Capt. R. C. Beavan on various Indian Birds. 401 



easy to what it was before a manual of reference existed, as 

 one who has benefited much thereby, I venture, although with 

 some diffidence, to take up an amateur's pen with the view of 

 contributing my small quota, and that, I am afraid, not a very 

 valuable one, to the knowledge of our Indian birds ; and the 

 notes here hastily set down may at least, if of no other value, 

 do something towards the elucidation of their local distribution. 



My first attempt at collecting was made at Darjeeling, in the 

 months of March, April, and May 1862, during which period 

 I undertook an expedition to the top of Tonglu — a mountain 

 some 10,000 feet high, which was visited by Dr. Hooker, and 

 along the summit of which runs a portion of the boundary 

 between Sikkim and Nepal. The few days spent there were not 

 at all satisfactory for bird-collecting ; the weather was decidedly 

 "damp "j in fact I was enveloped in a thick fog during all but 

 a few hours of my stay ; and the cold, to one lately arrived from 

 the plains, combined with wet and existence in a little bit of a 

 blanket-tent just large enough to cover a bed, made the tout 

 ensemble anything but agreeable. I hope, however, to have 

 another opportunity at some future time not only of revisiting 

 Mount Tonglu under more auspicious circumstances, but also 

 the interior of Sikkim and Bhootan, in both of which countries, 

 I have no doubt, several new forms of birds are still to be 

 found near the regions of eternal snow. 



The examination of my Darjeeling collection of 1862 was 

 kindly undertaken by Mr. Blyth, who named and labelled the 

 specimens ; but no list was drawn up until my arrival in England, 

 when I carefully took down the names appended by him. 

 Some of the specimens were, however, with my permission, 

 reserved by him for further examinaticm, and some duplicates 

 of Calcutta and Burmese birds added ; so that if, in drawing up 

 the following notes, I should inadvertently have included any 

 species decidedly not Himalayan as belonging to my collection 

 of 1862, I shall feel still more obliged to that gentleman if 

 he will correct any glaring error. 



I have made other collections, in the Maunbhoom District, in 

 1864-65, chiefly during the cold-weather months, and in 1864, 

 at Barrackpore, during the hot weather and rains. Some of the 



