THE MOUNTAIN QUAIL. 107 



"Two or three coveys came in November 1867, and some 

 remained as late as June 1868, when this present specimen was 

 shot. They have not been seen since, and I never saw them 

 before. 



" They frequented tall seed-grass, on which they fed, were 

 very difficult to put up, and dropped again very quickly, and all 

 ours were, I think, shot on the ground. They thread in and out 

 between the grass stalks very quickly, and once there, it is im- 

 possible to get them out without dogs. They utter a low 

 chirping and pleasant cry to each other when feeding, but a 

 much louder note, a sort of whistle, when alarmed and flushed." 



Major Carwithen writes : — 



K I shot this specimen" (a female) " on the eastern slopes of 

 Sher-ka-danda in December 1876. I was beating the slopes 

 for Cheer Pheasant, when my dog put up a brace of these birds. 

 One I killed, the other I only feathered, but it appeared to me, 

 when flying, of a darker plumage than the one forwarded. The 

 height above sea level of the ground where I found these birds 

 was about 7,000 feet ; the ground was very steep, with patches 

 of brush-wood here and there, in fact, just the ground for Cheer." 



Between these notes we gather that these birds are winter 

 migrants, some occasionally remaining till the beginning of sum- 

 mer. They keep habitually in coveys of six to ten, though 

 single pairs may be met with. They frequent grass jungle and 

 brush-wood, cling pertinaciously to cover, and are scarcely to be 

 flushed without dogs, fly slowly and heavily, and soon drop 

 again, Quail-like, into cover. They feed on grass seeds (and 

 probably insects and berries), and when feeding, call to each other 

 with a low short Quail-like note, their alarm note and call 

 when separated being a shrill whistle. Their range in the 

 Himalayas in winter is probably from about five to eight thou- 

 sand feet. 



Nothing is known of their nidification. 



Captain Hutton furnished me with the following dimensions 

 of a male : — 



Length, 9-38 ; wing, 3-5 ; tail, 3*0 ; bill from gape, 075. But 

 a perfectly adult pair measure in the skin :— 



Length. Wing. Tail from vent. Tarsus. Bill from gape. 



S 10 3'6 3'3 IO °'5 8 



? 9/9 3-5 32 °'9 0< 55 



Hutton says :«— 



Male.— Bill coral red ; legs and feet dull red or dusky red. 

 Female.— Bill dusky red, lower mandible brightest ; legs dull 

 red ; eyelids black, with a small white spot at the corners. 



