406 PYRRHOCORAXPODOCES 



577. ALPINE CHOUGH. 

 PYRRHOCORAX ALPINUS. 



Pyrrhocorax alpinus, Vieill. N. Diet, vi. p. 568 (1816) ; Gould, B. of E. 

 iii. pi. 218 ; Dresser, iv. p. 445, pi. 251, fig. 2 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. iii. p. 148 ; Gates, F. Brit, Incl. Birds, i. p. 44 ; Corvvs 

 pyrrhorcorax, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 158 (1766) ; Naum. ii. p. 107, 

 Taf. 57, fig. 1. 



Ghoucas des Alpes, French : AlpenJcrake, Alpendohle y German ; 

 'Grajo, Span. ; Gracchio. Ital. 



J ad. (Switzerland). Glossy black with purple and bottle-green 

 reflections ; beak yellow with an orange tinge ; legs and feet vermilion- 

 red, soles blackish ; claws blackish horn ; iris brown. Culmen T2, wing 

 10'3, tail 6*0, tarsus 1/7 inch. Sexes alike. The young are brownish 

 black, beak yellowish at the base, otherwise blackish ; legs blackish 

 marked with red in the articulations. 



Hob. The mountains of Southern Europe from Spain to the 

 southern Ural ; rare in Portugal ; Asia Minor ; Palestine ; the 

 Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan ; is said to have occurred 

 in England. 



In habits it resembles the common Chough, but frequents 

 higher altitudes than that species and in the summer is found 

 up to 15,000 feet and even higher, but in the winter it descends 

 into the valleys but never frequents the sea-coast. Its flight 

 is swift and it frequently hovers or glides in circles with out- 

 stretched wings. It feeds on insects of various kinds, seeds, 

 berries, and grain. Its nest, which is placed in the fissure of 

 a rock, or amongst old ruins, is constructed of twigs, grasses, 

 and roots, lined with leaves, hair, and rootlets, and is large and 

 bulky. The eggs, 4 to 5 in number are deposited in April or 

 May, and resemble those of P. graculus but are smaller, averaging 

 about 1-48 by T05. 



PODOCES, Fischer, 1823. 



578. PANDER'S GROUND-CHOUGH. 



FODOCES PANDERI. 



Podoces panderi, Fischer, Mem. Sc. Imp. Nat. Mosc. vi. p. 251, pi. xxi. 

 (1823) ; Gould, B. of Asia, v. pi. 62 ; Dresser, ix. p. 239, pi. 685 ; 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mns. iii. p. 150 ; Cab. J.f.O. 1873, pi. iii. figs. 

 37, 38 (eggs) ; Newton, P.Z.S. 1897, p. 893, pi. li. fig. 10. (egg). 



Tchour-Tchour, Turki. 



