300 The Fowl-like Birds 



species we may mention the Himalayan Snow Cock (T. himalayensis) , or Jer- 

 moonal, as it is known by certain of the native tribes where it dwells. It is a 

 striking bird, over twenty-five inches in length, gray and buff above and dark 

 gray below, with the fhroat and upper breast white separated by a chestnut 

 band, the breast white-barred, and it is further marked by a distinct patch of 

 chestnut on the sides of the nape. It occurs in the higher ranges of the Hima- 

 layas and the Altai Mountains, being, according to Wilson, "confined exclusively 

 to the snowy ranges, or the large spurs jutting from them, which are elevated 

 above the limits of the forest, but is driven by the snows of winter to perform one, 

 and in some places two, annual migrations to the middle regions; in summer 

 they are only seen near the limits of vegetation." It is further gathered from 

 Wilson that the Snow Cock is gregarious, congregating in packs sometimes to 

 the number of twenty or thirty, but, in general, not more than from five to ten. 

 They never enter the forests or jungle and even avoid spots where the grass is 

 long and where there is underwood of any kind. "When feeding, they would 

 walk slowly uphill, picking the tender blades of grass and young shoots of plants, 

 occasionally stopping to scratch up a certain bulbous root, of which they seem 

 very fond. When walking they erect their tails, have a rather ungainly gait, 

 and at a little distance have something the appearance of a large Gray Goose." 

 The nest is a slight depression in the ground near a rock or bush, and the eggs, 

 from five to nine or even eleven in number, are olive or brownish, spotted and 

 dotted with reddish. . 



Red-legged Partridges. Quite different are the Red-legged Partridges 

 (Caccabis), which to the number of eight or nine species range from western and 

 southern Europe to eastern Asia. They may be known by their small size, 

 which varies between twelve and sixteen inches, by the tail of fourteen feathers, 

 and more particularly by having the sides and flanks transversely barred, in 

 sharp contrast to the remainder of the lower plumage. One of the best-known 

 is the common Red-legged or French Partridge (C. rufa) of central and southern 

 Europe and the Canaries, where it is possibly introduced, as it was a century or 

 more ago in England. They frequent especially the edges of fields, hedgerows, 

 and grassy places, running with extreme rapidity and almost refusing to be 

 flushed ; but when they do rise, they fly straight and rapidly, and thus afford good 

 sport. As is often the case among game birds, they are extremely pugnacious 

 during the breeding season, fighting with other species as well as among them- 

 selves. The nest is the usual slight hollow scratched in the ground, and the eggs 

 are from ten to eighteen in number. 



Francolins. Passing over the little Seesee Partridges (Ammoperdix), the 

 three species of which are known from the last by their smaller size and twelve- 

 feathered tail, we come to the large genus of Francolins (Francolinus), of which 

 there are upwards of fifty forms, ranging over southern Europe and Asia and the 

 whole of Africa, being most abundant in the latter country. They have a tail 

 of fourteen feathers which is half, or a little more than half, the length of the 

 wing, while the feet are with or without one or more pairs of spurs ; the sexes are 

 usually similar in plumage, though in a few it is quite different. As it will be 



