352 BRITISH BIRDS. 



He has made a mistake in supposing that the birds which were 

 sold in the Leadenhall Market were P. hagenbecki. They 

 were, as Mr. Buturlin informs us, P. alpherakyi, and came 

 from Kharbin near the Siberian railway, which does not pass 

 anywhere near the Kobdo Valley, in the Southern Altai, the 

 home of P. hagenbecki. This error was no doubt partly due 

 to Mr. Tegetmeier, who took it for granted that the Leadenhall 

 birds were P. hagenbecki, and he, like Mr. Millais, had never 

 seen the type-specimen at Tring. The mistake had, however, 

 been corrected by Mr. Buturlin in 1904. 

 i That the various species of Pheasant should interbreed 

 where their different geographical ranges meet is not surprising. 

 The Blackcock crosses with the Capercaillie, the Willow- 

 Grouse, the Red Grouse and the Hazel-Hen, which belong 

 to different genera, but even Mr. Millais does not suggest 

 that for this reason they are to be regarded as sub-species of 

 one another. 



It is disappointing to find that no mention whatever is 

 made of the Red-legged Partridge in its first plumage, which 

 is so remarkable that young birds shot in early September 

 are constantly supposed to be hybrids between that species 

 and the Common Partridge. I have them sent or brought 

 to me' nearly every year as such. 



Lastly, the bird figured as the female of the Quail is not 

 that species, but the red-throated " Cape Quail," a smaller 

 resident bird met with in South Africa and in some of the 

 islands off the African coast. Both this and the common 

 species occur in the Azores, and are easily distinguished when 

 on the wing. Typical examples of the Common Quail have 

 the cheeks and throat white, with the black anchor-shaped 

 mark well developed. 



W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. 

 British Museum (Natural History), 

 Cromwell Road, S.W. 



January 22nd, 1910. 



