134 INDIAN SPORTING BIRDS 



The flesh of the great Indian bustard is coarse in the case 

 of old cocks, though young birds and hens are better. Such a 

 striking bird has naturally many names. In addition to those 

 given in the text, may be noted those of Tokdar, the usual title 

 given by Mohammedan falconers, which is a variant of the Tugdar 

 of the Punjabis ; in the Deccan we come across the names 

 Mardhonk, Karadhonk and Karbink, while Sohun and Gughun- 

 hher in Hindustani are used as well as Hukna and Yere-laddu in 

 Canarese ; the Bat-meka of Telugu and Batta mekha of the 

 Yanadi are evidently allied titles, while a quite different one is 

 the Kanal-myle of Tamil. 



The Florican. 



Sypheotis hengalensis. Charas, Hindustani. 



The florican, so celebrated for the delicacy of its flesh, is 

 about the size of a peahen, but longer and leggier in build and 

 shorter in the tail. The hen is buff mottled with black, producing 

 a general brown effect ; but the cock is very conspicuously 

 coloured, mostly glossy black, but with the wings white, making 

 a most conspicuous contrast in flight, and noticeable even m 

 repose. 



The back shows the partridge brown of the hen, and young 

 cocks have hen plumage in their first year, but after the second 

 year are fully coloured ; in the intermediate plumage the white 

 on the wing is present, so that a brown bird, if with white wings, 

 may be safely shot as a cock; hens should always be " let off." 



Hens are bigger than cocks in this species, though the 

 difference is more in weight than in measurements, a hen 

 weighing four or even five pounds, while a cock will be a pound 

 less as a rule. 



This florican is a characteristic bird of eastern Bengal, whence 

 the name "Bengal Florican " often given to it; but in addition to 

 those parts of Bengal which lie north of the Ganges, it is found 

 in the adjoining parts of Oudh and the North-west Provinces : it 

 is well known in the Assam Valley, but not found in southern 

 or western India, or in any country outside India proper. 



