232 



A VES ORDER GALL/FORMES. 



The 



Snow- Cocks. 

 Genus 



Tetraoyallus. 



the snow-line in summer, and is somewhat local in its distribution, inhabiting 

 rocky situations, where its plumage blends with its surroundings, and makes 

 the bird difficult to identify. It nests in the Himalayas at an elevation of 

 from 12,000 to 15,000 feet, and is very tame, probably on account of its 

 habitat being only reached by a most adventurous sportsman, whose visits 

 are few and far between. 



These large and handsome birds are readily distinguished by their large 

 size and by the number of their tail-feathers, which are 20 or 22 in 

 number. The snow-cocks, or snow-pheasants as they are 

 called (Tetraogallus), are the largest of the partridge-group, 

 and are only found in high ranges, from the mountains of 

 Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and Persia, to the Himalayas, 

 Turkestan, the Altai, and the higher hills of Moupin and 

 North- Western China. In the Himalayas, the snow-pheasant (T. himalayensis) 

 is an inhabitant of the snowy ranges, from which it only migrates to some- 

 what lower altitudes on the approach of the winter sno\V. These birds are 

 generally found in packs of from five to ten, but sometimes twenty or thirty 

 are in a single flock ; and even during the nesting-season a good many are 

 found in company. Snow-pheasants are birds of the open, rocky hill-country, 

 frequenting grass-lands, and never entering the forest or perching on trees. 

 They are, therefore, evidently gigantic partridges in their ways, and it is a 

 mistake to call them snow-" pheasants,'' as is so often done. 



The red-legged partridges differ from the true partridges in having only 

 14 feathers in the tail. They are also easily recognisable by the beautiful 

 barring of red, grey, and black of the sides of the 

 body. The most familiar of all the group is the red- 

 legged partridge of England (Catcalls rufa), which is 

 confined to South-Western and Western Europe. In 

 North- West Africa, Sardinia, and Southern Spain 

 it has a near ally in the Barbary red-legged partridge 

 (C. petrosa), while the rock red-legged partridge (C. 

 saxatilis) takes its place in the mountains of Southern 

 Europe, from the Pyrenees to the Balkans. A paler 

 form, known as the Chukar or Greek partridge (C. 

 chukar), extends from Greece through Central Asia to 

 China, and is a well-known bird in the Himalayas. 

 In Tibet and Kokonoor a large species, Prjevalskfs 

 red-legged partridge (Caccabis mayna), is met with ; 

 but the largest of all is the black-headed red-legged 

 partridge (C. melanocephala\ which lives in Southern 

 Arabia, and is a very fine bird, approaching even 

 some members of the genus Tetraogallus in size. The 

 distribution of these species of Caccabis is most interesting, and there is no 

 doubt that climate exercises considerable influence on their plumage, those 

 which inhabit dry and sandy localities being paler than those of the more 

 cultivated country. This is especially true of the chukars ; but considerable 

 variation in tint is also seen in the common red-leg from different areas. The 



Fig. 8 THE RED- 



LGGED PARTKIDOJ 



(Caccabis rufa). 



chukars inhabit dry and stony situations, and never go into the forests, pre- 

 ferring in the Lower Himalayas the grassy hill-sides to the cultivated fields. 

 In summer they are met with in pairs, or in small parties ; but in winter 

 they assemble in loose, scattered flocks, sometimes to the number of forty or 

 fifty, or even a hundred. 



