230 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



I have seen the young in May. The 

 principal food of the bird consisting of 

 the tops of the pine and juniper in spring, 

 and the berries of the latter in autumn 

 and winter, its flesh has always a very 

 strong flavour, and is, moreover, uncom- 

 monly tough ; it was, however, the only 

 bird I obtained at those great elevations 

 in tolerable abundance for food, and that 

 not very frequently. The Bhoteas say 

 that it acquires an additional spur every 

 year; certain it is that they are more 

 numerous than in any other bird, and that 

 they are not alike on both legs. I could 

 not discover the cause of this difference, 

 neither could I learn if they were produced 

 at different times. I believe that -five on 

 one leg, and four on the other, is the 

 greatest number I have observed." 



The eggs of this species are not known. 

 Those of an allied Chinese species are 

 thickly speckled with reddish brown. 



The male has the forehead, the space 

 between the eye and the bill, and a 

 broad circle round the eye black, the 

 latter intermingled with some crimson. 

 The crown of the head is buff and the 

 crest-feathers are grey, each feather with 

 a buff streak down the centre. The hind- 

 neck and the mantle are deep grey, each 



