306 GALLING. 



Bill dusky-red, horny at tip ; irides from dull yellow to dusky- 

 brown ; legs and feet always red but vary in shade, from vermi- 

 lion-red to dull pink. 



Male, head and nape dusky olive-brown ; the forehead and 

 round the eye pale whity-brown, somewhat buff in some indi- 

 viduals ; chin, throat, and sides of neck, pale brown ; the rest 

 of the body, both above and below, rich brown-chesnut or bay, 

 each feather pale edged ; primaries brown ; the secondaries 

 and tertiaries more or less minutely mottled ; tail with the 

 central feathers chesnut, the others dark brown, more or less 

 mottled, this disappearing with age ; lower abdomen, vent, and 

 under tail-coverts, olivaceous. 



The female has the crown dusky-blackish, the neck olive-brown, 

 and the rest of the upper plumage pale rufous-brown, each 

 feather with two or three blackish bands, and minutely speckled, 

 and the tip pale ; the rump and upper tail-coverts are minutely 

 freckled; the tail mostly blackish, with mottled rufous bars, 

 tending to become obsolete ; primaries, their coverts, and the 

 winglet, spotless dusky-brown ; throat albescent ; neck olive-brown, 

 the feathers becoming rufous in the centre, and tipped with 

 black ; breast and flanks bright ferruginous, with narrow black 

 tips ; belly dusky -brown ; under tail-coverts freckled rufous-brown. 



The male bird has usually two spurs on each leg, sometimes 

 three on one, and occasionally two on one leg and one on another, 

 usually long and sharp. The hen-bird generally has one on each 

 leg, sometimes absent on one leg ; and occasionally two on one 

 leg and one on the other. 



The Red Spur Fowl is a permanent resident on the Sahyadri 

 Range, and in the forests adjoining ; it is also very common at 

 Aboo. 



Since the above was written I found it very abundant at 

 Baroli near Neemuch, extending at least as far as Erinpoora, 

 where I have myself obtained it. It breeds during thp hot season, 

 making a slight nest of leaves and grass on the ground, almost 

 exclusively in dense bamboo clumps. The eggs, six to eight in 

 number, vary in shape, but are typically the same shape as those 

 of the common hen. 



They also vary in color from pinkish-buff to creamy-white. 



They measure 1*65 inches by 1*21. 



Galloperdix lunulatus, Valenc. 



815.- Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 543 ; Butler, Deccan, 



Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 422 ; Game Birds of India, Vol. 



I, p. 255. 



THE PAINTED SPUR FOWL. 



Length, 12 to 13'6 ; expanse, 17'5 to 18'5 ; wing, 575 to 6'2 ; 

 tail, 4-3 to 5 ; bill from gape, 0'8 to 0'9 ; weight, 8 to 10 oz. 



Bill blackish-horny, paler beneath ; irides dark -brown ; legs and 

 feet plumbeous. 



