BIRDS IN BRITISH GARHWAL, 155 
at any great distance, which almost exactly resembles the ‘“ whish-whish ” of 
the wings of some powerful bird of flight. They penetrate well into the hills 
and on 2lst May I found a clutch of 2 eggs at 4,700’ elevation only a few mile 
south of Chamoli. 
Cuculus canorus (1104).—The Cuckoo. 
This cuckoo may be heard from the middle of April onwards at almost any 
elevation up to 13,000’ throughout the whole district. In June I heard it up 
the Dhauli valley in the vicinity of Niti and Malari villages though I heard no 
other species of cuckoo in these parts, not even C. poliocephalus, 
Surniculus lugubris (1117).—The Drongo Cuckoo. 
These birds are very common in the outer hill ranges between 3,000’ and 4,000’ 
elevation during May, at which season their monotonous call is constantly heard 
in open forest areas. Blanford quotes Legge as stating that the flight is straight 
and that it has a remarkably human whistle of six ascending notes. As regards 
the flight I cannot agree that it is straight, and I should rather compare it to 
the dipping flight of a magpie ; nor does the bird flap its wings in a regular and 
continuous manner as do most of the cuckoos with a straight flight. After 
listening to the call of a large number of birds I found that it most frequently 
consists of 5 ascending notes, but that occasionally it utters as few as 4 or as 
many as eight. The furthest north that I have heard this bird is in the Pindar 
valley at 5,600’ elevation. 
Coccystus coromandus (1119).—The Red-winged Crested Cuckoo. 
On 3rd May I shot one of these birds in the outer hills at 4,000’ elevation. This 
is the only bird of this species which I have seen and the record is an extension 
of its range as given by Blanford. 
Bubo bengalensis (1168).—The Rock Horned Owl. 
In November 1913 I shot one of these owls in the Pindar valley at an elevation 
of 5,500’. 
Columba intermedia (1292).—The Indian Blue Rock Pigeon. 
This pigeon is found all over the district, but is most numerous along the 
Ganges valley above Chamoli and thence right up the Dhauli valley as far as 
Niti village. The innumerable cliffs which here drop sheer down to the river 
banks from a height of many hundred feet constitute ideal surroundings. They 
are often seen in large flocks of over 100 birds, and being seldom shot, they are 
usually not very difficult to approach. Some birds have a distinct pale band 
about 14” wide on the lower back, but the band is always pale grey and never 
white as in C. livia. 
Columba rupestris (1294).—The Blue Hill Pigeon. 
After I had left Niti village some miles to the south I found this bird fairly 
common along the path leading over the Chor Hoti pass into Tibet. This was 
during the months of July and August when the Bhotias and Tibetans are busy 
bringing over merchandise from Tibet and carrying back grain packed on the 
backs of their sheep and goats. A certain amount of grain drops out of the 
packs, and pigeons take full advantage of this easy method of obtaining their 
food. They are extremely tame and will let anyone approach within a few yards 
before flying on. I saw them here at elevations between 13,000’ and 17,000’, 
and always either singly or in pairs. Some females I shot had ovaries in such 
an advanced stage of development that they would certainly have laid in a few 
days. I took the measurements of four females and it appears that birds here 
are rather above the average size. Stuart Baker in his “Indian Pigeons and Doves”) 
says that the average wing measurement for females is 8-73”, though the largest 
have a wing up to 9.2”. The four birds I measured had wing measurements of 
9:2”, 9-3”, 9-4” and 9°55” respectively. Except in this dry region bordering 
Tibet, I have only once shot this species. This was on 6th November when I 
shot a single bird at 4,000’ elevation near Pipalkoti out of a flock of C. intermedia. 
