58 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY 
looked upon as friendly and good-natured or simply cheeky, why 
I suppose that is a sort of thing which depends very much on 
the state of one’s liver. The casualties among the horses have 
been heavy to-day, although the animals crossed unloaded ; five 
ponies dead or abandoned, besides a horse belonging to a 
trooper of the escort, which tumbled over the cliffand was killed. 
25th.—We did not start from Kichik Yailak to-day until 
3 p.M., as we had to wait for the members of our party left 
yesterday at Tar-bughoz. In the morning I went up a side 
valley at Kichik Yailak, and had some good sport with the 
Snow Pheasants (Tetraogallus tibetanus). There were hundreds 
of the birds on the erassy hill sides, and when started they seemed 
to close their wings and shoot down towards the bottom of the 
valley like lightning. I had one bird “halaled’”’ (or made lawful 
for a Mussulman to eat, by having its throat cut), and after- 
wards presented it to the Yuzbashi. Rutzcilla erythrogastra 
was common near the small streams, and I observed numbers of 
Choughs (Fregilus graculus), Ravens (C. tibetanus), Montifrin- 
gilla hematopygia, and a few Pigeons (C. rupicola). 
The road trom Kichik Yailak was at first alone the grassy 
downs, the hillocks having parallel paths worn on their sides ; then 
following a small stream which we had to ford several times in a 
narrowish gorge, we reached our camp here, Tam, on the 
bank of the Sanju river. The elevation of this place is only 
8,875 feet; there are a couple of mud huts here, and, strange 
sight to us, evidences of cultivation about. 
26th.—Tam to Kewis.—Rather along march to-day and a 
most watery one, as we were constantly crossing and recrossing 
the Sanju river, which is pretty deep in places and has large 
boulders inits bed. After leaving Tam we passed a large tree, 
the first we have seen for many a day, and the remains of a wall 
said to have been built by the Chinese for defence; the Yarkandis 
do not seem to object to talk about their late masters and in con- 
versation one hears constant references to the Khatai waki or 
time of the Chinese. As we approached Kewis we got into flat 
country and saw some fields of corn. Behind our camp here 
are some hills of desintegrating rock up which I had a fruitless 
climb after Partridges (Caccabis pallidus) which seem to be 
plentiful. On the road to-day I saw—I may sately say— 
thousands of Pigeons (C. rupicola), out of which I shot some 
fora pie. Numbers of Podoces humilis running about in the 
fields here and regularly perching on the bushes. Several 
pairs of Magpies (Pica éactriana) seen near our camp, which is 
only 7,487 feet above sea leyel. There are only low hills near us 
now and at last we seem to be getting rid of the mountains 
through which we have so long been struggling. 
