TETRAOGALLUS. 143 



barred with dull chestnut, and with the tips of the feathers vermi- 

 culated with black ; lower abdomen and under tail-coverts buff. 



Sexes alike. 



In a young bird the plumage is brown, blackish on the crown 

 and scapulars, pale below 7 , the feathers with buffy-white bars and 

 shaft-stripes almost throughout the upper parts and on the breast. 



Bill and legs horn-green ; orbital skin reddish (Hodgson). 



Length about 12; tail 3-6; wing 6*3; tarsus 1*7; bill from 

 gape -8. 



Distribution. The Tibetan plateau north of Sikhim and Nepal 

 and as far west as Hanle, but not so far as Ladak, at 14,000-18,000 

 feet elevation. A specimen was once obtained by Mr. Wilson iii 

 the Bbagirathi valley, just south of the Snowy Range, but the 

 statement in the British Museum Catalogue that this bird has 

 been found at Darjeeling is due to an erroneous label. The 

 Partridge from Kansu, east of Tibet, distinguished by Prjevalski 

 and Ogilvie Grant as P. sifanica, wants the black patch on the 

 breast. 



Habits, fyc. Probably very similar to those of the common 

 European Partridge, the call, according to Hume, being nearly 

 the same. Ten fresh eggs of a pale drab colour were found by 

 Major Barnes on July 12th near the Pangong Lake ; one of these 

 measured 1-77 by 1'2. 



Genus TETRAOGALLUS, Gray, 1833. 



The Snow r -Cocks are fine birds, much exceeding all the true 

 Partridges in size. Six species are known, all confined to the 

 higher ranges of Central and Western Asia, and of these two are 

 found in the Himalayas. The tarsus is not feathered except quite 

 at the base ; that of the male is armed with a stout spur. A naked 

 elongate space extends behind the eye. The tail, of 20 to 22 

 feathers, is much rounded at the end and nearly J the length of 

 the wing ; 2nd primary longest, 1st a little shorter. Sexes alike 

 in plumage or differing slightly. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Lower breast and abdomen dark grey T. himalayemis, p. 143. 



b. Lower breast and abdomen white with black 



streaks , T. tibetanus, p. 144. 



1378. Tetraogallus himalayensis. The Himalayan Snow-Cock. 



Tetraogallns hima.layensis, G. R. Gray, P. Z. S. 1842, p. 105 ; BJyth, 

 Cat. p. 248 ; Adams, P. Z. 8. 1858, p. 501 ; Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 549 ; 

 Stoliczka, J. A. 8. B. xxxvii, pt. 2, p. 68 ; Hume 8f Marsh. Game 

 B. i, p. *267, pi. ; iii, p. 433, pi. iii (egg; ; Hume, Cat. no. 816; 

 Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 93 ; Scully, ibid. p. 586 ; C. H. T. Marshall, 

 Ibis, 1884, p. 423; Marshall, Fairbrother, # Bruce, S. F ix. 

 p. 207 ; Gates in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 426 ; Sharpe, 

 Yarkand Miss., Arcs, p. 123, pi. xv ; Oyilrie Grant, Cat. B. M f 

 xxii, p. 106. 



