70 WANDERINGS OF A 



mid-day they are easily raised by beaters or dogs. The black, 

 unUke the gray partridge, never perches oa trees. On the 

 Himalayas, during the, cold months, the black resorts to the 

 dense brushwood at the bottom of valleys. The species is not 

 gregarious, and seldom more than a couple are seen together. 

 Its, flesh is pale and weU flavoured, but neither the black 

 partridge nor any of its Eastern congeners can compare in that 

 respect with the British bird. The accusation of being a foul 

 feeder, so objectionable in the case of its gray ally, may be 

 sometimes brought against this species, but I must vindicate 

 the red-leg or chukore {Gaccabis chukar) from such bad habits ; 

 it is a game bird in every sense. The black partridge com- 

 mences to pair about April in the Himalayas, but earlier in 

 the plains ; the young remain with their parents a long time, 

 and are not fit for shooting until the middle or end of October. 

 During the period of incubation the males can be heard 

 answering each other all over the district ; the call-note is harsh 

 and composed of four distinct sounds, following each other in 

 succession, and not unlike the words : " Whee whd whick <i- 

 •wMck," which it repeats at short intervals when perched on a 

 stone in bushy places. I doubt if this species would stand 

 the cold of Britain. I brought several from India, but all died 

 during wet and cold weather off the Cape of Good Hope. The 

 gray species is much hardier, and would doubtless thrive well 

 in our preserves at home. Both species are known to the 

 natives of India by the same appellatives, Tetur or Tetra. 



The barking deer, called by the natives "kakur," is 

 generally distributed over the lower and cultivated tracts of 

 the Himalayas, being seldom met with at elevations exceed- 

 ing from 8000 to 9000 feet above the level of the sea. The 

 prevailing colour is a reddish-brown above, white underneath, 

 inclining to ash on the inside of the legs of males, which have 



