141 



NOTES ON THE NIDIFICATION OF CERTAIN 

 BIRDS IN LADAK. 



F. Ludlow. 



The following notes were collected on a shooting trip from Srniaoar to 

 the Tso-Morari Lake in Rupshu, and a return journey via the Wakka Nal- 

 lah, Sum, and the Wardwan, during the spring and summer of lUlO. 



In the majority of instances where clutches were taken the parent bird 

 was shot off the nest and identified as far as possible with Blanford and 

 Gates. Where doubt existed the bird ivas skinned and forwarded to the 

 Society for identification, whilst Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker very kindly went 

 through the eggs and gave me the benefit of his expert opinion. 



The Raven, Corvus corax tihetamcs. 



Fairly common in Central Ladak and Rupshu where it breeds in cliffs in 

 late winter. Fully fledged young seen out of the nest with the parent 

 birds on the shores of the Tso-Morari Lake in early May. 



The Jungle Crow, Corvux coronoides intermedius , 



Nests at Kargil on 18th April 1919 and at Leh on 23rd April ] 919, both 

 in poplar trees. 



The Jackdaw, Corvus vionedula coUaris. 



The only place at which 1 encountered this species beyond the Western 

 Himalayan barrier, was at Dras on loth April 1919 where I observed a pair 

 in the neighbourhood of the rest-house. 



The Magpie, Pica pica hactriana. 



Seen directly one crosses the Zoji La., and never lost sight of in the 

 main or side valleys until the treeless Rupshu country is reached. One of 

 the commonest birds in Ladak, I found a single pair at Gya (Alt. 13,o00 

 feet) inhabiting the only tree the place boasts of. Breeds in willows and 

 poplars and occasionally in bushes. Found it building at Kargil on isth 

 April 1919 and took a clutch of G eggs at Mashoo near Leh on ijyth April 

 1919. Eggs measure So — 34x24 mm. Its more Eastern congener, the 

 Bl.-vck-rumped Magpie of Thibet was not met with. 



The Red-billed Chough, PyrrJiocorax pyrrhocorax. 



Common in Central Ladak and Rupshu where it lays in April and May. 

 One clutch of 3 incubated eggs taken at Meroo midway between Upshi 

 and Gya, at an altitude of about 13.000, on 14th May 1919. Nest in 

 cliff, built of sticks and lined with wool. Eggs are a very pale salmon 

 pink blotched with brown and with secondary purple markings, not un- 

 like those of the common Saudgrouse in colour. They measure 40'.j — 41 x 

 27'5 mm. 



Breeds in the town of Leh itself as on 13th June 1919 I saw parent birds 

 feeding their young in the holes of a large kind of ' Hlato ' about oOO yards 

 South of the main bazaar. 



The Yellow-billed Chough, Piirrhocorax graculus. 



Retires during the latter half of May to breed in the most inacces- 

 sible cliffs, one spot being the crags overlooking the village oi Bhot Karbu, 

 and another, the stupendous perpendicular cliffs of the AYakka Nallah. 



The most accessible breeding haunt of this bird which I encountered was 

 in small cliffs on the left bank of the Wakka River, a mile or so beyond the 

 village of Paskyum near Kargil, but even here ropes would be a necessity. 



