GALLOPERDIX. 425 



glossless, at others fairly glossy, and varying in colour from a warm 

 pinkish buff to a delicate fawn, a pale cafe-au-lait, or even creamy 

 white. 



In length they vary from 1*55 to 1'85, and in breadth from 1-13 

 to 1-3 ; but the average of twenty-five eggs is 1-67 by 1-28. 



Galloperdix hmulatns (Valenc.). The Painted Spur-fowl. 



Galloperdix hmulosus ( TW.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 543. 



Galloperdix lunulatus ( Fa/.), Hume, Rough Draft N. fy E. no. 815. 



The Painted Spur-fowl breeds in suitable localities in the 

 eastern two-thirds of India south of the Nilghiris, and thence 

 up the Eastern Ghats and in all high broken country directly con- 

 nected with these into Cuttack, the Tributary Mehals, Eaipore, 

 Bhundara, and, Jerdon says, the Mirzapoor and Monghyr Hills, 

 though this latter requires confirmation. On the other hand, at 

 Gumsur, in the north of the Ganjam District, Jerdon tells us that 

 he only saw G. spadiceus. Again, immediately south of the 

 ISilghiris it extends at any rate as far west as Palghat, as I have 

 received several specimens thence. 



From Eaipore Mr. P. E. Blewitt writes : " It breeds certainly 

 from March to May, making simply a slight excavation in the 

 ground for the eggs, under the shelter of a boulder or rock in a 

 thicket. Some time in April 1871, from such a nest, made at the 

 base of a large boulder in dense jungle, the egg-shells were taken 

 from which the chicks had just escaped; again, in the same month 

 under the ledge of a rock in thick underwood in a slight hollow jn 

 the earth, two fresh eggs were found. 



" Apparently five is the maximum number of eggs. At least 

 during two seasons, of the many broods met with, no single brood 

 of chicks exceeded this number. 



" The parent birds assiduously care for their young, and when 

 disturbed exhibit great anxiety for their safety. When closely 

 pursued, the old birds endeavour by many artifices to draw the atten- 

 tion of the intruders from the spot where the chicks lie concealed, 

 and invariably on the cry of a chick wounded or captured, the 

 parent birds daringly return to the rescue, often to within a dozen 

 yards or so of the sportsman." 



Mr. E. Thompson took a nest of this Spur-fowl in the Ahiri 

 forests, south-east of Chanda, on the 5th April, and the late Colonel 

 Tickell found one in June. 



The egg of this species has a fine satiny shell with a more or less 

 decided gloss. It is a moderately broad regular oval, and is of a 

 uniform rich cafe-au-lait colour. 



The eggs vary from 1-55 to ! 65 in length and from 1*07 to 1*15 

 in breadth ; but the average of seven eggs is 1'62 by 1*11. 



