70 



more or less broadly margined with dull pale yellowish earthy brown, only the earlier primaries 



excessively narrowly margined at and near their tips with brownish white ; tail pale hair-brown, 



exterior web of outer laterals fawny white, other feathers margined on their outer webs with pale 

 yellowish brown. 



But very little is known respecting the present species, and especially respecting its habits and 

 nidification. It is only met with in South-eastern Europe, in the Caucasus ; but it ranges east- 

 ward into the Himalayas, and it is more especially an Asiatic species whose range extends west- 

 ward into Europe than a European bird which straggles eastward into Asia. According to 

 Giildenstadt it inhabits the more elevated portions of the Caucasus and the Altai, frequenting 

 the banks of mountain-torrents, and feeding principally on the berries of Hypophcea rhamnoides, 

 which grows plentifully there. It is, he adds, usually seen in large flocks, and its call-note 

 resembles that of a Bullfinch. 



Dr. Severtzoff met with this bird in Turkestan, but gives no particulars respecting its habits. 

 Referring to its range in India, Dr. Jerdon writes (B. of India, ii. p. 398) as follows : — " It has 

 only been obtained, in India, in the far N.W. Himalayas, Mr. Blyth having received one from 

 the neighbourhood of Pind Dadun-khan ; and it has also been found in Cashmere. It varies 

 much in the brightness of its plumage, according to the season. It is probably this species 

 which Adams alludes to in his ' Birds of Cashmere,' No. 68, as being like Carpodacus erythrinus, 

 but larger, and of a brighter red, and only seen in flocks, high up near the snow." 



Dr. Henderson writes (Lahore to Yarkand, p. 258) : — " One fine specimen, marked a female 

 at the time, but obviously, I think, a male in full summer plumage, with a wing 4 - 75 inches in 

 length, was obtained on the 9th October near the Pangong lake. Two young birds of the same 

 species, clearly fledged but recently, were obtained on the 13th and 15th August at the Arpalak 

 river. It is therefore probable that we have here one at least of the breeding-places of this rare 

 species." Captain Biddulph had several examples of this rare Rose Finch in the collection he 

 recently brought over to England from Yarkand, which I compared with my single specimen 

 from the Caucasus, and cannot find any difference, except that the latter is deeper in colour, the 

 red being more of a blood-red than a deep rose-red. 



Mr. A. von Pelzeln, in his notes on the ornithology of Thibet and the Himalayas (Ibis, 

 1868, p. 318), states that it occurs "below the Parang Pass, Ankhang;" but it does not appear 

 to range into Mongolia, as it is not included by Colonel Prjevalsky. 



Beyond what is cited above, I find nothing on record respecting the habits of this rare 

 species ; and, so far as I can ascertain, nothing is on record respecting its nidification. 



I am indebted to Mr. Gould for the loan of three specimens (a male and two females) of this 

 rare bird from Thibet. The male differs from the male from the Caucasus in having the back 

 scarcely tinged with red, but more as in the female ; and the red portions of the plumage are 

 paler, the red being more of a rose-red than blood-red, the white spots being more distinct ; and 

 it is also rather smaller in size, the wing measuring only 4T inches. I do not, however, see that 

 there is any specific difference between these two birds. I have no female or young bird from 

 the Caucasus, and therefore cannot say if they differ from eastern examples. 



