TETRAOPHASIS 687 



Cundeck, Tangut. 



$ ad. (Kan-su). Crown and sides of head dark grey, the former with 

 dark shaft-stripes ; neck and upper parts wood-brown with a few dark 

 spots, the wing-coverts and secondaries with broad grey-white terminal 

 margins ; lower back, rump, and tail-coverts greyish brown, the last with 

 pale tips ; quills brown ; middle tail-feathers greyish brown, vermiculated 

 with dark brown, the rest blackish brown broadly tipped with white ; 

 chin and fiont of throat rich chestnut ; breast pale slate-grey with blackish 

 spots ; rest of under parts brownish grey broadly tipped with pale is- 

 abelline ; under tail -coverts warm chestnut, tipped with white ; tarsi 

 spurred. Culmen 1'45, wing 8'5, tail 6'3, tarsus 2'1 inch. Female similar 

 but without spurs. 



Nab. Eastern Tibet, Koko-nor, Kan-su, east to Szechuen. 



Inhabits the central mountain ranges where these are wooded, 

 and bush-covered rocks and ravines. Its note resembles that 

 of Crossoptilum auritum but is more varied and prolonged. In 

 the pairing season and also when surprised, it erects the tail 

 spreading it out fan-like, and droops the wings. The pairing 

 season commences in March, and the nest is said to be placed 

 on the ground under thick bushes, and constructed of grass, 

 and the eggs, which are deposited late in April, are yellowish 

 grey or dirty grey spotted with brown, the spots being most 

 numerous at the smaller end, and measure about 1*9 by T48 

 to 2-3 by 1-53. 



961. TIBETAN PHEASANT. 

 TETRAOPHASIS SZECHENII. 



Tetraophasis szecJienyii, Madarasz, Zeitech. Ges. Orn. ii. p. 50 pi. ii. 

 (1885) ; Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxii. p. 103 ; T. dcsgodinsi, 

 Oustal. Le Nat. 1886, p. 276. 



< ad. (Tibet). Differs from T. obscurus in having the chin, throat, and 

 fore neck pale fawn instead of chestnut, the upper parts much greyer, and 

 the middle of the breast and abdomen marked with rufous buff and chest- 

 nut like the flanks. Culmen 1'42, wing 87, tail 67, tarsus T9 inch. 



Hob. The mountains of Central Tibet, north to the Sok Pass, 

 south to Yer-ka-lo, Mekong River, and east to Fa-tsien-lou. 



Respecting the habits and nidification of this species I find 

 nothing on record. 



