488 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol Xll. 



Young male.^lAkQ tho female, changing in the spring to a plumage 

 half way between that of tho adult male and that of the female. 



A fine young male in my collection has the forehead to nape deep 

 glossy black, the lores covered with feathers, white near the eye, black 

 next the forehead edged with reddish ; a broad supercilium from above 

 the eye red ; nape and hind neck vermiculated brown and black ; a 

 broad band from behind the eje and below the supercilium black ; ear 

 covert.? dark brown with a few white specks ; chin and throat thinly 

 covered with mottled white and brown feathers ; lower throat and 

 upper breast as in the adult ; lower breast and under plumage like that 

 of the female but with many feathers having the centres turning grey ; 

 the upper plumage is like that of the female, but darker and more 

 boldly speckled, many of the feathers of the scapulars and interscapu- 

 lars having dull chestnut-brown eyes and these are scattered here and 

 there, also, over the whole surface. 



Irides dark brown ; legs dull reddish, the rudiments of spurs paler. 

 Gular skin dull orange shewing through the feathers; round the lids 

 livid, livid fleshy above the eye. Bill horny, cuhnen darker, gape 

 and maxilla paler and rather fleshy in tint. 



Female.— '^Yho\Q upper plumage mottled black and rufous, the black 

 being in broad bold bars and patches, the rufous in narrow bars and 

 minute stippling; in addition nearly all the feathers have a V shaped 

 or crescentio central mark of buff, a few feathers have two such marks 

 and a few also have longitudinal marks of the same colour. The tail is 

 lighter in general effect and has the black replaced to a great extent by 

 rich rufors ; chin and throat white, with brown spots, the former almost 

 or quite immaculate ; whole lower surface and flanks, mottled and 

 stippled very dark brown, dull rufous and greyish white, the latter 

 colour forming distinct spoison many feathers; the centre of the abdo- 

 men and the vent are more grey and uniform in colour, the under tail 

 coverts rather more rich and deep coloured. 



Bill dark horny, commissure and gape paler; legs dull fleshy homy ; 

 claws darker and browner; irides brown. 



(548) Bambusicola fytchii. — Tho Western Bamboo-Partridge. 

 Hume, No. 825 quint ; Blanford, No. 1352. 



This is a common partridge all over tho North Cachar Hills at 

 elevations of 2,500 feet and over, descending to 2,000 feet, but seldom 



