144 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF GILGIT. 
43°5 inches; wing, 22°5 ; tail, 10°3 ; tarsus, 8°5 ; bill from gape, 
8:25; weight, 7 tb. 
228.—Ardea cinerea, Lin. (923.) 
This Heron is common in Gilgit, according to my obser 
vation, throughout March and April, when on its way to the 
north, and from the middle of August to the beginning of 
October, when repairing southwards. I have no evidence of 
its breeding in the district. My specimens agree completely 
with European examples, and consequently do not accord with 
the description of Ardea brag from Cashmere. 
229.—Ardetta minuta, Lin. (935.) 
I only secured one specimen of the Little Bittern in Gilgit ; 
it was captured in a rice-field on the 20th September. The 
example, an immature male, agrees well in plumage with 
specimens of a similar age from Holland. Length, 14°3 inches ; 
tail, 1-9; tarsus, 1:6; mid-toe and claw, 2:1; bill from gape, 2:5. 
Iris bright pale yellow; orbital skin pale green; bill pale grey, 
dusky aiong culmen ; feet green; claws black. 
230.—Nycticorax griseus, Lin. (937.) 
The Night-Heron is a summer visitor to Gilgit, but is only 
found there in very small numbers; a few pairs probably 
breed in the district. An adult female, obtained on the 5th 
May, with a wing 11 inches, had a crest 6 inches long, and 
weighed 14 oz. 
233.—Spatula clypeata, Lin. (957.) 
The Shoveller is not uncommon in Gilgit on migration in 
spring and autumn. I shot specimens from the middle of 
April to the first week in May, and again throughout September. 
A female, shot on the 380th September, is remarkable 
in having precisely the plumage worn by the adult male from 
July to October; the lesser wing-coverts are glossy grey-blue, 
and the inner half of the speculum bright green. 
234.—Anas boscas, Lin. (958.) 
Although some specimens of the Mallard are to be obtained 
throughout the winter in Gilgit, it is most common there in 
October and November, and again in March and April, the 
greater number of the birds that visit us evidently wintering 
further south. 
235.—Anas strepera, Lin. (961.) 
This Duck merely passes through the district in spring and 
autumn, hardly making any stay in Gilgit, which is not a 
