28 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



ground ; sometimes they can be ap- 

 proached with ease, near enough to get 

 a good shot, at other times, especially if 

 in large flocks, they are shy and wary. 

 A small flock or single birds can often be 

 approached very close by walking rapidly, 

 not straight, but gradually edging towards 

 them ; and, in this way, I have often 

 walked up to within two or three yards 

 of them." 



The nesting places of these birds are 

 in the drier and barer portions of the 

 plains they frequent, but Colonel Butler 

 observed them nesting near Deesa in 

 grass beerhs, sometimes in the open, at 

 other times under a tussock of grass. 

 As Mr. Hume observes, the nests may be 

 found in greatest numbers in scattered 

 fallow or stubble or newly-ploughed fields 

 dotted about on, and surrounded by, large 

 semi-desert plains. They seldom make 

 a nest, but lay their eggs, usually three 

 in number, in a depression on the bare 

 ground. They appear to breed at all 

 seasons of the year, and probably rear 

 two broods. 



The eggs are regular ellipses, with a 

 fine gloss. The ground-colour varies a 

 great deal, but is generally of various 

 shades of buff with sometimes a tinge of 



