I \\i h\ iyi:sT]-:h\ asm.; 7 



12.— THE CoMMi>}, GKKY CARTRIDGE. 

 Ortygornis pondiceriana, Gm. 



Willi the exception of Ratnagiri, the Grey Partridge is common 

 throughout Western India, but occurs more sparingly on the hills. 

 They commence breeding about the end of February, and eggs may 

 be Eound up t<> the end of April. I am inelined to think that they 

 1 1 a \ i 'in! brood in the autumn (August), as I hare repeatedly seen 



young birds at that season, though not so often as in the spring 

 months, and they may have been the produce <>f birds that had lost 

 their hist eggs through an accident. 



The nest, composed of grass and roots, is a more or less compact 

 pad, placed in a depression on the soil, under cover of a clod of earth, 

 tussock of grass, or small bush ; occasionally there is no nest. 



I found one nest at Deesa in the side of a grass stack ; it was quite 

 three feet from the ground, and although there was not the slightest 

 necessity for it, consisted of a substantial pad of grass, the materials 

 of which had been collected from the stack itself ; this nest contained 

 three fresh eggs only, but the bird would have laid more, and perhaps 

 did, as I molested neither her or her nest. 



The eggs, from six to nine in number, are slightly elongated 

 ovals, pinched in more or less at one end, measuring about 1*3 inches 

 in length by not quite an inch in breadth, In colour they varv 

 from almost pure white to deep smoky or brownish-white. I have 

 a clutch taken at Saugor, that are well spotted with clayey brown. 



K26.— THE JUNGLE BUSH QUAIL. 



Perdicu/a a-siatica, Lath. 



Occurs I believe on all the hills of Western India, with the 

 exception of those in Sind. It is very common on Mount Aboo, and 

 I found it breeding at Gungrar in Rajpootana ; the bird is easilv 

 distinguished from the Rock Bush Quail by its much brio-]iter 

 colours. The nest was a rough pad of grass," and was placed 

 under a thick bush, and contained five fresh eggs, white like those 

 of the Rock Bush Quail usually arc, and slightly smaller, but it is 

 impossible to generalize from a single clutch. 



The eggs measured 098 inches in length by 0-S in breadth. 



Gungrar, Rajpootana, September. H, E. Barnes. 



