98 "WANDEKINGS OF A 



above weasel is plentiful on the lesser ranges, and may be 

 often seen hunting around the villages in quest of poultry, 

 partridges, etc., or their eggs, on which it chiefly subsists. A 

 tamed specimen in my possession followed me like a dog, and 

 delighted in the name of " Kecky," It was in the habit of 

 constantly uttering a low chuckle; which was prolonged into 

 a harsh scream when the little creature was irritated. In 

 habits it is exceedingly playful, and always detests confine- 

 ment in a cage. It usually took up its quarters on my bed ; 

 and occasionally, in the morning and evening, made excur- 

 sions into the hedges and thicket,s in quest of rats, mice, 

 lizards, and snakes, which it despatched with the utmost 

 rapidity, seizing them by the neck. An egg was always 

 considered a great delicacy, and Kecky would run up a wall 

 or leap several feet from the ground to obtain his prize. It 

 nibbled a litfle hole at one end, and sucked the interior 

 therefrom. When dropping from a height the feet were 

 expanded like the Felinse ; and it delighted in prowling, like 

 them, after its prey, spending hours in attempts to capture jack- 

 daws and sparrows on the Persian lilac-trees, none of which it 

 ever succeeded in catching. On the ground it progressed by 

 a succession of leaps, by which means it captured its prey. The 

 yeUow-throated marten is subject to seasonal changes in the 

 colour of its fur. During winter this marten is more hoary on 

 the upper parts ; whereas in midsummer the head, neck, and 

 back are jet black, and the throat, breast, and lower parts 

 yellowish-white. The pine marten {M. martes) does not 

 apparently affect the Western Himalayas, but its skins are 

 brought to India, from Afghanistan. 



My specimens of the song-lark {Alauda triborhyncha, 

 Hodg.) of the lower region did not scarcely differ from the sky- 

 lark of Europe. One distinction would appear to be, with refer- 



