THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 359 



breast, each feather with a bold edging of velvet black, which runs 

 down the end of the shaft towards the greenish base, vent, thighs, 

 and centre of abdomen dull brown ; under tail coverts chestnut with 

 black marks. 



Colours of the Soft Parts. 



" Legs and feet of the male lead colour, inclining to flesh 

 "colour; naked skin around the eye scarlet." (Elliot.) 



Measurements.— Wing SS" (210-8 mm.) to 9-0" (228-Gmm.), 

 with an average for 20 males of 8-6" (218-4 mm.); tail 15-4" 

 (391-1 mm.) to 19-2" (487-6 mm.), generally between 17" 

 (432mm.) and 18" (457 mm.); bill from front about 1-2" 

 (30-4 mm.), and from gape aboiit 1-4" (35-5 mm.); tarsus 2-5" 

 (63-5 mm.) to 2-7" (68*5 mm); spur about -4" (10-1 mm.). 



Adult Female. — Crown and neck dark brown or black with 

 narrow bars of buif, sometimes with a distinct tinge of chestnut ; 

 back and scapulars chestnut with white sub-edging, and very fine 

 eds-es of black aud a bold bar of the same between the chestnut 

 and the white ; remainder of upper plumage pale grey brown with 

 narrow buff edges and black centres with here aud there a tinge of 

 chestmit shewing very irregularly. Central tail feathers pale olive 

 brown with narrow paler cross bars broadly margined on either 

 side with black ; remaining tail feathers dull chestnut with similar 

 bars ; in all the tail feathers the markings are irregular, aud some- 

 what mottled, giving a mottled appearance to the whole. 



Below, the chin and throat are pale buffish, obsoletely barred 

 with dark brown ; foreueck and upper breast with bolder bars of 

 black and black centres and washed with a pinky reddish tinge, 

 lower breast, flanks and abdomen dull greyish buff with numerous 

 faint vermiculations of grpy-brown, and with visible centres of deep 

 chestnut brown ; under tail coverts the same marked with chestnut. 



Three females from Chang Youn, in China, are more richly colour- 

 ed above than any of the more Western birds, but, at the same 

 time, have practically no dark markings on the lower breast and 

 abdomen ; the flanks and thigh coverts are, however, fully as boldly 

 marked as the other birds. 



Colours of Soft Parts — not recorded. 



Measurements.— ^Ymg 7-8" (198-1 mm.) to 8-2" (208-3 mm.); 

 tail from 9-7" (246-4 mm.) to 10-7" (271-8 mm.); tarsus 2-4" 

 (60-9 mm.) to 2-6" (66-0 mm.); bill at front about 1-1" (27-9 

 mm.), and from gape about 1*3" (33-0 mm.). 



Bistrilmtion. — Western Szechuan, Eastern Tibet, at least as. far 

 West as Batang, Yunnan and the Northern Shan States and 

 Kachin Hills and Southern Shan States. 



As regards Tibet, Bailey says : 



" I shot a specimen of this on the Fei-Y'ueh-Ling Pass, South- 

 " East of Ta-chien-lu. It was plentiful at Ta-chien-lu itself, and 



