Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/260

236 enjoy the fleeting moments of warmth before they should be overtaken by the next frost or snowfall. In the absence of summer birds, those we saw most of in the upper alpine belts, besides jackdaws and wall-climbers, were the great rock-partridge, called by the Tangutans hailik (Megaloperdix Tibetanus) and the snow-vulture (Gyps nivicola). The former is never seen in Mongolia, but is distributed through the highlands of Kan-su, Koko-nor, and Tibet. Its exclusive habitat is among the wild crags and loose rock débris at an elevation never below 10,000 feet above the sea; the wilder the cliffs and the more extensive the loose débris the better suited are they to the rock partridge, which is equal in size to the hen capercailzie. It pairs in spring, and during the remainder of the year is found in coveys or small flocks of ten to fifteen, never in large packs.

It is a blithesome bird and may be heard all day long, enlivening the otherwise silent, weird rocks of the alpine zone with its loud note, which resembles the cluck of the hen accompanied by a long whistle and sometimes by short abrupt sounds; but these it generally utters whilst on the wing. But this partridge, like the gallinaceous tribe in general, is not fond of flying. It is so swift a runner that it will elude