440 Mr. Douglas Carruthers on the 
in the month of June, bird-life did not extend to above 
10,000 feet. 
After this I made a journey to the plateaux of Arpa 
and Ak-sai, which are situated between the Pamirs and the 
Tian Shan. The Pamirs themselves are closed to travellers, 
and the only other locality that seemed to offer the same 
conditions and to contain the same fauna was this plateau 
district, situated north of Kashgar. 
However, I did little collecting there, as bird-life was 
very scarce indeed, and the few birds met with were in 
full moult. But I saw sufficient to induce me to suppose 
that immediately north and north-east of the Ferghana and 
Pamirs, there is a very different fauna. 
It is not necessary to give an itinerary, but I may say 
that I spent twelve months in the valley of the Zarafschan, 
moving up and down and making collections at the same 
places in different seasons. The whole series was composed 
of about 600 specimens, 523 of which have been purchased 
by the Trustees of the British Museum. These include 
examples of 147 species. A certain number of large and 
common birds 1 did not collect and a few rare ones I 
saw but never obtained. Notes on these are included as 
an appendix. 
My best thanks are due to Mr. Ogilvie-Grant and Mr. 
Wells at the Natural History Museum, for their kindness 
in helping me to work out the collection and in identifying 
the specimens. 
1. Corvus CORNIX. 
Corvus cornix Sharpe, Cat. B. iii. p. 31. 
$ . Samarkand. 27 Oct., 1907. No. 126. 
? . 17 Dec., 1907. No. 235. 
A winter visitor only. The Hooded Crows arrive in the 
Zarafschan Yalley from the north at the end of October. 
As the winter advances they increase in numbers, until the 
first week in April, when they suddenly begin to go north 
again. By the 10th of April there was not one to be seen 
anywhere. 
