PEBDIOULA. Ill) 



cheeks, chin, and throat rufous-chestnut ; yelloxvish-white stripes 

 speckled with rufous above the supercilia and cheeks ; ear-coverts 

 brown ; breast and abdomen barred across with black and white 

 or buffy white, the bars a little broader behind ; thighs, lower 

 abdomen, and lower tail-coverts rufous, varying in tint. 



The adult female has the head and throat coloured as in the 

 male ; the upper parts are more uniform ; the pale shaft-stripes 

 are absent on the back, and narrow, or in old birds wanting, on 

 the scapulars and wing-coverts ; the lower parts from the throat are 

 uniform dull rufous with a vinaceous or lilac tinge. 



Immature birds want the chestnut on the head ; the upper parts 

 are much as in the male, but with broader buff shaft-stripes 

 throughout ; the lower surface is dull rufous or pale rufous-brown, 

 with whitish shaft-stripes. The change to the adult plumage is 

 gradual. 



Bill black or dusky, with a reddish tinge at the base, lower 

 mandible usually paler ; irides brown ; legs yellowish red. 



Length about 6-5; tail 1*5; wing 3-25 ; tarsus -95; bill from 

 gape '55. 



Distribution. The Indian Peninsula from the Lower Himalayas 

 to Cape Comorin, in well- wooded tracts only. This bird is found 

 in the lower ranges of Kashmir, on Mount Abu and the Kuchawan 

 hills of Jodhpore, but not farther west, whilst it is of rare occur- 

 rence in Lower Bengal east of Midnapur and the Eajmehal hills, 

 and unknown farther east. It is common in parts of the X.W. 

 Provinces, in Western Bengal, Orissa, the Central Provinces, 

 throughout the Western Ghats, and in parts of the ^Malabar low- 

 lands. It also occurs in the northern part of Ceylon. 



Habits, fyc. The Jungle Bush-Quail is an inhabitant of forests, 

 hills, ravines, thick bush, and rich cultivation. As Jerdon says, 

 " This Bush-Quail is found in coveys or bevies of from, six or eight, 

 to a dozen or more, and generally all rise at once with a loud 

 whirring sound, and after a short flight drop again into the 

 jungle." It is an exception to meet with these birds except in 

 little flocks, and when disturbed they generally fly in all directions, 

 but quickly reassemble. They feed chiefly on grass seeds, partly 

 on insects, and frequently utter a peculiar chirp or whistle. The 

 breeding-season is from September to February ; five to seven 

 creamy-white eggs, measuring about 1 by "83, are laid in a grass 

 nest on the ground, usually under a bush or tuft of grass. 



1358. Perdicula argunda. The EocJc Bush-Quail. 



Coturnix argoondah, Sykcs, P. Z. 8. 1832, p. 153 ; id. Trans. Z. tf. 



ii, p. 17, pi. ii. 

 Perdicula asiatica, apud Blyth, Cat. p. 254 ; Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 080 ; 



Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xli, pt. 2, p. 230 ; Adam, S. F. i, p. 392 ; 



Butler, S. F. iv, p. 7 ; Fairbank, ibid. p. 262 ; nee Lath. 

 Perdicula argoondah, Hume, N. fy E. p. 545 : id. S. F. vii, p. 159: 



Hume & Marsh. Game B. ii, p. 117, pi. ; Hume, Cat. no. 827 ; 



Butler, S. F. ix, p. 423 ; Davidson, S. F. x, p. 317 ; Barnes, Birds 



