Perdix hodgsoniae, Hodgs.
Mrs. Hodgson's Partridge.

Perdix hodgsonise, Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 823 bis.

To Colonel C. H. T. Marshall I am indebted for an egg of this rare and beautiful bird, Mrs. Hodgson's Partridge.

Captain Barnes, of the 10th Bengal Lancers, found a nest, when after big game in Thibet, containing ten eggs, but, not knowing the value of the prize he secured, he unfortunately only preserved a couple.

Captain Barnes has himself most kindly favoured me with the following note on the subject.   He says :-

" This is what you may rely on, as I noted the facts at the time. I flushed the bird myself off the nest on the 12th July, 1872. The nest was at an observed elevation of 16,430 feet. I think (but am not now quite sure) that the nest was a mere indentation in the ground, it was in grass amongst low dwarf bushes. It contained ten eggs, all perfectly fresh. The Pass on which I found the nest leads from the Pangong Valley to the Indus Valley and is very high. I did not take the elevation, but estimated it at 19,000 feet, as my camp, after crossing the summit and descending some considerable distance, was pitched that night at 17,745 feet. There was a great deal of snow on the summit, which is perpetual; the snow-line at that season, I should say, was about 18,500 feet. The name of the Pass is the Oong Lung La. The birds were neither scarce nor plentiful, but there were enough to make it a matter of certainty in obtaining a specimen if required."

The egg is in shape a long oval, obtuse at one end and sharply pointed at the other. The shed is hard, compact, and everywhere closely pitted with minute pores, but it is very smooth notwithstanding, and has a very fair amount of gloss. The ground is a pale drab or clay-colour, but the whole of the large end has a faint reddish-brown tinge, as has also the extreme point of the smaller end.

The egg measures 1.77 in length by 1.2 in breadth.