc cit sup., has pointed out how this species differs from E. githaginea 

 but it may be well to refer to Swinhoe's original description, and to quote for com- 

 parison P^re David's later one. 



The former's description is quoted S. F., II., 327. 



Pe>e David says :— " Length, 552 ; tail, a little forked, 218 ; wing, 377 ; tarsus, 71 ; 

 bill, short, thick and convex, 36;; height of bill, 0-33. Upper surface of the head and 

 neck, the back and rump of a grey brown or pale earthy grey, with the centre of the 

 feathers of a darker tint ; upper tail-coverts rose coloured ; eye-brows washed with 

 rose colour ; throat, breast and sides of the abdomen of a very pale rose ; middle of the 

 abdomen and lower tail-coverts greyish white, lightly shaded with rufous in summer ; 

 sides of the neck an d of the breast of a uniform earthy rufous ; tail feathers brown, 

 margined with rosy white; quills brown, narrowly margined with rose colour; 

 the tertiaries margined and tipped with grey; two great patches, specuhe-like 

 (en forme de mirors,) one on the great coverts and the other on the middle of the 

 secondaries. 



The adult female only differs in having the rosy tints on different parts of the 

 plumage, and especially on the upper tail-coverts less well marked.— A. O. H.j 



