1872.] W. E. Brooks— Cashmir Birds. 73 



than usual, and may have been Gallinago solitaria. It appears probable 

 that the majority of the migratory birds which are found in winter on the 

 plains of India pass from Tibet to Hindustan without halting in the Hima- 

 layas. The absence of herons and moorhens is surprising. 



Order — Anseres. 



954 Casarca rutila, (Pallas).— A pair were seen on the lake Bidan, 

 near the Jelep-la in the Chola range, and one was shot by Capt. Elwes. 



Notes on the Ornithology of Cashmie, — by W. E. Brooks, C. E. 



Etawali. 



[Eeceived 1st September, 1871.] 



A few short notes on some of the birds I met with in Cashmir, last 

 May and June [1871], will probably interest some of the readers of the 

 Asiatic Society's Journal. The first requiring notice is — 



Polio^ttis htjmilis, (Schlegel and Muller). — I procured one on the 

 banks of the Tawi river. I also have one from Dhurmsala. A third speci- 

 men was killed near Etawah. The measurements of my birds accord with 

 those given by Mr. Wallace in his article in the Ibis for January 1868, " on 

 the Raptorial Birds of the Malay Archipelago." All three specimens have 

 a dark terminal tail band. This was overlooked by Dr. Jerdon who has 

 named this bird P. plumbeus, Hodgson ; this and P. humilis are identical. 



Accipiter virgatus breeds up the Scind valley. The eggs are boldly 

 blotched, like those of A. nisus. The eggs of M. badius are plain bluish 

 white without spots. 



Bttteo desertorum. — I procured one at Q-ulmurg. This is the " Buteo 

 vulgaris 1 '' of Dr. Jerdon's Buds of India. B. vulgaris does not occur 

 in India. Milvus major, Hume, is the common kite of Cashmir. It 

 may always be distinguished from M. Govinda by the large amount of 

 white on the lower surface of the wing. How this bird differs from Milvus 

 melcmotis, Temm. and Schl., is a question I should like to see answered. 



I took the eggs of the Cashmir kite which resemble those of M. 

 Govinda, but are rather larger. The eggs are laid in the latter end of April. 



Merops apiaster is common in Cashmir and breeds there. 



Coracias garrtjea is still more common. It nests in holes in trees 

 and in river and other banks. 



Coracias Indica. — Only found in the lower ranges south of the Rut tun 

 Pir Mountain ; in fact for the first twenty or thirty miles beyond the Panjab 

 frontier. 



10 



