46 THE SEESEE.
walk, and if people are set to catch them, large numbers are
brought in. They are most generally seen running on the
bare rocks or pecking about the droppings of cattle on the
mountain paths ; but at Tobar,—some 2,000 feet high, the
rainy-season residence of the miners, who, during the rest of
the year, reside in the Khcwra Gorge (some 700 feet above
the sea) and work the neighbouring Mayo Salt Mines,— I
saw several pairs running about on the flat roofs of the empty
houses. The males may often be seen perched on some rocky
point, and the female, in the spring, though less commonly
seen in exposed positions, will always be found close to her
mate. They run very rapidly and glidingly over the rockiest
ground, rise pretty readily, and fly smartly, always if possible
down-hill, Both in gait and flight they remind one much
of the Chukor.
They aic eminently birds of bare broken ground ; on grassy
slopes they may indeed be found, for they feed much on grass
seeds, but they eschew utterly forests or thickly wooded tracts,
and even where there is much scrub about, they are less common—
the barer and more desolate the ravines and gorges, the
more thoroughly do they seem at home.
They are active, bustling little birds, scratching about a great
deal in the earth, dusting themselves freely in the sand, basking
in the sun, resting in little hollows they have worked out
for themselves, ami generally reproducing in many ways the
manners of the domestic fowl.
Their call, continually heard in the spring, is a clear double
note, " Soo-scc, Soo-see," and they have also, whilst feeding
and when surprised, a whistled chirp, uttered very softly
when at their ease, but sounding more harshly when they are
alarmed.
Their food is, I think, chiefly, if not exclusively, grain, seeds,
and herbage of different kinds. I have examined many, but
have lost my notes in regard to them, and I cannot now remember
whether they are or are not also insectivorous. My
impression is that they are not.
Although they are pretty shooting, they never afford much
sport; they run a great deal, and over ground across which
it is difficult to follow them ; it is often difficult to flush
them, and when flushed they constantly rise so little, and
dart so directly down hill, that they are lost sight of
before it is possible to fire. Knocking about, not trying to make
a bag, a good many shots will be obtained, and I have thus killed
seven or eight brace in a day ; but if you set out to have " a day
after Seesee," it is astonishing how the little wretches elude you ;
and common as they are in some places (they seem positively
to swarm when you are after Oorial (Ovis vignii) and dare not
fire), eleven and a half brace is the largest bag I ever succeeded
in making.
THE SEESEE. 47
Tastes differ. I have found them but poor eating, far
inferior to a good, fat, middle range Chukor of the year.
Mr. lilanford tells us, on the strength of his own and Major
St. John's experience, that " the Tihii is found everywhere in
Persia, except in the forest regions, fiom sea level to an elevation
of at least 7,000 feet in Southern, and not much less in
Northern, Persia. They keep much to low hills and stony
ravines about the bases of hill ranges. During the spring
and summer they are found in pairs or singly ; in the winter
they are occasionally to be met with in small coveys, but by no
means so frequently as Caccabis; nor do they collect, as far as
my observations extend, in equal numbers. They may usually
be seen walking quietly up stony hill sides, not running so
swiftly as most Partridges, nor caring much for concealment;
indeed, when they wish to hide, it is sufficient for them to
remain still, for their colour so closely resembles that of the
sand and stones around that they are most difficult to detect.
When they rise, it is much like a Quail, with a rather quick
flight, and a whistle uttered as they start. Their ordinary call
is a double note repeated several times. They are excellent
eating, far superior to the dry Caccabis, and only second, if they
are second, to the Francolín."
Again, Mr. Young writes to me :—
" I have never shot this bird in India, but have often killed
it in Persia. It frequents grassy and rocky ground. I found
it in great numbers on the mountains of Arjend, North-west of
Sultaniah, very often in company with the Chukor. It also
frequents old ruins, and the ruins of Rhé (Rhages), near Tehran
used, 20 years ago, to be a very favourite locality."
Both sexes are equally devoid of spurs, and I have never
heard even the males accused of being at all pugilistic. I
have shot many in March and April, but I have never seen
the males fighting, as one so often does those of other game
birds.
TOWARDS THE end of March and early in April they may
be seen love-making, and towards the latter portion of April
they begin to lay, hatching off as a rule some time in May,
though I have found fresh eggs on the 1st June.
The nest is at best very slight, a little dry grass curled into
a whisp, and generally seems to be only represented by a few
blades of grass laid in a depression scraped by the birds. It is
placed at times under some thick stunted bush or overhanging
rock ; more often in the midst of loose stones ; occasionally
in one of the scanty tufts of grass that here and there dot these
bare hills. They breed at all elevations, from the level of the
plains to at least 4,000 feet. Twelve is the largest number of
eggs that I have seen in any nest, but many more are said to be
at times found.