248 INDIAN SPOETING BIEDS 



Brown-breasted Hill-Partridge. 



Arhoricola hrunneipectus. 



The light buffy colour of the under-parts and face of this 

 species make it recognizable at once among our hill-partridges ; 

 on the breast the buff is strongly tinged with brown, and on the 

 flanks with grey ; and these flank-feathers have black tips as well 

 as white spots, but there are not the usual streaks of chestnut in 

 this region. The throat-feathers are marked with black, and the 

 red of the skin shows through them more or less. The brown 

 back is barred with black, the barrings being bold and strong : 

 and the back of the neck is black. This is one of the red-legged 

 species — in fact, it is noticeable that most hill-partridges are red 

 on the legs as well as round the eyes. 



In spite of the noticeable distinction in colour between 

 this and the Arakan hill-partridge, the Burmese name Toung- 

 kha appears to be applied to both, just as in the Himalayas 

 Peura is rather a generic than a specific name. 



It is in the Ruby Mines district and the eastern hills of 

 Tenasserim and Pegu, that this hill-partridge has been found 

 so far, living in evergreen forest at any elevation up to 4,500 feet ; 

 they especially frequent densely-w^ooded ravines and nullahs, and 

 it has been noticed that the green-legged hill-partridge {Tropico- 

 perdix chloropics) and the present bird are never found in the same 

 valley, which points to some competition or conflict between 

 them. In Pegu, where Oates observed this, it was found that 

 these hill-partridges were only found on the eastern slopes of the 

 hills, the western declivities being only clothed with jungle too 

 thin to meet their requirements in the w^ay of cover. Here they 

 were living almost entirely on hard seeds. 



At Thoungyah, Hume's collector, Darling, found them so 

 common that he saw two or three coveys every day ; from six to 

 ten formed a covey, but they were not easy to get. They uttered 

 a "soft cooing whistle " as they ran about scratching amongst 

 the leaves for their food of insects, little snails, and seed, but 

 when treed by a dog their whistle became shriller and higher 

 until another answered. The sight of a man drove them 



