hour before dawn, reaching a peak just before sunrise, then declining 
rapidly although it may continue intermittently until mid-day. The 
species is most common north of the divide and apparently occurs on the 
highest ridges of the south side. 
General remarks on habitat and threats 
The Kagkar Daglari is surprisingly well populated. When approaching 
from the forests on either slope, upon reaching the alpine zone above the 
tree line summer settlements (yayla) are often encountered . Such summer 
villages enable maximum advantage to be made of good pasture at 
higher altitudes in mid and late summer, and exacerbate degradation of 
Rhododendron through grazing by goats or its destruction to provide 
more grazing for cattle herds. Collection of Rhododendron and trees for 
fuel is also a significant problem. Davis et al (1978) give an altitude range 
of (1830m) 2000m to 3000m for R caucasicum, the dominant species above 
the tree line, but the current range appears to be 2400m to 3000m 
indicating that there has been severe habitat degradation at lower levels 
in the past. Grazing pressure is apparently light in some areas at higher 
altitudes, at least in the valleys I looked at, as there were some good 
stands of regenerating Rhododendron locally, even in flat areas at about 
2700m. 
Hunting of both Black Grouse and Snowcock occurs and I observed one 
hunter during the camping stage of the trip, and heard shots on one other 
occasion. The remains of a Caspian Snowcock at the camp site at 
Karadeniz Golii were beside a fire so the bird had presumably been shot 
for food. 
Recommendations for future work 
A full survey of suitable habitat should be undertaken concentrating on 
the northern parts of the range but including valleys on the south side of 
the divide. The mountains between the main Kagkar range and those of 
Sivri Kaya also presumably hold much suitable habitat and their northern 
slopes merit investigation as well as the (Jam Gecjdi (altitude 2640m) to 
the east of Savsat and the Yalnizcam Gec^idi (2650m) to the east of 
Ardanuc. It should be noted that the passes over the divide are normally 
not open until July. In view of the problems associated with local weather 
conditions, spring is probably the best time to census Caucasian Black 
Grouse. 
17 
