402 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



frequently, compared by some to a bark 

 or a bellow ; chiefly heard however when 

 the bird is alarmed. . . . When raised it 

 generally takes a long flight, sometimes 

 three or four miles, with a steady con- 

 tinued flapping of its wings, at no great 

 height above the ground, and I never 

 found that it had any difficulty in 

 rising, not even requiring to run one 

 step." 



Dr. Jerdon, in giving the breeding 

 season above as from October to March, 

 must, I think, have meant to say March 

 to October, for it is during this period 

 only that nests and eggs of this bird have 

 been found by Mr. Hume's numerous 

 correspondents. The nest is a depression 

 in the ground in open wastes or in fields 

 of stubble of the larger millets or in 

 clumps and patches of high grass. Only 

 one egg is laid. The variation in the 

 colour of the eggs of this Bustard is 

 very remarkable. The ground-colour is 

 usually green combined with brown in 

 varying proportions, sometimes a yellowish 

 stone-colour. Some eggs are dull, others 

 highly glossy. The markings on the eggs 

 vary very much in extent and intensity, 

 but they are usually some shade of reddish 

 brown disposed in blotches and streaks. 



