1304 

 MOEE BIED NOTES BY THE WAY IN KASHMIR. 



BY 



Lt.-Ool. H. a. F. Magrath. 



The following notes are supplementary to and in amplitication of " Bird 

 Notes by the Way in Kashmir " published in Vol, XXI, No. 2, of this 

 journal. In these latter I expressed the hope of being able to revisit 

 my leave haunts, of last year, in the breeding season. That wish has been 

 partly gratified for I reached Sonemurg this year (1912) during the second 

 week in June. Hopes and anticipations with which I set out to ornitho- 

 logize on arrival were on the whole, I must confess, not realized, and no 

 startling discoveries fell to my lot. 



Sonemurg, with which locality these notes are mainly concerned, lies- 

 at an elevation of 9,000 feet and over, is well in the interior of the Himalay- 

 an region, and consequently is practically under snow till the middle of 

 May, and it surprised me therefore to find the breeding season already well 

 advanced when I arrived there. Many species had young, well feathered, 

 in the nests, and of some species these were on the wing. 



Eeferences in these notes are to the above named publication except 

 where otherwise stated. 



On the Jhelum Valley cartroad near Dulai at an elevation of barely 

 2,000 feet I passed a midday, the 29th of August, a flock of young- 

 Jackdaws, C. vionedula, with bills wide agape feeding on the roadway. 

 At this time of year in the narrow gorges, through which the Jhelum 

 flows at this spot, the temperature of the air, owing to the confined space 

 and to radiation from the rocky surroundings, may be anything, from 120 

 Fahr. and upwards, at midday, and bears comparison with the conditions 

 obtaining at the same season in Dera Ismail Khan or Jacobabad. Yet at 

 this same moment similar flocks of young daws were disporting them- 

 selves in the cool breezes of Sonemurg, 150 miles to the north-east. Truly 

 the vagaries of individuals of a species as regards distribution and relative 

 temperatures are wonderful. 



The Chough, Graculus erimeta, is supposed to derive its name from its 

 note. But the note is much more like the syllables " Chee-o kah" pitched 

 high and squeaky. There is also the common note like "Khew " which has 

 been recorded of this species in England. The young after leaving the 

 nest and when clamouring to be fed make a loud plaintive squeaky mewing 

 note. 



The Himalayan Whistling Thrush, Myiophoneus teimnincki, often utters 

 its loud whistling song when on tne wing. 



Nests of the Kashmir Wrens, Anorthura nepalensis, found at Sonemurg 

 were all built in holes in birch trees, one nearly 10 feet from the ground. 



