OF EASTERN TURKESTAN. 157 
said, to the hills near Aksu, where it is reported to breed. The 
Turki name for this species is dla Kargha, the Variegated Crow. 
g. Kashghar, 1st November.—Length, 19:'3 ; wing, 13°38 ; tail, 
8:4; tarsus, 2°25; bill, from gape, 2°24. Bill, legs, feet, and 
claws, black. 
9. Kashghar, 23rd October.—Length, 18-2 ; wing, 11°75 ; tail, 
7-4; tarsus, 2°1; bill, from gape, 2:0. Bill, legs, feet, and 
claws, black. 
660.—Corvus culminatus, Sykes? C. intermedius. 
Adains. : 
Two males, Yarkand, February.—Length, 18°8 to 19:9 ; wing, 
13°35 to 13°6; tail, 8:2 to 8°7 ; tarsus, 2°15 to 2:2; bill at front 
2°35 to 2°37; nareal bristles short of tip of bill, 1°6 to 1°12. 
Bill, legs, feet, and claws, black ; irides, dark brown. 
This Crow is very common throughout the plains of Eastern 
Turkestan, where it lives permanently and breeds. It is not 
nearly such a noisy and insolent bird as C. splendens is in India. 
I have seen this species pursue and torment both the Eagle 
Owl (Bubo maximus) and the Kite (MZ. relanotis) ; and it 
seems to have a great predilection for the eggs of small birds. 
On the 21st April a nest of this Crow was seen placed very 
near the summit of a high poplar tree (P. alba). The nest was 
coarsely made of sticks, twigs and fibres, and had a sort of 
lining of dry grass and horse hair ; it contained four eggs. One 
of these eggs measures 1°71 in length by 1:2 in breadth; in shape 
it is a moderately broad oval, not much pointed at the small end. 
It is of a close texture and has a considerable gloss. The ground 
color is a pale clear bluish green, abundantly covered over with 
spots, streaks and blotches of sepia brown; the blotches are 
largest and most crowded together at the large end of the egg. 
The Turki name for this species is Kara Kargha, the Black 
Crow. 
664.—Corvus frugilegus, Zin. 
The Rook was common about Kashghar and Yarkand, and 
in the plains generally, during the winter, when it was con- 
stantly seen near the roads picking away at heaps of rubbish 
representing the dry earth system of conservancy. It was very 
commonly associated with the Black Crow and C. cornix. This 
bird disappeared from the vicinity of Yarkand in the beginning 
of April, migrating to the north, where it is said to breed in the 
hills near Aksu. Its Turki name is Portumchuk kargha, 1. é., 
‘the Rotten-beaked Crow,’ in allusion to the rough scabrous skin 
covering the base of the bill. A specimen was preserved at 
Kashghar in December and another at Yarkand in January. 
