OF EASTERN TURKESTAN. 123 
Karchung valley in May. The Turki name for the Sparrow- 
hawk is Karghat. 
26.—Aquila chrysaetus, Zin. 
$. Yarkand, 27th February.—Length, 33:2; expanse, 
83°5; wing, 25; tail, 15:4; tarsus, 4°75; bill, from gape, 
2°6; closed wings fall short of tail, 2; weight, 6lbs. 6 oz. Bill 
dark blue—light slate color near cere ; cere and edge of gape, 
greenish yellow ; cartilaginous shelf above eyes, slaty grey 5 
irides, brown ; feet yellow, soles dirty whitish ; claws, slaty 
black. 
2. Yarkand, 29th July.—Length, 38; expanse, 86:5; 
wings, 25°5; tail, 15°5; tarsus, 4:4; bill, from: gape, 2°4; 
weight, 13lbs. 6 oz. Bill dark blue at tip, greyish blue near 
cere ; cere, yellow; irides, brown; feet, light yellowish ; claws, 
slaty black. 
This species is the celebrated “ Birkut’?—the name by which 
the Golden Eagle is known in Khokand and Western Tur- 
kestan generally ; in Kashgharia however it is called “ Kara- 
kush,”’ a.e., black bird. The trained bird is very common in 
Hastern Turkestan, every governor of a district. or town 
usually having several. It is said to live and breed in the 
hills south of Yarkand and near Khoten, where the. young 
birds are caught, to be trained for purposes of falconry. A 
few stragglers occasionally visit the plains in winter: I saw 
one a few miles from Yarkand in January and another near 
Beshkant in February. In the wild state this Hagle’s prey 
is said to consist of the Stag, the “ Kik ” (Ané. gutturosa), the 
_ wild cat, the fox and the wolf. The trained Karakush is 
always kept hooded when it is in-doors, except when about 
to be fed, and the method of carrying it to the chase is the 
following: The man who is to carry the Eagle is mounted on 
a pony and has his right hand and wrist protected by a thick 
gauntlet. A crutch, consisting of a straight piece of stick 
carrying a curved cross piece of horn or wood—the concavity 
being directed upwards—is attached to the front of the saddle ; 
the man grasps the cross piece of the crutch with his gloved 
hand, and the Eagle then perches on his wrist. I have Tidden 
ahont for four or five hours attended by men carrying Bir- 
kuts in this way, and they never complained of feeling | tired. 
I never saw the Karakush do much in the way of sport in 
Kashgharia: on one occasion I saw it very fairly cast off at 
an Eagle Owl (Budo maazmus); but it clumsily missed its 
quarry, at once gave up the pursuit and settled on the ground. 
I bought an untrained bird at Yarkand for a tillah (Bs. 5), 
but a good Karakush would be worth considerably more. 
