68 GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, 



Gen. Lerwa, Hodgson. 



Syn. Tilraoperdix, Hodgson. 



Char. — Bill stout, short ; orbits plumed throughout ; wing mo- 

 derately long, pointed, of great expanse, the 2nd quill longest ; 

 tail of fourteen feathers, rather long and strong ; tarsi feathered 

 a short way down. Male with short spurs. 



This genus, composed of a single species peculiar to the 

 Himalayas, combines the colors of a Grouse with the naked leg 

 of a Partridge. Gould says that it assimilates in a nearly equal 

 degree to a Grouse, Francolin, and Partridge. 



19. Lerwa nivicola, Hodgson. 



Madras Journ. Lit. 1837— Perdix Lerwa, Hodgson P. Z. S. 

 1833— Hardwicke 111. Ind. Zool. 2 pi. 44 f. 1— Gould, Birds 

 of Asia, pt. VII., pi. 8 — Lerwa in Nepal, Qiwir-monal \ or Koor- 

 monal — Also Gulahi — and Jer-titar, i. e. Snow Partridge, in vari- 

 ous hill dialects — Bliyr or Bliair at Simla — Jancjuriya in Kumaon. 



The Snow Partridge. 



Bescr. — Head, neck, and the whole plumage, with the wings and 

 tail minutely barred with black and greyish or bufFy white, more 

 grey on the head, neck, rump and upper tail-coverts, and tinged 

 with chesnut on the sides of the neck, shoulder and wing-coverts ; 

 quills dusky brown, narrowly freckled with bufFy white on their 

 outer edges ; the secondaries broadly tipped with white ; tail dusky 

 with speckled bars of grey and rufous, and the feathers black 

 shafted ; beneath, the chin is greyish ; the throat, breast, and upper 

 part of the abdomen deep chesnut red, with dashes of buff or 

 whitish on many of the feathers, especially on the flanks ; lower 

 abdomen, vent, and thigh-coverts barred like the upper part, 

 but with a tinge of rufous ; lower tail-coverts chesnut-red, with 

 bufFy white tips. 



Bill bright red ; irides dark brown ; legs and feet red. Length 

 15 to 1G inches; extent 24 ; wing 8 ; tail 4 ; tarsus 1|« Weight 

 18 oz. 



The female is a trifle smaller than the male, and wants the spurs, 

 but does not otherwise differ. 



