436 
Mr. Douglas Carrutliers on the 
XX.— On the Birds of the Zarafschan Basin in Russian 
Turkestan. By Douglas Carre thers, F.R.G.S., M.B.O.U. 
(Plates VII. & VIII.) 
The Russian possessions in Central Asia are very little 
known to Englishmen, and although a few travellers 
annually visit the Tian Shan mountains, their object is 
solely sport. I cannot find that any of them have added 
to our knowledge of the ornithology, or have made sys¬ 
tematic collections of the fauna of that part of Central Asia. 
The region known, somewhat vaguely, by the name of 
Russian Turkestan (see Map, PL VII.), is situated north of 
Afghanistan and Chinese Turkestan, being bordered on the 
west by the Oxus and the Sea of Aral and on the east by 
Dzungaria, or western Mongolia. In this region I include 
the “ protected native-state ” of Bokhara, for it is a part of 
Russian Turkestan in everything but name. 
This immense tract of country has been fairly well 
worked by Russian naturalists, such as Severtzoff, Prjevalsky, 
Eedchenko, and Zarudny. Their labours, how r ever, seem to 
have been confined chiefly to Central and North-eastern 
Turkestan, in the regions most wealthy in bird- and animal- 
life, such as the forest-covered Tian Shan mountains and 
their outlying ranges. South-western Turkestan seems to have 
been somewhat neglected. I find a considerable difference 
between the fauna of North-western Turkestan and of the 
South-western district. The whole region might, indeed, be 
divided into two faunistic zones, namely—Turkestan north 
of the Syr Daria and the Ferghana, and the district lying 
south of this boundary, which is composed of the Zarafschan 
Basin and the Khanate of Bokhara. The former has a 
typical Central-Asiatic fauna, whilst the fauna of the latter 
belongs rather to Afghanistan. 
As regards the flora the districts are equally distinct. 
The northern region is remarkable for its luxuriance, its 
dense forests of conifers, and its heavy rainfall, whilst the 
southern has a comparatively small rainfall and consequently 
the vegetation is very poor, except in the oases. Forests 
