Snow Partridges and Snow Cocks 299 



billed Partridges (Odontophorus), of which nearly twenty species are known, 

 mainly of Central America and northern South America, with a few extending 

 into southern Mexico. Several are so rare that but one sex is known, and as 

 might be supposed, but little has been ascertained regarding their habits. 



The Old World Partridges, Francolins, and Quails (Perdicind) constitute 

 a large group of some twenty-five genera and one hundred and fifty species. 

 As already pointed out, they differ quite sharply from the American Partridges 

 and Quails in the absence of serrations on the cutting edge of the lower mandible ; 

 but on the other hand, the line between them and the Pheasants is at best only 

 an artificial one, since such forms as the Bamboo Partridges (Bambusicola), 

 the Indian Spur Fowl (Galloperdix), the African Spur Fowl (Ptilopachys), etc., 

 present undoubted gradations that make it difficult to decide where they belong. 

 Although acknowledged to be a somewhat artificial character, the shape of the 

 wing is mostly relied upon to separate them, having the first quill equal to or 

 longer than the tenth in the Perdicina, and generally much shorter than the 

 tenth in the Pheasants; but there are some exceptions to both and the length 

 of the tail is introduced as a deciding factor, this being short hi the first group 

 and more or less elongated in the second. 



Snow Partridges, Pheasant- Grouse, and Snow Cocks. The first of these 

 that we may consider are the Snow Partridges and Snow Cocks of western 

 Asia. In the Snow Partridge (Lerwa lerwa), which is about fourteen inches 

 long, the sexes are similar in plumage, being black narrowly barred with 

 whitish above, and mostly rich chestnut below, while the bill and feet are 

 red. They are found in the higher ranges of the Himalayas and some 

 portions of China, frequenting the more rugged, rocky portions at elevations 

 between 10,000 and 15,000 feet, remaining near the snow in summer, but 

 coming somewhat lower in winter or after severe snowstorms. They appear 

 to be very tame and are reluctant to take wing, and when doing so only fly 

 for short distances. They feed, it is said, on moss, grasses, and seeds, and 

 are highly esteemed for their flesh although not often shot, "as those sportsmen 

 who traverse its lonely haunts are generally in search of larger game." But little 

 is known of their nesting habits beyond the fact that the eggs are large and 

 "dull white, freckled all over with reddish brown." Closely allied but differing 

 in larger size and in having a tail of eighteen instead of fourteen feathers, and 

 the feathering on the tarsi scarcely extending below the joint, are the so-called 

 Pheasant-Grouse (Telraophasis], of which only two species are known, both 

 confined to the higher parts of the mountains of Tibet and western China. They 

 are seventeen or eighteen inches long, mostly dull olive-brown above, and gray 

 spotted with black below. They are very rare, at least in collections, and but 

 little is known of their habits. Very much larger than these, in fact the largest 

 of the group, are the great Snow Cocks (Tetraogallus), of which eight species 

 are now recognized, all of the higher mountains of Asia, from Asia Minor and the 

 Caucasus to western China, the Altai Mountains, and the Himalayas. They 

 inhabit such generally inaccessible places, often at elevations between 15,000 

 and 19,000 feet, that comparatively little is known of their habits. Of the several 



