348 THE BIRDS OP GILGIT. 



They prefer stony places, and keep to the same place day 

 after day. There were places where I could always depend 

 on finding a flock. 



I have now a large series of this bird from Turkestan, 

 Ladak, the valley of the Yarkand river near its source, and 

 the Oxus valley. The plumage varies greatly in both sexea 

 according to age, season, and locality, so much so that I 

 had some difficulty in believing that they are all of the same 

 species. The specimens from Turkestan are extremely pale, 

 and the rose-tints are very delicate; so that Severtzoff seems 

 quite justified in distinguishing them as C. pallidas. The 

 Gilgit specimens are darker ; and those of Ladak and the 

 Oxus valley are darker still. Specimens from the last two 

 places have black instead of brown legs, and appear slightly 

 larger than the others, but not markedly so. 



The young male retains the striations on the back for some 

 time after 'the rose markings on the head aud breast are com- 

 plete. The striations of the females, both on back and breast, 

 vary greatly according to age. 



164.— Carpodacus erythrinus, Pall. (738). 



A summer visitor. Earliest appearance noted April 22nd. 

 Breeds at 10,000 feet in July aud August. The male does 

 not get the roseate plumage till the second year, apparently. 

 Several males with fully developed testes, shot in July, and 

 evidently breeding, were still in female plumage. They pro- 

 bably get the rosy plumage just after the first breeding season, 

 and by a change of colour, not by moult, as some shot in May 

 show a faint rosy tinge against the light. About the begin- 

 ning of September they leave the hills and come down 

 into the valley. 



The young bird has two well-defined wing bars formed by 

 rufous edgings to the wing-coverts ; and the tertiaries are broadly 

 tipped with the same colour; the striations of the upper 

 plumage are darker, broader, and more pronounced. 



An albino (pure cream colour, with hazel brown irides) 

 was shot on September 7th by Dr. Scully. Its plumage was 

 much abraded. Several nests were found, all situated within 

 a foot of the ground, either in low bushes or among the stems 

 of coarse grass, about 2 feet high in scrub jungle. The nest 

 is a neat cup-shaped structure of grass, lined with the finer 

 roots and stems only, except in one instance, in which a good 

 deal of hair is mixed with the lining ; the interior is from 

 2 to 2£ inches wide, and 1£ deep. The eggs are blue, of a 

 purer and slightly deeper shade thau those of Trochalopteron 

 lineatum, with chocolate spots sparingly scattered over them. 



