99 
Birds of Kohat and Kurram. 
river-route on migration, are induced to halt on their way, 
affording good sport to “ Sahibs 33 and Turi villagers. The 
importance of this river as a migration-route is illustrated 
lower down, where it debouches into the sandy plains of 
Bannu, outside of the area which we are now considering. 
Here vast quantities of Wild-fowl, Waders, and Gulls, on 
migration to their far-off northern homes from the lower 
reaches of the Indus and the Manchar Lake in Sind, are to 
be observed, in the months of February and March, asleep 
or preening their feathers on the mudbanks in mid-river. 
The majority of these birds undoubtedly keep to the river- 
route, there being no other important water-way lying near 
their line of migration, and must therefore, of necessity, 
pass up the Kurram Valley. It may be wondered at that 
the Kiver Indus, bordering Kohat, has not been mentioned 
as suited to the observation of Water-fowl. But in this 
portion of its course that great river is confined between 
hills, and flows over a rocky bed, consequently here it affords 
no feeding-grounds or resting-places for such birds. White- 
head came down it in a boat at a time of year when he 
might have expected to find birds, but his journey proved 
disappointing. On the whole, then, Kohat and Kurram 
must be looked on as a profitable locality to the Indian 
ornithologist. 
The straggling of Western Palsearctic forms, not as yet 
recorded within Indian limits, into this area is probably of 
commoner occurrence than might be supposed, and, were it 
possible for a winter to be spent in collecting in the Upper 
Kurram, yet new species to the Indian list would doubtless 
be forthcoming. The task we set ourselves in our late trip, 
so unfortunately interrupted, still remains to be done, and 
most assuredly new breeding species to India await the 
discoverer. 
It was at first intended to publish two separate papers, 
one on the birds of Kohat and another on those of the 
Kurram Valley, but Mr. Whitehead has decided, wisely as I 
think, to combine them. The two localities are contiguous, 
and the latter is, as I mentioned before, the breeding-ground 
h 2 
