Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/332

260 The most remarkable of the native birds of the Ala-shan mountains is the long-eared pheasant {Cross- optilon aitriiwn), called by the Mongols kara-takia, i.e. black hen. It belongs to a peculiar species, dis- tinguished from other pheasants by a bunch of long feathers in the back of the head, like the ears of an owl ; the kara-takia is much larger than the common pheasant, has strong legs, and a large roof-shaped tail, the four central feathers of which are long and pennated. The general colour of the plumage is leaden blue ; the feathers of the tail are white near the root, turning to steel colour at the ends. The long ear feathers and throat are white ; the bare skin on the cheeks and the legs red. The plumage of the hen bird is exactly similar to that of the male. The long-eared pheasants keep in small coveys in autumn, of about four to ten birds in each, in coniferous and deciduous forests. The Mongols said that formerly there were many more of these birds in the Ala-shan mountains ; but in the snowy winter of 1869-70 a large number died from star- vation and cold ; however, the kara-takia are still sufficiently numerous.

We also saw the vulture ( ViiltiLr monachus)^ the lammergeier {Gypactos barbahis), the wall-creeper { TicJiodroma mitrarid), the Siberian tit [Pcecile cinda), |! the nut-hatch [Sida villosa), the greenfinch {Hesperi- phona specnligej'd), Pterorhiims Davidii, jackdaws, :i and two kinds of partridges {Pcrdix barbata and P. j | cJuikor). Of migratory birds in llic end of September l| we only saw the red-throated tln'usli [lltrdiis ri(Jl-[