736 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society . [No. 7. 



The only fragments of a bird-skin worthy of notice are the wing and leg 

 of an undescribed species of Gallinule, from the Punjab Salt Range : appa- 

 rently and doubtless the same as one which we could never identify, as 

 represented in two coloured figures among the drawings of the late Sir A. 

 Burnes, who obtained his specimens in Kabul. He terms it " Kushhul : 

 1 ft. long ; 2 ft. from tip to tip." The species seems intermediate to the 

 common Gallinula chloroptts and Porzana akool, (Sykes) ; and like 

 the latter has no white under the tail, while it agrees with the common 

 Gallinule in the colouring of the head and neck. The specimen of a 

 closed wing presented by Mr. Theobald measures 6| in. in length, and is 

 remarkable for having the outer web of the first primary wholly white, 

 as also a broad white border to the outermost and largest feather of the 

 winglet ; while the coverts are of a dark slaty ash-colour, instead of being 

 olivaceous (as in both the species cited.) The tarse measures 2^ in. ; 

 middle toe and claw 2| in., the latter but T V in. ; all the claws being much 

 shorter, finer, and of a paler colour, than in many specimens examined of 

 G. chloropus. Burnes's figures represent a Gallinula, rather than 

 a Porzana ; with pale crimson irides, and legs and feet apparently of 



in length from the tip of the upper lip to the extremity of the very short tail, and 

 4 ft. 3 in. in height." A more detailed description exists among the Hardwicke 

 MSS. in the British Museum, from which we derived the brief notice and mea- 

 surements published in J. A. S. X, 745, which differ somewhat from the preced- 

 ing :* and accordingly Mr. Hodgson is mistaken in supposing (J. A. 8. XX, 593), 

 that the name Wallichii rests solely upon the authority of a native drawing, a 

 copy of which was published by F. Cuvier. 



According to Dr. Gray, "the skull of Dr. Falconer's Kashmir Stag is 15 in. 

 long ; the suborbital pit is oblong, triangular, and rather deep. The skull and 

 horns are very like to Mr. Hodgson's specimen of C. affinis (Wallichii), but 

 they are considerably smaller. 



i( Sir John McNeill informs us," he continues, " that they are called by the Per- 

 sians Maral, or Geoge, or Gookoohee, and the species is frequently noticed in their 

 literature. It is found in all the wooded mountain districts of Persia, but appa- 

 rently does not occur in the central parts of that country. They rarely descend 

 into the plaius. During the summer they are found in the highest wooded parts 

 of the mountains ; and during the winter in the lower ravines, near their bases, 

 where they are frequently tracked in the snow. The horns of the adult males 

 closely resemble those of the adult males of the British Med Deer; insomuch that 

 I doubt whether an unscientific observer could distinguish them, except by the 

 superior size of those of the Maral." 



* Compare both with those of the Wapiti, taken also from the living animal, in J. 4. 

 S. X.738. 



