2 74 Lloyd's natural history. 



Tsl. Hume says : — "In Upper India I have almost exclusively 

 met with it in patches of low, dense grass, and most generally 

 in patches of this nature situated in Dhak {Butea froiidosa), or 

 other thin bush or tree jungles. Occasionally I have flushed it 

 from low crops and not unfrequently from belts of grass sur- 

 rounding and dividing fields of these. -■'-^. 



"It is hard to find without dogs, only rises when hard pressed, 

 rises almost silently, sails away for a dozen yards like some 

 large bee, and drops suddenly into some dense tuft of grass 

 whence, as a rule, it makes no attempt to run, and where the 

 dogs will often pounce upon it. 



"I have once or twice seen it feeding in the early mornings in 

 the little open spaces intervening between thinly-set tufts of 

 grass, growing in lands which are flooded during the rains. 

 During these latter I have seen them gliding like mice about the 

 paths of my own and other gardens, where there was plenty of 

 moderately-high fine grass. Two or three shot during the coid 

 season had eaten only grass seeds, while two shot in my garden 

 at Etawah had fed almost exclusively on termites." 



Colonel Butler says : — "The note of this species is remark- 

 able, being a mixture of a ' purr ' and a * coo,' and when uttering 

 it, the bird raises its feathers and turns and twists about much in 

 the same way as an old cock pigeon. I have often watched 

 them in the act of cooing within a few yards of me. If an old 

 bird gets separated from one of its young ones, it is sure to 

 commence making this peculiar noise." 



Nest. — Lined with grass and placed in a slight depression in 

 the ground in some standing crop or patch of grass. Mr. 

 Hume states that occasionally he has heard of partially or 

 wholly domed or covered-in nests being met with. 



Eggs. — Usual number four, but five and even six are said to 

 have been found — laid from April to October according to 

 season and locality. The eggs are moderately broad ovals, 

 much pointed towards one end, and fairly glossy, of a pale 



