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Show 658 MR. H.J. ELWES ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL [Junel7, most of those peculiar and interesting birds so unlike any found elsewhere that their classification has been a constant puzzle to ornithologists. Whole genera, such as Paradoxornis, Yuhina, Siva, Minla, Ixulus, Stachyris, Leiothrix, Pteruthius, Allotrius, Pnoepyga, and many isolated forms such as Acanthoptila, Sibia, Cutia, Lioptila, Conostoma, Gampsorhynchus, Myzanthe, Pachyglossa, Rimator, Grammatoptila, Myzornis, are nearly if not quite restricted to this region, though in winter they are sometimes forced by cold to descend lower in search of food. The habits, nidification, and structure of these birds are at present very little known, and are likely to remain so until some resident, possessing the energy and love of nature which has enabled Mr. Swinhoe to do so much for the birds of China, will devote a few years to their study. During the rainy season, which lasts from April to the end of October, but few Raptores and Game-birds are found in the middle region. Owing to the great abundance of leeches between 4000 and 9000 feet, no terrestrial birds or other animals are safe from their attacks, and it is not until we reach the region of the dwarf bamboo that any of the Phasianidae reappear. In the North-west Himalaya this is not so; for, owing to the difference in climate and vegetation, Pheasants seem to be found at much lower elevations than at Sikim, where the Monal (Lophophorus) does not occur below 12,000 feet in summer, and the Tragopan (Ceriornis) is rarely seen below 8000 or 9000. As there are no lakes in this region, and the rivers are rapid torrents, waders and waterfowl are conspicuous by their absence. Pigeons are not numerous ; and though the variety of species is so great, birds are not generally so conspicuous or abundant as at lower elevations. In the interior valleys of Sikim the character of the vegetation at 9000-10000 feet has assumed a different aspect, and is again almost insensibly blended into the upper region, which, though possessing a number of species peculiar to itself, has a strong general resemblance to the Palaearctic region, both in vegetation and zoology. This zone commences on the outer hills at about 11000 feet, and in the interior at from 8000-10,000, many of the birds belonging to it being driven down in winter to a much lower elevation. Here the forest is principally composed of coniferee, shrubby rhododendrons, and a small kind of bamboo, which in some places reaches an elevation of 12,000 feet. The valleys become more open, though it is not until we get above the limit of trees at 12,000-13,000 feet that any really open country is found, the hill-sides of the lower and middle regions being almost without exception steep and wooded, except where cultivation has destroyed the forest. Warblers of the genera Phylloscopus, Reguloides, and Abrornis, mingled with several species of Paridce, are the most abundant birds in these pine-woods. The Blood-Pheasant (Ithaginis cruentata), Wood-Pigeon (Alsocomus hodgsoniee), and many Ruticilline birds, such as Ianthia, Tarsiger, and Ruticilla, are commonly seen. Finches of many genera, especially Propasser, Garpodacus, and |
