884 THE BIEDS OF MONGOLIA ETC, 



the bird does not trust to that when in danger, but tries to escape by flighty 

 rising before one can get within gunshot, and very seldom ahghts again in 

 the immediate neighbourhood. Falco hendersoni is the only raptor that per- 

 secutes them ; but even he cannot always catch them, as they are very quick. 

 We observed some specimens of T. paradoxus about Koko-nor and 

 Tsaidam, but never in Kan-su or Northern Tibet. 



193. Syrrhaptes thibetanus, Gould. Stepnaya huritza Tihetshaya, 



Gould^ Birds of Asia^ part ii. pi. 



We met with this Grouse at first in the Koko-nor steppes in autumn, 

 usually in small flocks of from ten to thirty, but never saw such large 

 numbers as of the preceding species, although we met with some flocks of 

 about a hundred together in Northern Tibet. 



At Koko-nor we usually found these birds on the sandy plains of the 

 river Buchin-gol, feeding on the seeds of difi^erent grasses and beans. 

 When eating they allow one to approach very close, and, even when shot at, 

 fly seldom above a hundred yards before they go down again ; and once I 

 killed not less than twenty-two of this species in the course of half an hour. 

 Sometimes, however, I found them rather shy. 



When flying they often utter their note, sounding something like " caga^ 

 caga^ caga^'' and do not call on the ground. Their run is clumsy and slow, 

 like that of S. paradoxus ; and when moving they usually form a line side by 

 side, and seldom flock. 



We did not find them in Tsaidam, but obtained specimens in Northern 

 Tibet, and there noticed their call at night when they were flying about the 

 steppes. I cannot at all account for this strange behaviour, as, even if the 

 flock was once flushed by a wild animal, it cannot have occurred so 

 frequently, especially as the species is rather scarce in Northern Tibet. 



The Koko-nor basin forms the northern and probably also the eastern 

 limit of its geographical distribution. 



