TIO AI.LKN'S NATURALISTS LIBRARY. 



Mekran Coast, where there were no traces of vegetation at 

 the time, and where, in the best of seasons only, a few straggling 

 tufts of grass and desert plants are to be seen. 



"The most noteworthy point about this species is its clear 

 ringing, inspiriting call kd, kd kateetur^ kateetur, which sylla- 

 bize it as you will (and everyone has his own rendering), once 

 heard, is never to be forgotten. Morning and evening the 

 fields and groves re-echo with their cheery cry, and, during 

 the spring and summer especially, it may be heard occasionally 

 at all hours. 



" They feed on grain of all kinds, grass seeds, and insects, 

 especially white ants and their eggs, and on the young leaves 

 of mustard, peas, and other herbs. Dig open an ant's nest in 

 some scrub frequented by these birds, retire for ten minutes, 

 and the chances are that on your return you find half a dozen 

 Greys busy at the nest. 



"They run very swiftly and gracefully; they seem to ghde 

 rather than run, and the native lover can pay no higher com- 

 pliment to his mistress than to liken her gait to that of the Part- 

 ridge. 



" It is often difiicult to flush them, but when they rise it 

 is with a true Partridge ' whir ' ; and their flight is swifter and 

 stronger, and they will carry off more shot than our English 

 bird. 



" In many places they are to be found in pairs, but where 

 they are really numerous, they often keep in regular coveys, a 

 dozen rising within a small space if they are in ground in which 

 they cannot run well." 



Nest. — A slight hollow scratched out by the birds, generally 

 in the shelter of scrub-jungle. 



Eggs, — Six to nine in number; pointed ovals in shape; white, 

 tinged with brownish-buff. Average measurements, 1-3 by 1-03 

 inch. 



