290 Allen's naturalist's 



guns,* to be loaded, as fast as emptied, by a servant. With one 

 gun only it would be necessary to wash out the barrels two or 

 three times in the course of the afternoon, or at all events to 

 wait every now and then for them to cool. A tolerably good shot 

 will bag fifty to sixty brace in about three hours, and knock 

 down many others that are not found. I remember one day 

 getting into a deyra, or island formed by alluvial deposit, in the 

 Ganges, between Patna (Bankipore) and Sonepore, which was 

 sown almost entirely over with gram (chunna), and which 

 literally swarmed with Quail. I do not exaggerate w^hen I say 

 they w^ere like locusts in number. Every step that brushed the 

 covert sent off a number of them, so that I had to stand every 

 now and then like a statue and employ my arms only, and that 

 in a stealthy manner, for the purpose of loading and firing. A 

 furtive scratch of the head, or a wipe of the heated brow, 

 dismissed a whole " bevy " into the next field ; and, in fact, the 

 embarras de riches se was nearly as bad as if there had been no 

 birds at all." 



Nest. — A slight hollow in the ground, with little or no lining, 

 and sheltered by standing crops or grass, &c. 



Eggs. — Eight to twelve in number, but sometimes more are laid ; 

 creamy-white or buff, more or less boldly blotched and spotted 

 w^ith rich brown. Average measurements, i'i5 by o"88 inch. 



THE PHEASANTS. SUB-FAMILY PHASIANIN^. 



This Sub-family is scarcely separable from the Perdicince-, 

 as in the genus Fkasianus, the first primary is about equal to 

 the eighth. The tail, however, in typical Pheasants is much 

 longer. than the wing, and the plumage is much more oinamental 

 than in any Partridge. 



THE TRUE PHEASANTS. GENUS PHASIANUS. 

 Phasia7ius, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 270 (1766). 

 Type, P. colchicus, Linn. 

 Tail composed of eighteen feathers, long and wedge-shaped, 

 the middle pair being very much longer than the outer pair. 



* He refers to the days before breech-loaders came in. 



