447 



To the eastward it is met with as far as the Himalayas. Messrs. Blanford and St. John 

 record it from Persia as " common on the slopes of Demavend, the high volcanic cone north-east 

 of Tehran ;" and Mr. Blanford adds that he himself did not meet with it. Severtzoff states that 

 it is resident in Turkestan, in the south-western district, at an altitude of from 8500 to 10,500 

 feet, and occurs during the summer as high as 14,000 feet. Dr. Jerdon (B. of India, ii. p. 319) 

 writes that it inhabits the higher ranges of the Himalayas, where it lives in flocks, and feeds on 

 various fruits. Further east than the Himalayas it does not appear to occur, and I do not find 

 it recorded from China, where P. graculus alone occurs. 



In its habits the Alpine Chough closely resembles our British red-billed bird ; but it is more 

 especially an alpine bird, frequenting the more elevated portions of the mountains in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of the glaciers and eternal snow. 



Its flight is swift; and it frequently hovers or glides with outstretched wings in circles, 

 especially when descending from any altitude, or when ascending. It usually flies at a great 

 altitude ; and when it descends into the valleys it is a sure sign of snow or rain. Naumann 

 remarks that this species foretells the weather with great accuracy, and that should it, after 

 having taken up its quarters in the high mountains in the spring, return to the less-elevated 

 localities, it may be taken for granted that there will be a fall of snow. 



It feeds on insects of various descriptions (which it either picks up off the ground or 

 searches for amongst the crevices of the rocks), seeds of various sorts, berries, and grain ; and it 

 is said to cause no little damage amongst the freshly sown grain of the mountain peasants when 

 other food is scarce. As a rule it is a wary and shy bird, difficult of approach, and suspicious of 

 any intruder, even when it inhabits localities where a human being is jrarely seen, and there 

 cannot have been any molestation on the part of man. "When in captivity, however, it is stated 

 by Bailly to become exceedingly tame, and exhibits the greatest attachment to its master. 



Its note is said to resemble somewhat that of the Jackdaw ; and Naumann compares it to 

 the syllables kril, Jcrit, Mou, and says that another note resembles the words jaifc, jaik. Bailly 

 says that when flying backwards and forwards with food to their young they continually utter 

 plaintive cries, which he compares to the syllables Ma, Ma. During the spring and summer the 

 Alpine Choughs live in pairs or, when the young are hatched, in families ; but late in the season 

 they join and form large flocks, which frequently contain a very large number of individuals. 

 According to Bailly they pair for life, and are remarkably true to each other. About the end 

 of March or the commencement of April they take possession of their breeding-places, which, 

 should they not be disturbed, they use year after year in succession ; and about the middle of 

 April or early in May, according to the altitude where the nesting-place is, they commence to 

 construct or repair their nest, which is placed in a fissure in the rocks or in an old cave, or else 

 amongst the ruins of some old deserted tower or castle. The exterior portion of the nest, which 

 is a large and bulky structure, is composed of twigs, grasses, and roots worked together and 

 intermixed with lichens and mosses ; and the inside lining is composed of leaves, hair, and fine 

 roots. The eggs, from four to five in number, are incubated by both male and female in turn, 

 the term of incubation being about eighteen or nineteen days ; and when the young are hatched 

 they are tended with the greatest care and solicitude by their parents. 



I possess eggs of the Alpine Chough, obtained in Switzerland, which resemble those of our 



