THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 89 



This partridge is very common in the evergreen forest above 4,500 

 feet in the Thanon Thong Chai and Khun Tan chains, but its pos- 

 sible distribution within our area is pretty well limited to the moun- 

 tains named above. 



On Doi Suthep, coveys of about a dozen individuals lived in ravines 

 and on the steepest slopes, where they could be heard clucking and 

 cheeping to one another as they scratched among the dead leaves, but 

 they could not be seen through the dense foliage. When flushed they 

 frequently took refuge high up in a tree and were well concealed by 

 the leaves. They seemed always to roost in a tree, the whole group 

 huddled together on the same branch. 



Few melodies of the Thai mountains surpass the evening song of 

 the hill partridges. It is a sweet, clear, double whistle, repeated again 

 and again, each time on a higher note and with a briefer pause be- 

 tween the phrases. As one bird stops, another begins. The sound car- 

 ries for a great distance throflgh the still air and may be heard from 

 all parts of the mountain at once. 



In 1931 I attributed these lovely calls to the brown -breasted par- 

 tridge, but now believe that I was in error, unless, indeed, the song 

 is common to both species. 



The nesting season in our hills is not certainly known, but specimens 

 with the spotted breast of young birds have been taken in June and 

 August. 



De Schauensee states that adults had the irides dark brown; the 

 orbital region crimson; the bill black; the feet and toes crimson; 

 the claws deep flesh. I have recorded that an immature male had 

 the irides gray-brown; the bill horny red, with the basal half 

 black; the orbital region, rictus, and interior of the mouth pink; the 

 feet and toes salmon-rose; the claws horny salmon. 



The plumage of this species is rather variable in minor details. In 

 general, the adult has the upperparts olive-brown, with black spots 

 on the lower back, rump, and tail, chestnut and black markings on 

 the scapulars and some wing coverts ; the throat and neck all around 

 orange-rufous with black spots, which are smaller on the throat, larger 

 on the collar ; the breast and flanks deep gray, the belly paler, the con- 

 cealed sides of the body mixed with chestnut; the thighs and under 

 tail coverts olive-brown, more or less barred with black. Younger 

 specimens have buffy spots on the wings and the gray underparts 

 more brownish and spotted with buff and white. 



arborophila brunneopectus brunneopectus (biyth) 



Tenasserimese Brown-breasted Hill Partridge 



Arboricola brunneopectus "Tickell" Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. 24, 

 1855, p. 276 ("Mountainous interior of Tenasserim"). 



