62 WANDERINGS OF A 



CHAPTER IV. 



Division of the Himalayas into Regions — Scenery of the Lower Ranges — 

 Climate — Magnificent View — Productions — Strange Way of putting 

 Children asleep^Familiar Birds — Cuckoo — Black Partridge ; its HaWts 

 and Haunts — Barking Deer — Gray Partridge — Hill Wagtails — Storms — 

 Woodcock — Snipe — Spotted Eagle — Bulbul — Bearded Vulture — Bare- 

 headed Vultures. 



The Westeru Himalayas may be divided into three regions. 



1st. The lower or Sewalik region, comprehending the 

 lesser ranges which border the plains of India, and differ but 

 little from the latter in climate and natural productions. This 

 region extends to an elevation of about 3000 feet above the 

 level of the sea. 



2d. The middle or forest region embraces the highly-culti- 

 vated and forest tracts, where nature wears the garb of the 

 temperate zone. 



3d. The upper or snowy region, comprising the table- 

 lands and mountains of Thibet, Ladakh, etc., extending from 

 the stunted birch at 8000 to 9000 feet above the sea-level to 

 the limits of perpetual snow. The fauna and flora of this 

 region are distinct from the foregoing, inasmuch as its animals 

 seldom descend to the lower zones unless driven by the rigors 

 of winter, and its plants present an arctic facies. The geo- 

 logical features vary much, from the upper and mid tertiary 

 beds of the lower hills to the secondary and azoic rocks 



