PARTRIDGES. 



and occasionally is nearly as large as in adult males. The only character for distin- 

 guishing the sexes is in the lesser and median wing-coverts ; in the male, each of 

 these feathers being brownish buff, thickly vermiculated with black, with a chest- 

 nut blotch on either web, and a well-defined pale buff shaft-stripe down the middle, 

 while in the female the ground-colour is mostly black with wide-set transverse 

 buff bars, in addition to the buff shaft-stripe common to both sexes. 



Passing over the Madagascar partridge (Maryaroperdix mada- 

 gascariensis), distinguished by having only twelve tail-feathers, we 

 come to the pigmy Indian partridges, forming two genera with five species, all no 

 larger than the quail, but with handsome plumage. In all, the plumage of the 

 sexes is different, and the tail feebly developed, being less than half the length of 

 the w r ing ; in the first genus containing twelve feathers, and in the latter ten. The 

 jungle bush-quail (Pedicida asiatica), and the rock bush-quail (P. argunda), are 

 the representatives of the first genus. In the males the breast and under-parts are 

 white barred with black, but while in the former the chin and throat are bright 

 chestnut, in the latter they are dull brick-red. The females have the under-parts 

 vinaceous buff, but in the jungle bush-quail the chin and throat are bright chestnut 

 as in the males, while in the other the middle of the chin and throat are whitish. 

 The distribution of these species is complementary to each other, that is to say, 

 though both are found over the greater part of India, the localities they affect are 

 widely different, the jungle-quail being met with on hilly ground covered with 

 moderately thick forest and jungle, while the rock-quail prefers half -barren sandy 

 or rocky plains, studded with low scattered bushes. Mr. Hume describes the 

 former as " little, bustling, ground-birds, always keeping, according to my ex- 

 perience, in packs or families ; never coming out into the open ; always feeding in 

 grass, jungle, or stubble long enough to hide their tiny selves." The painted bush- 

 quails (Microperdix), are chiefly found in rocky ground interspersed with bushes, 

 fern, and high grass, and are met with in coveys, and prized by the natives on 

 account of their pugnacious habits. 



These partridges form a group characterised by the short tail, its 

 ' length being less than half that of the wing, and also by their 

 peculiarly long and rather straight nails, that of the first toe being well developed. 

 There are nearly twenty species, ranging from the Himalaya, through the Indo- 

 Chinese countries to Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Formosa, and Hainan. Unlike the 

 preceding genera, which are all ground-birds, though individuals may occasionally 

 perch, these partridges are not unfrequently in the habit of sitting in trees. The 

 colour in most of the species is a mixture of olive-brown, black, and rufous, but in 

 the species (Arbor icola ardens) from Hainan the chest is ornamented with a patch 

 of fiery red. All these birds frequent hill-forest, the common tree-partridge (A. 

 torqueolus) ranging to an elevation of fourteen thousand feet, and being seldom 

 flushed except with dogs ; but when they rise their flight is strong and swift. The 

 eggs differ from those of other partridges in being pure white. The plumage in 

 all but one is practically identical in both sexes, but in the tree-partridge of the 

 outer ranges of the Himalaya it differs considerably. In both male and female the 

 general colour of the upper-parts is olive-brown barred with black, and the sides 

 and flanks are grey, widely edged with chestnut, and spotted with white ; but the 



