110 WANDEEINGS OF A 



actually groaned With game, and if there is one gastronomic 

 remembrance Of those days more agreeable than another, it is 

 the delight we felt on returning at nightfall with a hunter's 

 appetite to enjoy the monal cutlets which our excellent 

 Bengal cook prepared in what he called " his own way," We 

 found the monal most plentiful in the little openings in the 

 forest, where they were feeding on the seeds of wild balsams 

 and various sorts of earthnuts. The above was the most com- 

 mon species next to the plach ; a very few cheer were ob- 

 served, for the region was too high for them and the kalij 

 pheasants. My companion kiUed a wood-partridge (Arloricola 

 torqueola), the only one I have seen in its native haunts. It 

 is rare on the Chor mountain, but it is by no means so in 

 some situations near Mussouree. The buntetur, as it is called 

 by the natives, frequents the depths of the forest, and is usually 

 met single or in pairs. Besides game, I managed to add to 

 my collection several new and little-known birds. The thick 

 boughs of the pine offered excellent retreats for many inter- 

 esting sorts. The Himalayan golden-crested wren I shot 

 in company with the black-crested titmouse (Parus mdanolo- 

 phus), which somewhat resembles the marsh-tit of Europe. It 

 is usually seen in flocks, and sometimes associated with another 

 pretty species the gray-backed tit {Parus dichrous), which is 

 known by its brick-red iris ; the forehead and under the ear- 

 coverts a dirty white ; upper parts grayish blue ; breast, beUy, 

 and vent ochrey white. The male is crested. I believe this is 

 the first record of this species having been seen on the western 

 ranges ; it is not rare in Nepal. One of the most beautiful is 

 the yellow-cheeked ox-eye (Parus xanthogenys), which is like the 

 English bird in some respects ; it has still, however, a closer ally 

 in the Eastern Himalayas. The Himalayan nuthatch (Sitta 

 Mmalayana) is the most common species of a genus which fur- 



