204 CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



it feeds during the winter montlis. In autumn it grows very fat, and its flesh resembles that of the 

 Common Partridge. In the crop of this galhnaceous bird I have found a quantity of sand and small 

 stones, mi.xed with all kinds of seeds of Alpine plants." 



The following passage in Layard's " Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon " seems 

 also to refer to this species : — " A covey of large birds sailed witli a rapid swoop, with the whistling 

 sound peculiar to the Partridge kind, from an opposite height, and alighted within a few yards of me. 

 They were the Kabk-i-dard, or the Fiir-kak-lik, as they are called by the Turks, a gigantic Partridge, 

 almost the size of a small Turkey, only found in the highest regions of Armenia and Kurdistan." 



Prince Charles Bonaparte thought that there was some reason for believing that this species exists 

 on the confines of Europe, and a correspondent of Mr. Gould's observed it among the mountains of 

 Candia, where it was excessively rare, and only to be seen on the peaks of the hills. 



In the Zoological Gardens, London, two specimens were received, one in 1842, and another about 

 1852, both of which lived there for several years. 



TPIE HIMALAYAN SNOW COCK, OR SNOW PHEASANT. 



The Himalayan Snow Cock, or Snow Pheasant (Tdraogallus Himalayensis), is grey upon the 

 top of the head, cheeks, and nape. The feathers on the back are of a reddish grey, delicately spotted 

 with black, and streaked with deep reddish bro^vn. The chin, nape, throat, and lower breast are 

 whitish. The upper breast is greyish white, decorated with crescent-shaped black spots. The rest of 

 the feathers are grey, sprinkled with brown, and marked with two brown spots. The sides are paler 

 than the mantle, and the lower covers almost white ; the tarsi are dark grey. The eye is surrounded 

 by two brown lines, which unite at the sides of the neck. The primary quills are white, their grey tips 

 spotted with bro^vn. The taU-feafhers are of a reddish shade, spotted with black on the outer and grey 

 on the inner web. The eye is deep brown, the bare patch behind it yellow, the beak pale horn-grey, 

 and the foot yellowish red. The male is t\venty-nine inches long, and forty broad ; the wing measures 

 thirteen, and the tail eight inches. The female does not exceed twenty-four inches in length. 



" These fine birds," we learn from Hutton, " are common in the Hazara Mountains, and are called 

 by the Affghans Kank-i-durra, or the Partridge of the Ghats. They are sometimes sold in the markets 

 of Cabool and Candahar. They rise," he tells us, " in coveys of from ten to twenty, and usually have 

 a sentry perched on some neighbouring rock, to give warning of danger by a low and musical whistle." 



The Tetraogallus Himalayensis " is confined," says " Mountaineer," " exclusively to the snowy 

 mountain ranges, or the large spurs jutting from them which are elevated above the limits of forest, but 

 is driven in winter to perform one, and in some places two, annual migrations to the middle regions. In 

 summer it is only seen near the limits of vegetation. In Kunawur it is common at all seasons, from 

 Cheenee upwards ; but on the Gangetic hills, from June till August, however much a person wanders 

 about on the highest accessible places, but few are met with, and I have no doubt whatever but that 

 nearly all such as at other seasons frequent this part retire across the snow into Chinese Tartary to 

 breed. About the beginning of September these birds are first seen near the tops of the higher grassy 

 ridges jutting from the snow, and the green slopes above and about the limits of forests. After the first 

 general and severe fall of snow they come down in numbers on to some of the bare exposed hills in the 

 forest regions, and remain there till the end of March. This partial migration is probably made in the 

 night after the fall of snow, as I have invariably found them in their winter quarters early next morning. 

 It requires a deep fall of snow to drive them down, and in some mild winters, except a few odd 

 birds, they do not come at all. The birds on each respective hill seem to have a particular spot for 

 their winter resort, which they return to every year the migration is made. The Snow Pheasant is 

 gregarious, congregating in packs, sometimes to the number of twenty or thirty, but in general not 



