66 



Zbc 3ungle 36u6b:^(anail. 



Perdicida astatic a. 

 By D. Seth-Smith, M.B.O.U., F.Z.vS. 



THIS pretty little quail seems to be ver}^ little 

 known to aviculturists,* for, although it is now 

 and then imported into this country from India, 

 the dealers never know what it is, and advertise 

 it under all sorts of fancy names. It is about 6^ inches 

 in total length, of a warm reddish-brown colour, the 

 male having the breast barred with black and white. 



I have kept two pairs of this species, but they 

 were extremely timid, and not especially interesting. 

 They do very well in an out-door aviary during the 

 summer months, but cannot stand much damp, and 

 should therefore be kept indoors during the winter. 

 Mine never made any attempt to nest, but then I was 

 not able to give them a large aviary with living 

 grass, which is essential to all the more timid quails if 

 they are to breed. 



The Jungle Bush-Quail inhabits India and Ceylon, 

 frequenting, as Hume tells us, "moderately thick forests 

 and jungles, hills, ravines, and broken ground, not too 

 deficient in cover, and rich cultivation, if not in too 

 damp and undrained situations, from near the sea- 

 level to an elevation of four to five thousand feet." 

 The nest is said to be composed of roots and fine 

 grass, and situated in a slight hollow, under a tuft of 

 grass or a low bush. The eggs, Mr. Ogilvie-Grant 

 informs us, are " slightly pointed ovals, varN'ing in 

 colour from creamy- to brownish-white ; five to seven 

 in number. Average measurements i"o b3'0-85 inch." 



I have also kept the nearly allied Marbled or Rock 

 Bush-Quail (/*. argoondaJi) which is also an inhabitant 

 of India. Its habits differ in no way from those of 

 its conoener. 



