PHOTOGRAVURE Ia 



WINTER HOME OF THE NEPAL HIMALAYAN BLOOD PARTRIDGE 



In the Eastern Himalayas the limit of perpetual snow is at sixteen thousand feet, and in winter the 

 storms rush down from the crests and sweep everything before them to tree level. Even the hardy 

 blood Partridges have to retreat and seek shelter and food several thousand feet lower down. Here the 

 great pines and spruces defy the elements, rearing their sturdy gnarled trunks and spreading wide their 

 scraggy branches. Between their trunks extend dense masses of stunted rhododendrons, and among 

 these the Blood Partridges spend the long winter days. From the pines come the voices of titmice and 

 nuthatches and creepers, and now and then the shadow of a passing vulture cuts through the icy air. 

 Only lonely Nepal shepherds ever visit these slopes. It matters not to the birds that farther down in 

 the valley there is warmth and insect life. There too are safe roosting places. The Blood Partridges 

 will have none of these, but cling to the edge of the tree-line, ever ready to work upward at the first 

 hint of spring. 



