BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 171 



will skim across the valley and alight again as soon as possible. 

 Its only call is a low chuckle frequently uttered, both when 

 alarmed and when going to roost." 



812.— Gallus ferruguieus, Gm. 



Pegu specimens are quite undistinguishable from our Indian 

 birds. 



Mr. Oates says : " The Jungle Fowl is extremely common, 

 perhaps more so on the Pegu Hills than in the plains ; in many 

 villages they are foimd up to the very fence, and no doubt they 

 interbreed with the domestic Fowl, some of which are undis- 

 tinguishable from the wild bird. The specimens sent were pur- 

 posely procured many miles from any village ; in some cases 

 twenty or thirty miles away in remote valleys. They may be 

 looked upon as genuine jungle-wallahs. A male measured — 



"Length, 28*2; expanse, 29; tail, from vent, 14*3; wing, 

 9; bill, from gape, 119 ; tarsus, 3*1; spur, 1"3. 



' ' The legs were purplish brown ; the claws, dark bluish horny ; 

 comb, wattles, eyelids, and entire skin of the head, deep dull red ; 

 irides, orange red ; bill, dark brown, reddish towards the base, and 

 paler at the tip of the lower mandible." 



819 ter.— Francolinus chinensis, Osb. F. Phayrei, 

 JBlyth. 



Specimens from Pegu correspond exactly with others from 

 Amoy and Fokien. Mr. Oates remarks : " This species is common 

 in the valley of the Irrawaddy, as low down as Prome ; south of 

 this town I have never seen nor heard it, though a few may 

 occur in the dry forests, called the l Engmah Indein/ 



" It frequents open places in forests, scrubby jungle, and waste 

 land ; a few may be flushed occasionally in a paddy field after 

 harvest, but, as a rule, it does not stay in the open country. It 

 has a call which is difficult to syllabicate; but in its general 

 character it resembles that of F. vulgaris, as noted in Jerdon. 

 It is particularly vociferous in June and July, at which time 

 it breeds. 



" It does not keep in flocks or coveys, though many are often 

 found in the same neighbourhood. The call is uttered from a 

 stump, and occasionally from the branch of a tree, as much as 

 ten feet from the ground. The sexes do not appear to differ in 

 size. Specimens that I measured varied as follows : — 



"Length, 12*6 to 13"1 ; expanse, 18 - 25 to 18*3; tail, from 

 vent, 2 # 7 to 3 - 35 ; wing, 5*25 to 5*8; bill, from gape, 0-95 to 

 1 • 2 ; tarsus, about 1 • 6 . 



" Of a female I have noted that the legs were a fine pale 

 orange ; claws, purplish grey ; bill, dark horny brown ; the gape 



