Snow Partridge

SCI Name:  Lerwa lerwa
Protonym:  Perdix Lerwa Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt1 no.9 p.107
Taxonomy:  Galliformes / Phasianidae / Lerwa
Taxonomy Code:  snopar1
Type Locality:  Northern region of Nepal.
Author:  Hodgson
Publish Year:  1833
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

LERWA
(Phasianidae; Ϯ Snow Partridge L. lerwa) Bhutea (Bhutan/Nepal) name Lerwa for the Snow Partridge; "Genus — LERWA nobis.  Bill shorter than the head, very strong, conspicuously arched throughout; the upper mandible greatly larger than the lower, and nearly concealing it. Nostrils small, opened subvertically towards the head, and closed in front and above by a very tumid, small, hard scale.  Intire head and base of the bill closely plumed. Plumage of the body very abundant, firm, and somewhat puffy and spinous on the croup. Wings and tail ample and strong. Wings ungradated: four first quills subequal: second, usually the longest of all. Tail 14, straight, rounded. Legs and feet rather small. Tarsi plumed below the blunt small spurs. Acrotarsus reticulo-scutellate. Lateral fore toes subequal; hind perfect; the fores pectinated to the sides.  Habitat— The Himalayan region, in the immediate vicinity of the perpetual snow.  Habits, gregarious in coveys; never perches; feeds on aromatic buds and leaves, on roots, insects and seeds. Trachæa simple. Intestines and cæca approaching the length in the grouse.   Type, Perdix Lerwa nobis. Proceedings of the Zool. Society of London, September 1833. Lerwa Nivicola nobis.  Affinity equal with Perdix and with Tetrao, leading from the one to the other.  ...  The lateral small scales of the fore toes are free, giving the pectinated appearance of the feet in the grouse, to which genus our bird has numberless affinities, external and internal; so much so that Tetraoperdix might very well designate the new genus I have proposed for it, if that word were not somewhat unmanageable, in comparison to our Lerwa, which I have therefore preferred, native though it be." (Hodgson 1837).
Var. Lerva.
Synon. Tetraoperdix.

lerwa
Bhutea (Bhutan/Nepal) name Lerwa for the Snow Partridge (Lerwa).

LERWA
(Phasianidae; Ϯ Snow Partridge L. lerwa) Bhutea (Bhutan/Nepal) name Lerwa for the Snow Partridge; "Genus — LERWA nobis.  Bill shorter than the head, very strong, conspicuously arched throughout; the upper mandible greatly larger than the lower, and nearly concealing it. Nostrils small, opened subvertically towards the head, and closed in front and above by a very tumid, small, hard scale.  Intire head and base of the bill closely plumed. Plumage of the body very abundant, firm, and somewhat puffy and spinous on the croup. Wings and tail ample and strong. Wings ungradated: four first quills subequal: second, usually the longest of all. Tail 14, straight, rounded. Legs and feet rather small. Tarsi plumed below the blunt small spurs. Acrotarsus reticulo-scutellate. Lateral fore toes subequal; hind perfect; the fores pectinated to the sides.  Habitat— The Himalayan region, in the immediate vicinity of the perpetual snow.  Habits, gregarious in coveys; never perches; feeds on aromatic buds and leaves, on roots, insects and seeds. Trachæa simple. Intestines and cæca approaching the length in the grouse.   Type, Perdix Lerwa nobis. Proceedings of the Zool. Society of London, September 1833. Lerwa Nivicola nobis.  Affinity equal with Perdix and with Tetrao, leading from the one to the other.  ...  The lateral small scales of the fore toes are free, giving the pectinated appearance of the feet in the grouse, to which genus our bird has numberless affinities, external and internal; so much so that Tetraoperdix might very well designate the new genus I have proposed for it, if that word were not somewhat unmanageable, in comparison to our Lerwa, which I have therefore preferred, native though it be." (Hodgson 1837).
Var. Lerva.
Synon. Tetraoperdix.

lerwa
Bhutea (Bhutan/Nepal) name Lerwa for the Snow Partridge (Lerwa).