848 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXV U. 



prevalent in many places, and as they are loaded with dust and grit they add 

 greatly to the discomfort of life. Rain and snow fall in winter and spring, 

 and snow hes for weeks on end in January and February except in the lowest 

 parts of the plateau. Apart from precipitation, water is carried from the hills 

 far into the plains by under-ground tunnels known as Qanats, which are cons- 

 tructed by sinking a chain of wells in a line sometimes twenty miles long, and 

 connecting the bottoms of the wells by a nearly horizontal tunnel. The wells 

 are stone lined and frequented by Rock Pigeons and Rock Sparrows. The 

 water channel reaches the surface far out in the plain and irrigates vineyards 

 and groves of trees and gardens. In such places nearly all the European fruits 

 and vegetables are grown. The sides of the irrigation runnels are planted with 

 poplar and plane trees which constitute practically the whole of the timber 

 and wood fuel of the country. 



The high dry and stony plateau which I have described is limited on the 

 north by the chain of the Elburz. These mountains are bare and rocky on 

 their south side, but thickly afforested on the north, the side which receives 

 an almost perennial rainfall from the damp winds which below across the Cas- 

 pian. The frontier between the forest and the desert is extremely sharply defined 

 and the transition between the two faunas and floras is probably one of the 

 most sudden that can be seen in any country. I was so fortunate as to stop 

 several times at Menjil, a point at which this frontier may be studied. Menjil 

 (alt. 1,200 feet) is in the desert or semi-desert country, but so close to its edge 

 that in two hoiurs one can walk into the forest. I passed rapidly through Men- 

 jil in January, but was there for a few days in March and April and also later 

 in the summer. In the fields and among the stones Crested Larks bred ; 

 probably Sky Larks, Linnets and Corn Buntings bred also. Choughs were 

 about in flocks, and Griffons, Egyptian Vultures {Neophron percnopterus) and 

 Lammergeiers were fairly common. See See {A. g. griseogularis) and Chukor 

 were abundant among the rocks, and I shot the small Rock Nuthatch (Sitta 

 r. rupicola) and the larger S. neumayer obscura without realizing how in- 

 teresting they were. Crag Martins (Riparia rupestris) and Blue Rock Thrushes 

 were common enough. Thus far the fauna was that of the stony desert and 

 the stony hills of the plateau. But when one entered the forest all these forms 

 were left behind and at once one found such types as the Cole Tit {Parus ater 

 gaddi). Nuthatches {Sitta europcea rubiginosa). Green Woodpeckers {Picus 

 viridis harelini). Meadow Buntings {Emberiza cia par). Jays {Garrulus glandarius 

 hyrcanus). Blackbirds {Turdus merula aierrimus), and Great Tits (P. m. major). 

 These are all of them species or sub-species which I had not seen before, and 

 as I afterwards discovered the first four of them are characteristic not of the 

 Caspian forests in general, but of the dry forests only. The great difference 

 between the dry and the wet types of forest has not I think been previously 

 noticed, but so far as the fauna is concerned it is of considerable importance. 

 I saw dry forest near Menjil and also at Noglabar. It grows on the slopes of 

 the hills and generally consists of mixed decidous trees, (mainly oaks with a 

 few beeches and other trees) scattered rather sparsely over well-drained ground. 

 Flowers are abundant in spring, blue anemonies, squills, &c., but in winter the 

 ground is frequently snow covered. The upper limit of this open forest is 

 reached at about 6,000 feet, where it is succeeded by thick beech-scrub. At 

 about 7,000 feet one emerges upon open turf downs with a few juniper bushes. 

 The great forest which we have now entered may be divided as I have said 

 into dry and wet belts, but this is a secondary matter. It is one continuous 

 forest circling the south end of the Caspian Sea, stretching from near Lenkoran 

 to Asterabad without interruption and presenting in every way a most marked 

 contrast to the desert region. It is scantily wooded on the hills, densely in the 

 maritime plain, and watered by a heavy rainfall distributed through most of 

 the months of the year. 



