EUPODOTIS EDWARDSI 169 



Gulf of Cutch, as well as Chotila on the old Eajkot-Wadhwan road 

 are also good localities for them in the cold weather." 



Very numerous letters from observers and sportsmen who have 

 been good enough to report to me the result of their experiences, in 

 some instances dating from the publication of Hume and Marshall's 

 ' Game-Birds, ' add nothing further to the area as given by Gates and 

 Blanford. At the same time these letters are of extreme interest as 

 showing that the Great Indian Bustard is in many parts of India 

 most irregular in its movements, and that in other parts it is merely a 

 seasonal visitor, either for the purpose of breeding or during the 

 non-breeding season. 



Writing of thirty years ago Colonel L. L. Fenton noticed this semi- 

 migratory habit and speaks of its being specially plentiful in the 

 neighbourhood of the Eajkot-Wadhwan road to the north-west of the 

 Province in the cold weather and increasing greatly in numbers about 

 Rajkot itself during the rains. Hume deals with this matter very 

 briefly, and merely says : " It is to a great extent migratory, spending 

 one season of the year in one part of the country, and moving to 

 another to breed." Thus, for instance, in what used to be called 

 Bhattiana, now the Sind district, it is extremely abundant during the 

 rainy season, when it breeds ; whereas, during the cold season, it is 

 comparatively scarce. Further on (p. 12) Hume quotes Davidson to 

 the following effect : — 



" In Poona and Sholapur it is certainly a permanent resident, 

 that is to say, that at all seasons a few may be found in all parts of 

 the Collectorate. I think, however, that more breed in the district 

 than are to be found there in February or March, and that hirds 

 come in, in the beginning of the rains, to breed, and leave when 

 their young are able to fly." 



Nidification. — As regards the breeding season of Enpodotis eclwardsi 

 it is not easy to lay down any very definite period. Hume says : — 



" The Great Indian Bustard in Upper India lays mostly in July 

 and August, but the breeding-season varies a good deal according to 

 the rainfall, and we have found eggs as early as the first half of 

 March, and as late as the first half of September. In Southern India, 

 according to Jerdon, they lay during the cold season. 



" The eggs are placed on the ground, at the base of some bush or 

 tuft of grass in a small depression, generally unlined, often thinly 



