NATURALIST IN INDIA. 109 



species, but differs in wanting the black on the hind head. 

 The song is fully as rich as the other. Many are caught on 

 the hills, and imported to India. Another congener to a 

 well-known European bird is the Himalayan siskin {Carduelis 

 spinoides). It likewise differs in some well-marked particu- 

 lars. ^ The plumage of the male resembles the female of the 

 former and the pine-siskin of North. America. The bill is 

 stouter, and the whole appearance of the little creature is less 

 elegant. Its call-note is not so loud or joyous, but in habits 

 and haunts they are very much alike. 



There is a rich and picturesque beauty at this season in 

 the little red patches of " batu " growing around the villages 

 or along the terraced sides of the valleys, looking from a dis- 

 tance as if red sand was strewn on the soil. The mountain- 

 sides were covered with long yellow grass, among which 

 the blue flowers of the aconite were conspicuous, while the 

 little rice-kates teemed with a rich harvest, and showed there 

 was plenty in the land for man and beast. 



Lammergeyers were common, and generally observed cir- 

 cling around the mountain-tops in quest of small quadrupeds 

 and young partridges. A pair attracted us from our beaten path 

 to climb a steep ascent, expecting to find their eyrie, which 

 turned out only an ancient roosting-place strewn with bones 

 of sheep which had evidently been carried from the European 

 stations more than ten mUes distant. 



The pine and oak forests of the Chor were reached on the 

 sixth day, when, to our intense delight, we soon found the 

 pheasants far outnumbered previous expectations, for the 

 ravines resounded with their loud screams, and the higher we 

 went and the deeper we penetrated into the dense forests the 

 more plentiful they became. The cool days, cold, even frosty 

 nights, added increased vigour to our exertions. Our table 



