PERDICINiE. 583 



This bush-quail is found in coveys or bevies of from six ro 

 eight to a dozen and more, and generally all rise at once with a 

 loud whirring noise, uttering cries of alarm, and after a short 

 flight drop down again into the jungle. 



A tolerable figure is given in the volume of the Bengal Sporting 

 Bevieio for 1836, pi. 1, f. 6, under the name of the Bush-quail. 



827. Perdicula Asiatica, Latham. 



Perdix, apud Latham, also Lauwau Partridge,- Latham, No. 41. — 

 Gould, Birds of Asia, pt. XV., pi. 12, (except the account of its 

 distribution and habits) — Coturnix argoondah, Sykes, Cat. 155, 

 and Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. 2, pi. 2.*— Jerdon, Cat. 277 — 

 Blyth, Cat. 1518 — P. rubiginosa, Valenc ? — Loiva, H. — 

 Lmviinfia, Tel. — Sin-kadeh, Tarn. ?". e. the red quail. 



The Rock Bush-Quail. 



Descr. — Male, upper plumage brownish rufous, tlie feathers 

 minutely freckled and lineolated with black and tawny ; the feathers 

 of the head and neck tipped with black, and some of the scapulars 

 and wing-coverts with irregular black blotches; primaries dark brown 

 with tawny bars on the outer webs ; tail with the lateral feathers 

 also barred ; a narrow white line passes over the eye from the base 

 of the bill, bordered by dusky, and another short line below this 

 from the gape ; the rest of the face, chin and throat bright 

 rufous ; the whole lower parts, including the sides of the neck, 

 being white with numerous cross bars of black, and tinged with 

 rufous on the flanks, lower belly and thigh coverts. 



Bill dark slaty; irides brown; orbits pale ; legs red. Length 

 Q)\ inches; wing 3§- ; tail 1^ ; tarsus barely 1. 



The female differs in having the upper surface more uniform 

 rufous brown, and the whole of the lower parts are pale rufous, 

 albescent on the vent ; supercilia barely perceptible. Some spe- 

 cimens of males are more uniformly rufous than in the above 

 description, and want the black markings. Judging from the 

 character of the female these birds should be young males. 



* Note. — Blyth in his Cat. looks on this as pentah, the former as argoondah, 

 Sykes, but I think that I have correctly applied those names here. 



