THE BIRDS OF KOHAT AND THE KURRAM VALLEY. 175 



rewriting the account of the Bulbuls of the genus Molpastes, the hybrid forms 

 of which he was the first to observe in Kohat. 



Much interesting information was kindly contributed by Mr. D. Donald, 

 C.I.E., the Political Officer and Commandant of the Border Military Police 

 and Samana Rifles, which his long residence in Kohat (some 18 years), his 

 frequent tours in the district, the interest he takes in birds generally, and 

 in the Accipitrines in particular, and his great reputation as a falconer, render 

 of especial value. 



Specimens of most of the Passerine and of a large number of the remaining 

 birds included in this paper were shot and carefully compared with Gates and 

 Blanford's excellent descriptions, measurements and points of difference if 

 any, being always recorded, but only in the case of their not corresponding 

 or of their being of special interest were skins made, for time did not permit 

 of more. These skins are now in the British Museum and are those referred 

 to in the paper. Amongst them will be found melanistic varieties of several 

 species (Lanius lahtora, Passer domesticus, Antlius similis, A. spijjoletta) , which, 

 except in the case of the Shrike, were shot out of flocks of similarly coloured 

 birds. Taken as a whole, however, the birds of the District are characterized 

 by their pale colouring, which is what one would expect from the desert 

 nature of the country. 



Many more birds appear to halt in Kohat in the spring migration, which 

 continues from February till well into June, than in the autumn. This is 

 probably due to the configuration of the locality. The main Kohat Valley 

 at its junction with the Indus is comparatively broad but narrows considerably 

 towards the Kurram River, with which it is connected by the Ishkalai, an 

 insignificant stream flowing in at Thall. The latter stream is probably easily 

 missed by the hosts of migrants passing down the Kurram River in autumn. 

 Major Magrath writes that they migrate down this river in the Bannu District 

 in great numbers in August, September, and the first half of October. 



In square brackets are added notes on those species met with by Major 

 Magrath in Bannu, but not found by us in Kohat or in the Kurram Valley, as 

 most of them are likely to occur within our limits. The Bannu District, 

 however, exhibits a great contrast to Kohat, consisting as it does for the most 

 part of a broad, well-watered, highly cultivated plain with a good deal of 

 marsh-land. 



In the following notes, wherever the expression "we" is used it refers, of 

 course, to Major Magrath and myself, as we worked together. 



The word " plains " is used, as it usually is in India, to denote the low 

 country — i.e., in this case, below about 3,000 feet — as opposed to the main 

 hill-ranges, and not merely the flat country, the greater part of Kohat being a 

 maze of low hills and ravines. Similarly the word " desert " is used in its 

 wider sense to include stony and not necessarily level wastes which cover 

 such a large part of the District (there is very little sandy desert). 



The nomenclature followed is that adopted by Oates and Blanford in the 



