LOPHOPHORINJS. 
large,  and  covered  by  a membrane,  with  the  opening  semicircular.  Wings  moderate  and  pointed,  with 
the  second  and  third  quills  the  longest.  Tail  ample  and  rounded.  Tarsi  rather  shorter  than  the  middle 
toe,  and  covered  in  front  with  broad  divided  scales.  Toes  long,  the  lateral  ones  united  to  the  middle 
one  and  nearly  equal,  the  hind  toe  very  short  and  hardly  elevated ; and  the  claws  moderate  and  curved. 
These  birds  are  peculiar  to  the  Himalayah,  Altai,  and  the  mountains  of  Persia,  and  are  only  found  on,  or  in  close 
proximity  to,  the  snowy  range,  where  they  are  extremely  difficult  to  procure.  They  are  said,  on  the  sight  of  a man,  to 
warn  the  goats,  &c.,  feeding  on  the  mountains,  of  their  danger,  by  a curious  whistling  note.  I have  been  further 
informed  that  they  feed  only  on  grass,  on  which  they  become  very  fat. 
T.caucasious  (Pall.)  Zoogr.  1.  76.  t.*  — Lophophorus  Nigellii  I Zool.pl.;  T.himalayensis  <3.  iZ.  Greij/y  Megaloperdix  altaica  GeWery 
Jard.  iSf  Selby,  111.  t.  76.  & 141. ; Tetraogallus  Nigellii  Gray,  Ind.  ' Chourtha  alpina  Motsch.  Bull,  de  la  Soc.  Imp.  Moscou,  1839.  t-  8. 
PuCRASIA.f 
Bill  short,  broader  at  the  base  than  high,  the  culmen  much  arched  to  the  tip,  which  curves  over  the 
lower  mandible;  the  sides  compressed  towards  the  tip,  the  lateral  margins  arched;  the  nostrils  small 
and  mostly  concealed  by  the  projecting  plumes  and  a membranous  covering.  Wings  moderate,  with  the 
fourth  quill  longest,  and  the  third  and  fifth  equal.  Tail  long,  and  much  wedge-shaped.  Tarsi  as  long 
as  the  middle  toe,  somewhat  slender,  and  covered  in  front  with  large  divided  scales.  Toes  lengthened, 
the  lateral  ones  united  at  the  base  to  the  middle  one  and  unequal,  the  hind  toes  short  and  elevated ; and 
the  claws  moderate  and  curved. 
This  species  is  peculiar  to  the  Himalayah  Mountains,  but  its  habits  and  manners  have  not  been  observed,  exceiDt  that 
it  is  the  swiftest  in  flight,  and  the  most  delicious  in  taste,  of  the  Himalayah  pheasants. 
P.  macrolopha  (Less.)  G.  R.  Gray,  Diet.  Sc.  Nat.  1818.  59.  p.  I96.  Gould’s  Cent,  of  Birds,  pi.  69,  70. ; Tragopan  Duvaucelii  Tenm. 
— Phasianus  Pucrasia  Gray,  An.  Kingd.  vii.  6IO.,  lU.  Ind.  Zool.  pi.,  PI.  col.  545. 
+ This  division  was  originally  established  under  the  generic  name  of  Eulophus,  by  M.  Lesson  (^Compl.  Buff.  viii.  354.),  in  1837 ; hut,  that 
word  having  been  previously  employed  in  Zoology,  I changed  it  to  the  above  in  1841. 
November,  1844. 
