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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



No. I— MELANISM IN BLACK BUCK. 



( With a Photograph.) 



I am Sending you herewith a photograph of a Black Buck (Antilope cervicapra) 

 shot here by Sahibzada Nasrullah Khan, the eldest son and heir of Her High- 

 ness the Begum of Bhopal. As you will see, it is dark-coloured throughout, 

 without the usual white belly and legs. 



The Sahibzada has shot many hundred bucks, but has never seen a similar 

 specimen before. 



It is, I suppose, an instance of melanism. 



J. MANNERS SMITH, Major. 

 Bhopal, C. I., 6th September, 1904. 



No. II.— A RARE INDIAN GAME-BIRD, THE MOUNTAIN 

 QUAIL (OPHRYSIA SUPERC1LI0SA, Gray;. 



Judging by the enormous number of sportsmen in India who indulge in 

 small game shooting, it is very extraordinary that one of our recognised game- 

 birds should have been entirely lost sight of for thirty years or so. I refer to 

 Ophrysia superciliosa ('Gray), the so-called Mountain Quail. Whether it should 

 rightly be described as a quail, a partridge or a pheasant still remains to be 

 proved, but so far as is known its proper place is somewhere between or near 

 the Blood Pheasants (Ithagenes) and the Spur-fowls (Galloper dix). It was first 

 described in 1846 from a specimen in the great Knowsley Menagerie, which 

 was believed to have come from India. Subsequently a few specimens were 

 obtained close to Mussooree between 1885 and 1868 during the cold weather, 

 but since then only one single specimen has been shot, in 1876, near Naini Tal. 

 Whether it is a resident or a winter visitor from some cold climate is uncer- 

 tain, and except that it is reported to have been found in small coveys of six or 

 ten which skulked in grass jungle and brushwood, nothing much is known of 

 its habits and nothing whatever of its life history. 



It is with a view to encouraging any of our members, who may have the 

 opportunity, to keep a look-out for this rare bird, that I call attention to its 

 existence, of which few probably are awai'e. I am sure that many of our 

 enthusiastic ornithologists would be proud to have their names coupled with 

 it as its re-discoverer ! Under the circumstances perhaps I may add a few 

 words briefly describing its general appearance. In size it is about halfway 

 between a quail and a partridge — say 10 inches in length — with a 3-inch tail 

 and a 3|-inch wing. The plumage is long and soft, the general colour of the 

 male being olive-brown with black and white about the head and throat, and 

 of the female cinnamon-brown with greyish pink about the head and neck. 

 The bill and legs are red. 



If by any chance any reader of this note should be lucky enough to come 

 across the bird it is to be hoped that he will be able to find some means of 

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