2зб THE ^hailik: or 



enjoy the fleeting moments of warmth before they 

 should be overtaken by the next frost or snowfall. 



In the absence of summer birds, those we saw 

 most of in the upper alpine belts, besides jackdaws 

 and wall-climbers, were the great rock-partridge, 

 called by the Tangutans hailik {Alegaloperdix Tibet- 

 aniLs) and the snow-vulture {Gyps nivicola)} The 

 former is never seen in Mongolia, but is distributed 

 through the highlands of Kan-su, Koko-nor, and 

 Tibet. Its exclusive habitat is among- the wild crags 



о о 



and loose rock ddbi^is at an elevation never below 

 10,000 feet above the sea; the wilder the cliffs and 

 the more extensive the loose debris the better suited 

 are they to the rock partridge, which is equal in size 

 to the hen capercailzie. It pairs in spring, and 

 during the remainder of the year is found in coveys 

 or small flocks of ten to fifteen, never in large packs. 

 It is a blithesome bird and may be heard all day 

 long, enlivening the otherwise silent, weird rocks of 

 the alpine zone with its loud note, which resembles 

 the cluck of the hen accompanied by a long whistle 

 and sometimes by short abrupt sounds ; but these it 

 generally utters whilst on the wing. But this par- 

 tridge, like the gallinaceous tribe in general, is not 

 fond of flying. It is so swift a runner that it will elude 



' As we have stated in a note to Chapter III., this vuUure is identi- 

 cal with Gyps Himalayensis, described by Hume. (See Rough Notes, 

 p. 12.) The first specimen of this bird was sent to the zoological 

 museum of the Academy of Arts and Sciences at St. Petersburg, by 

 M. Carelin, from Alatau in the Semirechinsk division of the Russian 

 province of Turkestan ; see Severtsoffs Turkcstanskiya yivotniya^ 

 p. III.— M. 



