156 THE INDIAN FAUNA 



Vultures range from south-western Asia into India, but no farther east. Of 

 these, the Egyptian vulture, which occurs in north-western India, is replaced 

 elsewhere in the country by the somewhat smaller Indian bird {Neophron 

 ginginianus). The range of the European griffon vulture extends to Nepal and 

 Sikhim and southwards to the Dekkan ; and the Indian griffon (Gyps indicus) 

 inhabits the peninsula from the plains of the Indus and Ganges to the south, and is 

 also found on the other side of the Bay of Bengal. A third kind, the slender- 

 beaked griffon (G. tenuirostris), is a native of the southern slopes of the Himalaya ; 

 while a fourth, the Bengal vulture (G. bengalensis), although absent from Ceylon 

 and not occurring above a moderate height in the Himalaya, is the most common 

 Indian vulture. These birds assemble in large flocks around the carcases of all 

 kinds of animals, and in 1878 and 1879 accompanied the British army into southern 

 Afghanistan to feed on the fallen camels. 



India is particularly rich in game-birds. Among these, the black - 



Game Birds. 



breasted or rain quail (Coturnix coromandelica), distinguished by the 

 large black patch on the chest and breast, is indigenous to India and the Malay 

 Peninsula. Chiefly Indian are the two bush-quails, small birds distinguished 

 from the true quails by the longer and straighter beak, as well as by the presence 

 of a short and blunt spur on the legs of the cocks. Of the two kinds the jungle 

 bush-quail (Pedicula asiatica) is irregularly distributed over India and Ceylon, 

 usually frequenting forests, grass-jungles, and broken ground, and generally found 

 in coveys. The other kind (P. argoonda) prefers more rocky situations. The 

 francolins are represented in northern and central India by the common species, 

 usually known as the black partridge (Francolinus vulgaris), which ranges from 

 Cyprus to Manipur. The painted f rancolin (F. pictus), on the other hand, is con- 

 fined to India, where it occurs to the south of the range of the common species. 

 Three other francolins (F. chinensis, F. pondicerianus, and F. gularis) are also 

 found in the country. Pheasants are abundant in certain parts of the Himalaya. 

 Among these is the chir (Catreus wallichi), characterised by a pendent crest, the 

 feathers of which are brown tipped with white. Of jungle-fowl, distinguished by 

 the comb extending along the middle of the head, by the wattles, the long curved 

 spurs and the length of the middle pair of tail feathers, two kinds occur in India, 

 and a third is restricted to Ceylon. Of these, the most widely distributed is 

 Gallus ferrugineus, the red jungle-fowl, whose range extends to Cochin China and 

 Sumatra. This bird is generally considered to be the ancestral form of domesti- 

 cated fowls, as typified by game-fowls (see Chap. VI.). From India domesti- 

 cated fowls appear to have spread north, east, and west over the Old World. The 

 Chinese kept them 1000 years B.C., and about the same time they were bred by the 

 Persians, Babylonians, and the inhabitants of Asia Minor. The ancient Greeks 

 kept them in the year 600 B.C., and in Italy they were known almost as early. 

 Domesticated fowls were likewise familiar to the ancient Britons as well as to the 

 inhabitants of central and southern Germany long before the Roman invasions. 

 They have been developed into numerous breeds, differing from each other in 

 many ways — bantams and dwarf Japanese, cochins, brahmas, crested houdans, 

 five-toed dorkings, langshans, Orpingtons, and many others bearing but little 

 resemblance to each other except in the general character, which marks them aa 



