SNOW PARTRIDGES. 217 



chamois, but on both occasions well out of 

 rano-e. Wherever we climbed the rocks were 

 covered with the droppmgs of chamois and 

 ibex, and we constantly heard the long whistle 

 and saw the strong grouse-like flight of those 

 splendid birds, the Caucasian snow partridges 

 (Tetrao Caucasicus), which abound through- 

 out the peaks round Lapur, and in all the 

 mountain range of Svanetia and Daghestan, 

 Wherever the mountams are most bleak, 

 destitute of all herbage, and the crumbling 

 slopes are most patched with snow, the long 

 wild whistle of these birds used to attract our 

 attention. Their colour makes them hard to 

 distinguish amongst the grey rocks which 

 form their home, and even when you have 

 seen them alight it is by no means easy to 

 keep your eye on them, as they run and 

 crouch like French partridges amongst the 

 stones. 



Once I came upon an old cock going 



