84 ALLEN'S naturalist's LIBRARY. 



birds, the larger forms approaching the Capercailzies {Tetrao- 

 gallus) in size, some males attaining a weight of six and a half 

 pounds. 



I. THE TIBETAN SNOW-COCK. TETRAOGALLUS 

 TIBETANUS. 



Tetraogalliis tibetanus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1853, p. 47; id. B. 



Asia, vii. pi. 32 (1853); Prjev. in Rowley's Orn. Misc. ii. 



p. 427 (1877) ; Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, 



i. P- 275, pi. (1878); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 



xxii. p. 104 (1893). 

 Adult Male and Female. — General colour above dark grey and 

 buff; below white, striped with black. Distinguished by having 

 no white on the basal half of the outer quills; chest white, divided 

 from the breast by a grey band. Bill orange-red ; feet coral-red 

 Total length, 20 inches; wing, io'8 ; tail, 6*2 ; tarsus, 2 "5. 



Range. — Tibet, ranging east to the Sauju Pass, Eastern 

 Turkestan; west to Moupin, north to Kansu and Koko-nor, 

 and south to the Himalayas. 



Habits. — In the Himalayas the Tibetan Snow-Cock (known 

 among the Kirghiz as "Utar") appears to be found at elevations 

 of from 15,000 to 19,000 feet, though in the more northern 

 parts of its range, such as Koko-nor, it is met with lower down. 

 The best account of this species is given by Prjevalsky : "Like 

 C. c/iJikar, this species is a quick and lively bird ; and its voice 

 can almost daily be heard (in north Tibet), at least in spring 

 and summer, in the midst of the wildest and most desolate 

 parts of the mountains. In the middle of the day, how- 

 ever, from about eleven to three o'clock, they do not call, 

 but usually rest ; in the morning they begin long before sun- 

 rise 



" In winter they keep in small flocks up to fifteen indivi- 

 duals ; and in April, or even earlier, they commence pairing. 



" The number of young belonging to a nest varies from 

 five to ten ; and we found young ones early in August. They 



