990 
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF CASHMERE. 
By 
Hugh Whistler, e.z.s., Indiay Police. 
Ill spite of the number of ornithologists and sportsmen who have visited Cash- 
mere, and of the number of specimens illustrative of the ornithology of Cashmere 
which are to be found in various museums and collections, no complete account 
of the avifauna of the comitry has been published. There is indeed compara- 
tively little on record at all in 2irhit regarding this most interesting of countries 
to the naturalist. Under these circumstances it appears to me worth while 
to record some notes made in Srinagar during a short stay of about six weeks, 
in the hope that they maybe of value to anyone who later on has time and the 
opportunity to fill up this conspicuous gap in our knowledge of Asiatic orni 
thology. 
My trip was imdertaken at the shortest notice and without any previous in- 
tention, bemg solely due to the opjiortunity afforded by the late difficulty in 
securing .steam ship accommodation owing to which an interval had to elapse 
between the commencement of a period of leave and my departme for England. 
I left Rawalpmdi by motor on the 1 st April ( 1 920) and arrived at Kohala, the 
first point in the territory of Cashmere State, on the afternoon of the same day ; 
that night was spent at Garhi, the journey being resumed early next morning, 
so that I reached Srinagar about 4 p.m. on the 2nd April. I remained at Srinagar 
until May 12th : when I started down again by motor and reached Kohala about 
8 p.m. that night. A few observations were made during the course of these 
journeys along the motor road and they have been included in the following 
notes ; othenrise all records refer to the immediate neighbourhood of Srinagar. 
The distance between Rawalpindi and Srmagar by road is nearly 200 miles. 
From the moment of entering Cashmere territory at Kohala the road follows the 
course of the Jhelum river, rmmmg alongside of it at varying heights through 
a vast belt of momitams as far as Baramullah, where the road leaves the moun- 
tain barrier most abruptly and emerges into the Happy Valley. Here the char- 
acter of the country changes with almost equal suddenness. The mountain 
scenery, f amiUar to aU travellers in the Outer Himalayas, gives place to a wide plain 
whose salient features are reminiscent of the plains of Northern France and Hol- 
land or of the flat cultivation of Suffolk and Essex. For mile upon mile the road 
passes through long lines of poplars, closely planted and growing to a great 
height. All about the liver and the numerous tributary channels and dykes 
grow willows, singly and in plantations ; clumps of mulberry trees are on all 
sides and here and there stand the giant chenar trees, most wonderful of all. 
Srinagar itself is situated at an altitude of about .5,000 feet above sea level, 
and is built on the River , Jhelum. The native city is down stream and covers 
a wide area on both banks of the river, connected by seven bridges, of which the 
lowest had been washed away some months before my \nsit. Above the native 
city stands the European quarter and the shops whicli cater for visitors. Here 
good hou.ses and pleasant gardens are diversified by wide expanses of turf with 
fine trees, in marked contrast to the crowded and filthy city. 
North of the Eiuopean quarter stands the Takht-i-8uleman, a bare rocky 
hill surmounted by an ancient temple, and rising to a height of over 6,200 feet. 
Behind the Takht lies a range of mountains that reach a still greater height and 
form part of the mountain ring ivhich entirely surrounds the Happy Valley. 
At the foot of the Takht and the mountains behind it spreads the famous Dhal 
lake ; while the area between the city and the lake is an intricate maze of gar- 
dens, orchards, and waterways. All visitors to Srinagar are expected to climb 
^^he Takht. From it a wonderful view is obtained and the climber is able to 
appreciate to the full the circumstances of the vale of Cashmere ; it lies before 
