THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 895 



qxiite bejT-ond their powers. The first egg laid was found by me in 

 a pail of water M/ifZer a perch, though unfortunately this fact taught 

 me nothing ; when, however, two more were found, smashed, 

 directly underneath the same perch, light dawned on me, and I 

 fixed up a suitable box on the perch which was at once adopted by 

 the Tragopan, and the fourth Qgg diily deposited therein. An- 

 other egg was laid by another hen in a box fixed about 8 feet from 

 the ground in the top of the aviary, althoiigh there were other 

 boxes on the ground, had the birds cared to avail themselves of 

 them . 



The natives 'say they lay from 2 to 5 eggs, generally only 3 or 4, 

 but that they never succeed in hatching and bringing up more 

 than two young ones. They also say that the young are quite 

 capable of getting down from the nest to the ground directly they 

 are hatched, and that they can fl}^ well within a week. 



The cock bird's method of display in a wild state is given further 

 on in this article, but I had many opportunities of observing partial 

 displays of my tame birds. The most noticeable thing was the 

 curious way these Tragopans had — like all the rest of the genus — 

 of suddenly shaking their heads violently, and at the same time in- 

 flating horns and wattle, giving the on-looker the impression that 

 the shake released some automatic spring which released the horns, 

 &c. This action was sometimes performed by the bird when 

 perched, in which case he generally erected himself as much as 

 possible — stood on his toes, more or less, or on the ground when 

 he crouched low down. In either case the action was often accom- 

 panied by a shivering of the wings, and sometimes led to a partial 

 display never completed, as it was always interrupted by some 

 other male bird interfering. I noticed the cocks in half plumage 

 began this display at least a dozen times to the older bird's 

 once. 



The only eggs which have been recorded are the three above 

 referred to, one in the British Museum and one in the Tring 

 Museum, both the latter also laid in captivity. 



In shape four of the eggs are broad ovals very little compressed 

 at the smaller end, and the fifth, that in the British Museum 

 Collection, is a rather narrow oval. The five eggs measure, 

 respectively, 59-7 x 42-6 mm. ; 57-8 x 45-4 mm. ; 58-6 x 43-7 

 mm. ; 59-0 x 42-8 mm. and 60-9 x 36-6 mm. 



The texture is close and smooth, with a very fine, rather soft 

 grain, but practically no gloss. 



The colour is a pale dull buff" obsoletely speckled, and freckled 

 with chocolate. Both my eggs are much claw-marked and 

 scratched by the birds in getting in and out of the nest. The 

 eggs are exactly similar to those of melanocephalus in colour and 

 texture, and like them much paler than those of satyra. 



