MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. . 277 
which, crossed my path I noted as Tharrhaleus rubeculoides. This bird’s mode 
of progression on the ground was by long sparrow-like hops. 
Tue Himatayan RvusytTHrRoAT (Calliope pectoralis) has a song which is 
loud, continuous and shrill, but compasses some very pleasing notes. A fair 
imitation of it could be produced by rapidly rotating the lid against the box of 
an oldfashioned circular wooden pillbox. This bird has been usually associated 
in my mind with glacier moraines and running water. But a nest found, con- 
taining young, was on a small spur on an open hillside, at about 12,000 feet, far 
from water, and within a fow feet of a track along which Kashmiris, gujars, pories 
and cattle passed daily. It was built in the ground under a tiny juniper bush, 
and, failing to see the parents, I should certainly have attributed the ownership. 
to a pipit, lark, or meadow bunting. 
The nest was a deep cup or rather cylinder, composed almost entirely of fine 
grasses with a little moss to finish it off round the upper edge. The tail of the 
female when sitting must almost have touched her head, the nest was so deep. 
The young appeared to be fed principally on a species of leather jacket or 
daddy longlegs which was plentiful in the vicinity. Both parents were equally 
assiduous in bringing food to the nest. 
This pair paid the penalty, usual in nature, of nesting in abnormal, and exposed 
situations, for the family came to grief a few days later, the nest being rifled, 
probably by some marauding Jungle crow. 
THe BLuEHEADED Rosin (Adelura ceruleicephala). A robin hopped close 
to my tent one day while I was encamped near Surphrar Sind valley, and 
allowed me to catch it. It wasayoungfemale BLUEHEADED RoBrIN (Adelura 
ceruleicephala.) I was surprised to find this species at such a low elevation, 
not more than 7,000 feet, but came to the conclusion that it had dropped 
down the steep hillsides from immediately above. 
THE CENTRAL AsIAN BLACKBIRD (Merula maxima) was not uncommon at about 
12,000 feet in two or three of the higher valleys I camped in but this species 
appears to be local in its distribution in Kashmir. It differs in many respects 
from our common blackbird, Merula merula. In coloration the male maxima 
never seems to assume the glossy blackness of the male merula, and, in my ex- 
perience, the colour of the former is always a dull brownish black. Moreover: 
the females of the two species are very different in colour, M. maxima being 
almost a grey bird as opposed to the distinctly brown female of J. merula. 
Again the songs of the two species bear little resemblance to one another, that 
of the present species having little of the fine flutelike tone one associates with 
the song of the common blackbird. Although containing some pleasing notes, 
the song of M. maxima is largely composed of wheezy drongo-like utterances with 
an occasional loud whistle not unlike that used by Kashmiri shepherds when 
herding their flocks. The alarm note also is much less loud, harsh and squeaky 
than that of M. merula. 
When hopping, however, along the edge of the melting snow, digging for 
worms M. maxima does remind one of the “ blackbird on the lawn.” 
At Sonamuss above Surphrar, at an elevation of 11,500 feet, I came across a 
small flock of Rose-Finches composed of two species. These were Propasser 
thura, THE WHITE-BROWED Rossz-F incu, and Procarduelis nepalensis, THE Dark 
Ross-Fincu. The male of the latter species is a beautiful bird when in full 
breeding plumage, 
A pair of Rose-Finches was seen at as low an elevation as 9,500 feet in July. £ 
could not properly identify them but am nearly sure they were P. thura. 
THE Rep-Browep Frvcu (Callacanthis burtoni). The song of this bird is 
monotonous, and all more or less on one note, but the ‘ timbre’ redeems it 
from being unmusical. The song is quite distinct from the call notes described 
by me in Vol. XXI. 
