122 
SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 
Mr. Hume first described this species, but afterwards, in the ‘ Game Birds of Indi&> 
he came to the conclusion that it was not separable from C. chukor, the Trans-Hhnalay 311 
range of which he gives as “ spread throughout the northern ranges, the so-called Karakoru® 
or Ivuen-luen, and right across Kashghar to the Tian Shan, throughout which it occurs* 
On reviewing the series procured by Dr. Stoliczka, however, the uniformly pale 
tint of 
the Central- Asian birds is very recognizable, and I think that it should he kept separ 
Mr. Ogilvie Grant tells me that he believes that a complete gradation in colour will be f° 1 " 1 ^ 
to exist between the Himalayan and the Yarkand Partridges, and he is inclined to regar 
two birds as climatic forms of the same species. 
Colonel Biddulpli sends us the following note: — “ I shot one in some jungle bet 
Kashghar and Maralbashi, and there were some also in the latter place, but they ai e 
very common in the Plains country. In all the Hills, however, south and west of Turkes ‘ 
up to, at any rate, 12,000 feet, they are very common. In the valley between Punjab a 
Sarhad in Wakhan they are specially abundant, and people hawk them.” . g 
Dr. Henderson states that in Yarkand this Partridge swarms (wherever the i ^ 
debouch into the plains) over a belt of country some ten or fifteen miles in width. H e 
an account of their mode of capture. , ^ 
“ Chicore appear to abound,” says Dr. Scully, “in all the hills which surround the P^ ^ 
of Kashgharia on the north, west, and south. In the winter the birds seem to come d°" , g 
lower elevations than they frequent in summer. The Turki name for the Chi° ore 
c Keklik.' ” . , oJJ 
Ten eggs of this species, out of one nest, were brought to Dr. Stoliczka at Beshte 
the 31st of May. 
Genus COTURNIX. 
79. COTURNIX COTURNIX. 
F. b- 
Coturnix communis , Bonn.; Hume & Henders. Lahore to Yark. p. 285 (1873); Scully, Str. , g 
p. 184 (1876) ; Blanf. East. Persia, ii. p. 278 (1876); Dresser, Ibis, 1876, p. 323; Prjev. in P° v 
Orn. Misc. ii. p. 424 (1877) ; Bidd. Ibis, 1881, p. 92 ; Scully, ibid. p. 586; Ilomeyer & Tan cie ’ 
orn. Ycr. Wien, 1883, p. 92; Scully, J. A. S. Beng. lvi. p. 87 (1887). 
Coturnix vulgaris, Severtz. Turkcst. Jevotn. p. 68 (1873). 
Ortygion coturnix, Raddc, Ornis, iii. p. 495 (1887) . 
No. 1271, 6 ■ Kashghar, January 25, 1874. — Bill dull pale bluish ; feet pale yell 0 "’ c 
violet ; iris hazel-brown. Length 81) inches, wing 45, tail 19, tarsus 1‘2. 
No. 1323. Kashghar, Eebruary 9, 1874. ^ e r 
Colonel Biddulph writes : — “We shot this Quail in the plains of Turkestan in ^° V ^,. lS on 
and January, and I heard them calling in May and June. We were told that at that s 
they were very abundant there.” Dr. Henderson procured a specimen on the 24th 0 
,h- 
tember at the Karatagh Lake (13,500 feet). 
of £ as 
Dr. Scully says : — “ The Quail seems to be a permanent resident in the plains ° ^j r d 
gharia; I got two birds at Yarkand in February, and the Shikaris were positive that ^ e \&S 
was to be met with throughout the winter. In summer the birds were common in the ' 
about Yarkand, though not very numerous. The Turki name for this species is ‘ & 
but the common people generally call it e Watwalak ” 
