ASSAM, SYLHET AND CACHAR. 3rll 



Western hills, twice in the basin, and once in the Eastera hills, 

 and I only procured it twice, m3.,atPhalel in the basin and 

 near Aimole. At the latter place, as I was standing near my 

 hut, one of this species suddenly appeared flying close to _me 

 and settled at my feet. I walked forward two paces intending 

 to flush and shoot it. It did not rise. It had dropped into a 

 tiny bunch of grass perhaps five inches in diameter, on clean 

 close cropped sward. So I looked carefully into the bunch and 

 there was the Quail, warm but stone dead. It bore no 

 signs of injury. I skinned it myself, it was absolutely un- 

 injured. I opened it carefully, it was a male with apparently 

 every organ (and I opened the skull) in perfect order. What 

 possessed that hapless Quail to die thus then and there is 

 past my comprehension. The Phalel bird (also a male) 

 measured : — 



Length, 6 6 ; expanse, 11-7 ; tail, IS ; wing, 3-5 ; tarsus, 

 106 ; bill from gape, 0-71 ; weight, 2-22ozs. 



Legs and feet very delicate pale leaden blue; claws 

 almost white; bill dull brown, dull bluish albescent 

 at gape and base of lower mandible ; irides white. 



This species is tolerably common in both Sylhet and Cachar, 

 and we have it from various places in both the Khasi and 

 Garo hills, and again from the valley from near Gauhatti, 

 from Tezpoor, and from both Khowang and Joonkotollee in the 

 Dibrugarh district. So that one may conclude that it is 

 generally distributed throughout Assam, Sylhet and Cachar, 

 alike in the less elevated hills and in the plains, but as a fact 

 I do not knoiv of its occurrence in the Naga hills. 



[The Indo-Malayan Bustard Quail is common in all the 

 Dibrugarh tea gardens in the rainy season. They breed then, 

 and evidently migrate, as during the cold weather none 

 are to be seen. I measured the following : — 



Legs and feet leaden blue in male, yellowish green in 

 female ; irides chalky white in both sexes ; bill horny brown, 

 paler at gape, where it is nearly white; in female leaden 

 blue.— J. R. C] 



It appears to be equally generally distributed in suitable 

 localities throughout the several provinces of British Burmah. 



