36 GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Bill brownish black at the tip, red at the base ; orbits bright red ; 

 i rides brown ; legs and feet coral red. Length 16 to 17 inches ; 

 wing 8J ; tail 6J ; tarsus 2|, with three, four or five short 

 spurs. 



The female has the forehead, cheeks and chin, bright rusty 

 yellow ; the upper parts ferruginous brown, mottled very finely 

 with blackish ; the first primaries plain dark brown ; the others 

 and the tail dark brown, freckled like the back ; lower parts some- 

 what brighter ferruginous brown than above ; the under tail-coverts 

 and vent mottled with brown. 



This beautiful bird has only hitherto been found in the South- 

 east Himalayas, in Nepal and Sikim, and apparently not common 

 in the former country. It appears more abundant in Sikim, in 

 the interior, for it is not found in British Sikim, and probably 

 extends into the Bootan Himalayas. The following remarks are by 

 Dr. Hooker, who had the opportunity of observing it in Sikim. 



" This, the boldest of the Alpine birds of its kind, frequents the 

 mountain ranges of Eastern Nepal and Sikim, at an elevation 

 varying from 10,000 to 14,000 feet, and is very abundant in many 

 of the valleys among the forests of Pine, (Abies Webbiana) and 

 Juniper. It seldom or ever crows, but emits a weak cackling 

 noise. When put up, it takes a very short flight and then runs to 

 shelter. During winter it appears to burrow under or in holes 

 amongst the snow, for I have snared it in January in regions 

 thickly covered with snow at an altitude of 12,000 feet. I have 

 seen the young in May. The principal food of the bird consisting 

 of the tops of the Pine and Juniper in spring, and the berries of 

 the latter in autumn and winter, its flesh has always a very strong 

 flavour, and is moreover uncommonly tough ; it was, however, 

 the only bird I obtained at those great elevations in tolerable 

 abundance for food, and that not very frequently. The Bhoteas 

 say that it acquires an additional spur every year ; certain it is 

 that they are more numerous than in any other bird, and that they 

 are not alike on both legs. I could not discover the cause of 

 this difference, neither could I learn if they were produced at 

 different times. I believe that five on one leg, and four on the 

 other, is the greatest number I have observed.'' 



