436 



Major C. T. Bingliam remarks : " Breeds commonly at Delhi 

 in March and April. Nest, a few straws placed in some hollow 

 under shade of a tuft of grass." 



The late Mr. A. Anderson wrote : " The Grey Partridge lays 

 from six to nine eggs in April and JYlay ; the eggs are deposited in 

 a hollow, which the birds scrape out, most generally under the 

 shelter of a clump of scrub jungle, and the standing grass is 

 trodden down, which does for a nest-lining. 



" On the 4fch April, 1871, when out coursing on the cliur lands 

 opposite the Station of Futtehgurh, I flushed a ' Grey ' which was 

 feeding in an open field. It struck me at once that this was the 

 male, and that the female must be sitting somewhere, because these 

 birds invariably go in pairs, and this was their breeding-season. 

 Forming a line with my coolies, I beat every conceivable bit of 

 cover (there was not a crop standing for miles), including a few 

 clumps of sarpat grass which grew in the form of a hedge. 

 Giving it up as a bad job, I rode alongside of this grass hedge (it 

 had been charred), and looking downinto the centre of each clump, 

 soon discovered what at first appeared a hare in her form, but 

 which on closer inspection proved to be the hen partridge. The 

 grass was again well beaten, and, as a last resort, handfuls of 

 earth and small stones were showered in on her from above, but 

 without avail. Seeing how futile were all my efforts to flush the 

 Partridge, I decided on capturing her on her nest, which was 

 effected by my horse-clothing being placed over the clump, and the 

 coolies making a rattling noise round the bottom of the grass, 

 which eventually had the effect of making her rise perpendicularly. 

 The nest was carefully fenced in with grass-stalks, of the thickness 

 of an ordinary cane, so that ingress and egress for so big a bird 

 must have been a matter of no little difficulty. A portion of the 

 stalks having been cut away disclosed nine eggs ; eight were hard- 

 set, and gave me a deal of trouble to make them into good speci- 

 mens, the ninth was abnormally small and quite fresh, measuring 

 only -8 x '6. 



Mr. J. Aitken remarks that "the Grey Partridge breeds in 

 Berar in the beginning of the year. I have only once found the 

 nest, but broken egg-shells may not unfrequently be found lying 

 on the ground. The nest was of grass ; it was well concealed 

 under a bush, and contained six eggs of a creamy-yellow colour ; 

 as they were perfectly fresh, more might possibly have been laid. 

 This was in the month of February. The birds nest I may say, 

 live always in the vicinity of water, their favourite haunt being 

 babool- jungle growing by the side of a stream, from which they 

 come out morning and evening into the fields to feed." 



Dr. Jerdon says that " this Partridge breeds chiefly in the dry 

 weather, from February to May or June, the hen bird laying 

 usually eight or ten eggs of a cream or stone colour, under a 

 hedgerow or thick bush." 



Colonel Butler tells us that in the neighbourhood of Deesa this 

 Partridge breeds in February, March, and April, and again in 



