SOMH NOTES OjS' BIRDS FROM GYA.NT8E IN TIBET. 179 



where Burhel or Ovis ammon are also to be found, and it was 

 seldom worthwhile to disturb the larger game by firing at Snow 

 Cock. 



Tibetan Partridge (PERDIX IIODGSONI^^). Tib.—'^Rhahpa:' 



The Tibetan Partridge is common at Gyantse, and I have also 

 seen it at Dotha and Kambu in the Ohu.mbi Valley, just above tree 

 level. I have taken nests near Gyantse in June, July and the 

 beginning of August. Two good days ? partridge shooting for two 

 guns near Gyantse yielded 48 partridges and 25 hares {Leinis 

 oiostolus) and 43 partridges and 34 hares respectively. I have seen 

 them at various altitudes between 13,000 and 15,000 feet. 



Tibetan Sandgrouse {8YBHAPTE8 TIBETANV8). Tib.— 

 " Ka ha ling ma " or " Ka lea li."' 



These birds may be seen in flocks of from 10 to 20 anywhere 

 north of the Tangla from August to February, and I have once 

 seen them in May. They appear to have no special hour for 

 drinking, and are not at all shy, so it is possible to walk up to 

 within gunshot distance when they are feeding on the bare 

 plains. On being fired at the flock will fly only a hundred 

 yards or so, and will allow another shot to be taken in the same 

 manner. In this way a flock could easily be exterminated, as 

 they do not]seem to get any wilder, I have seen them at Kamba- 

 jong and at various places in the Bramaputra Valley, west of 

 Shigatse. I made every efibrt to get the eggs of this bird, but 

 without success. 



Himalayan Solitary Snipe {GALLINAGO SOLITABIA). 



I have never been able to find a Tibetan name for a snipe, beyond 

 the ordinary word " Chubja" which refers to duck and other water 

 birds. One man told me that snipe were the young of cranes ! 

 The solitary snipe is only seen in winter between the months of 

 September and February. I once shot one at Gyantse on 28th 

 March, biit this must have been a straggler. Occasionally they 

 have been shot in the Ohumbi Valley. They lie very close and 

 may sometimes be seen sitting in the mud before they I'ise. 

 Their flight is usually shorter than that of the Fantail or 

 Pintail. I killed 12 in one d&j, in December, at Samoda, 

 one of the stages on the road to Gyantse. The earliest bird 



