BIRD NOTES BY THE WAY IN KASHMIR. 



549 



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Sonemur<j' — A bit of Woodland. 



At Sonemiirg* (9,000 feet) the scenery, in this most delightful of 

 summer camping resorts, was charming and imj)ressive. Bird-life was 

 abundant, and as usual young birds of the year were much in evidence. 

 A feature of this bird-life was the chough {Graculns eremita), a handsome 

 member of the corvidce with its blue black j)lumage and brightly coloured 

 bill and legs. Its caw is jackdaw-like, though squeaky, and various shrill 

 squeaky notes are uttered that can be heard at a great distance. Often 

 these notes produce a curious effect, especially when uttered in the air, 

 for they deceive one into imagining that they proceed from some bird in a 

 bush close by till one discovers that some black specks high in the blue 

 are responsible for the sounds. When the breeze is strong — (in Sonemurg 

 breezes often are strong)— the chough is fond of gambolling high in the air. 



The Jungle Crow (Corvus viacrorJiynchus) also occurs in some numbers, 

 but it was noticeable that, when occasionally it fed in flocks on the open 

 " Murg" like rooks, the Chough, which does the like habitually, never 

 associated with the crows. 



Once I saw a flock of Jackdaws (C monedula) on the " Murg," a high 

 elevation for this species as it is low for the Chough in summer. But the 

 Jackdaw becomes a great wanderer after the young are fledged in the 



* For the benefit of those who do not know Kashmir, I may state that the 

 word " Sonemurg'" means " The golden Meadow." The name probably originated 

 in the mind of some poetically inspired Kashmiri, who was impressed by the 

 profusion of yellow ranwieulce (species of butter-cups) and ragwort which covers the 

 open downs or " Murgs" between the edge of the forest and the river in summer. 



