exist on chilly Yulduz; of snakes and lizards there are none, and only an occasional toad or frog may be caught near a marshy spring.
Early in June we crossed the Narat range, on the southern slopes of which the spring flora was more abundant than in Yulduz, and descended to the headwaters of the Tsanma. Here the climate and vegetation bore a totally different aspect: forests of spruce fir and thick grass two feet high clothed the valley and slopes of the mountains. Rain fell daily; the rich black soil was saturated with moisture like a sponge, and we found the same humidity in the neighbouring valley of the Kunges, only that in the latter, owing to its lower elevation, vegetation was even more advanced, and flowers more profuse.
Our herbarium received considerable accessions. On the other hand, contrary to our expectations, comparatively few nesting birds were found either on the Tsanma or Kunges, the cause probably being the extremely wild nature of the country, avoided by small birds[1] in particular. Now, too, clouds of gnats and flies made their appearance, from which there was no escape day or night.
- ↑ The most common on the Tsanma were Carpodacus erythrinus, Sylvia superciliosa, Cuculus canorus, Scolopax rusticola, and Turdus viscivorus in the forests; Crex pratensis, Sylvia cinerea, Salicaria sphenura? Pratincola indica in the meadowland. On the Kunges, besides those we have mentioned, must be added Scops zorca, Oriolus galbula, Columba œnas, Columba sp., Columba palumbus, Salicaria locustella, and others.
