THE JER-MOONAL, OR SXOJV PARTRIDGE. 147 



nearly all which at other seasons frequent this part, retire across the snow into Chinese Tartary 

 to breed. About the beginning of September they are first seen near the tops of the higher 

 grassy ridges jutting from the snow and the green slopes above and about the limits of the forest. 

 After the first general and severe fall of snow they come down in numbers on to some of the bare 

 exposed hills in the forest regions, and remain there till the end of March. This partial migration, 

 is probably made in the night after the fall of snow, as I have invariably found them in their 

 winter quarters early the next morning. It requires a deep fall to drive them down, and in some 

 mild winters, except a few odd birds, they do not come at all. The birds on each respective hill 

 seem to have a particular spot for their winter resort, to which they return every year the migra- 

 tion is made. 



" The Snow Partridge is gregarious, congregating in packs, sometimes to the number of twenty 

 or thirty, but in general not more than five to ten, several packs inhabiting the same hill. In 

 summer the few which remain on our side are found in single pairs generally, but across the snow, 

 when the great body migrate, I almost always, even then, found several together. They seldom 

 leave the hill on which they are located, biit fly backwards and forwards when disturbed. 

 The Ring-tailed Eagle is an inveterate annoyer of these birds. Inhabiting such exposed situations, 

 where there is nothing to conceal so large a bird from his sight as he sails along the hill-side 

 above them, they at once arrest his attention, and are driven backwards and forwards by this unre- 

 lenting tormentor, all day long. On the appearance of one of these birds which, fortunately for 

 them, are not very numerous they seldom wait till he makes a swoop, but on his making a wheel 

 near the spot where they are, immediately fly off to another quarter on the hill. The Eagle never 

 flies after or attacks them on the wing ; so that, though he allows them little quietude while near 

 their resort, he only occasionally succeeds in securing one. 



" The Jer-Moonal never enters forest or jungle, and avoids spots where the grass is long, or 

 where there is underwood of any kind. It is needless to add that it never perches. During the 

 day, if the weather be fine and warm, they sit on the rocks or rugged parts of the hill, without 

 moving much about, except in the morning and evening. When cold and cloudy, and in rainy 

 weather, they are very brisk, and are moving about and feeding all day long. When feeding they 

 walk slowly up-hill, picking up the tender blades of grass and young shoots of plants, occasionally 

 stopping to snatch up a certain bulbous root of which they seem very fond. If they reach the 

 summit of the hill, after remaining stationary some time, they fly off to another quarter, alighting 

 some distance down, and again picking their way upwards. When walking they erect their tails, 

 have a rather ungainly gait, and at a little distance have something the appearance of a large grey 

 goose. They are partial to feeding on spots where the sheep have been kept at nights when grazing 

 in the summer pastures. These places have been called ' tatters ' by the shepherds, and the grass on 

 them keeps green and fresh long after the rest of the hill is quite dry and brown. They roost on 

 the rocks and shelves of precipices, and return to one spot many successive nights. 



" The Jer-Moonal is not remarkably wild or shy. When approached from below, on a person 

 getting within eighty or a hundred yards, it moves slowly up-hill or slanting across, often turning 

 to look back, and does not go very far unless followed. If approached from above, it flies off at 

 once, without walking many yards from the spot. It seldom in any situation walks far down hill, 

 and never runs, except for a few yards when about to take wing. The whole flock get up together ; 

 the flight is rapid, downwards at first, and then curving so as to alight nearly on the same level. 

 Where the hill is open and of great extent, it is often for upwards of a mile, at a considerable 

 height in the air ; when more circumscribed, as is often the case on the hills they frequent in the 

 winter, it is of shorter duration perhaps merely across or into the next ridge. 



" They feed on the leaves of plants and grass, and occasionally on moss, roots, and flowers 

 grass forms by far the greater portion. They are very partial to the young blades of wheat and 

 barley when it is first springing up, and while it remains short ; and should there be an isolated 

 patch on the hill where they are, visit it regularly night and morning. They never, however, come 

 into what may be called the regular cultivation. They are generally exorbitantly fat, but the 

 flesh is not particularly good, and it has often an unpleasant flavour when the bird is killed at a 

 high elevation, probably owing to some of the plants it there feeds upon. Though I have spent many 



