110 



Professor Menzbier, of Moscow, writes to me that a large flock, numbering fully 150 individuals, 

 of this Accentor was observed in 1888 near Orenburg from the 23rd of November to the 25th of 

 that month. A pair was obtained on the 27th of November, 1888, near the river Metchetka ; a 

 male was shot on the 6th April, 1885, near Orenburg, and another on the 7th November, 1887. 

 According to Nazaroff (Rech. Zool. des Steppes des Kirguiz, p. 33) it occurs on the Kirghis 

 Steppes during migration. Seebohm records it from Samarcand ; Col. Swinhoe (Ibis, 1882, 

 p. 110) obtained it at Quetta; and Dr. Severtzoff records it as found both in the breeding-season 

 and in the winter in Turkestan. It was obtained by the brothers Grum-Grzimailo in the 

 Karlyk-tagh (Ortam, Chotun-tam, and Bagdasch) ; Professor Menzbier states (Ibis, 1885, p. 356) 

 that Messrs. Majeff and Wilkins procured a male on the 20th of October near the Upper Uital, 

 Upper Tarim ; and Mr. Scully states (Str. Feath. iv. p. 155) that one was brought to him at 

 Kashgar, and was said to have been captured in the neighbouring hills. According to 

 Col. Biddulph (Ibis, 1881, p. 75) it is tolerably common at Gilgit in the winter, leaving about 

 the 23rd of March ; and Mr. Scully writes (torn. cit. p. 569) that the present species is " a winter 

 visitant only to the main valley of Gilgit, arriving about the middle of October and leaving in 

 the third week of March. The birds are usually found in pairs, and are not very shy. I have 

 shot specimens of this Accentor in orchards, where they were running about on the sward near 

 rose-bushes ; when alarmed in such situations they occasionally seek shelter on the lower branches 

 of small fruit-trees." 



Mr. Oates (Faun, of Brit. India, Birds, ii. p. 171) gives its range as "the Himalayas, from 

 Afghanistan and Gilgit to Garhwal. Jerdon records this species from the Punjab Salt-Range. 

 This Accentor is a winter visitor to the Himalayas, summering in Turkestan and other parts of 

 Central Asia." 



According to Mr. Pleske (Wissensch. Result. Przew. Reis. ii. p. 146) this Accentor was observed 

 by Prjevalsky in the first half of September 1876 and in June 1877 in the fir-woods on the 

 Zanma River, where it probably nests. It was not uncommon on the Ssairam-nor in September 

 1877, as also in the western mountainous portion of Dzungaria. In 1879 the first arrivals were 

 observed on the 7th of March in Ssaissansk, but the main body passed about the middle of the 

 month. Early in April stragglers were met with on the lower course of the Urungu River. 



We now know that its range extends from the Ural to Eastern Turkestan, and from the 

 Altai Mountains down to the Punjab ; but respecting its habits I find no information on record 

 beyond what I quote above, and its nest and eggs are, so far as I can ascertain, as yet unknown. 



The specimen figured and described is in my own collection. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined, besides the series in the British 

 Museum, the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



■a, tf. Tashkend, autumn (Severtzoff). b, <$ . September 16th, 1878; c, ? . September 18th, 1878, Ssaissansk 

 (Kolomeitzeff). 



