228 INDIAN SPOETING BIEDS 



They are found both in pairs and in coveys, the latter pre- 

 sumably being family parties, the cocks being far too quarrelsome 

 to live together ; and they are prolific birds, for though nine is 

 more than the usual number of the creamy-white eggs, they breed 

 twice a year, at any rate in many cases, the spring nesting 

 beginning in February, and the later about August. The nesting 

 habits vary curiously ; the nest may be practically non-existent, 

 the eggs being laid on the ground, or it may be a hollow in a 

 tussock or under a bush, more or less lined with grass, or even, 

 a most remarkable site, made in the branches of a thick shrub 

 a yard off the ground. The Bengali name of this bird is Khyr, 

 the Tamil Kondari ; Kawnnzu is the Telugu appellation. 



Swamp Partridge. 



Francolinus gularis. Bhil-titar, Cachari. 



The khyah, as this fine partridge is called by the Bengalis, 

 is, unlike most game-birds, essentially a bird of swampy and 

 alluvial soil, overgrown by high grass and cane; but even where 

 it is commonly found along with other partridges, as it is in 

 some places, it is a very distinctive bird. It is as big as 

 a jungle hen, looks all its size on account of its long legs, and 

 has a very smart appearance ; its upper plumage is much like 

 that of the common grey partridge, but the under-parts, with 

 their well-marked broad longitudinal white streaking on a 

 brown ground, contrasting with the rich rust-red of the throat, 

 are most characteristic, and make one wonder how people 

 could ever have mixed this bird up with the chukor, with 

 which it has nothing in common except being of good size for a 

 partridge and having red legs, though these are not bright in 

 tint. The male has sharp spurs, but this is the only sex 

 distinction except his slightly larger sj^e. 



The swamps of the Tarai, and the low-lying lands along the 

 courses of the Ganges, Megna, and Brahmaputra, and the lower 

 reaches of their tributaries, are the habitat of this bird ; Cachar 

 is its eastern limit, and it is found as far west as Pilibhit. 

 Considering its tastes in locality, it is curious that it does not 



