THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 5 
wanders slowly about in small coveys, generally 5 or 6 in number, 
sometimes a dozen or so, in the latter instances the parties being 
formed either of two separate families or of two broods. As a rule 
the individuals will be found close together, but often they string out 
a good deal, and when this is the case they keep in touch with one 
another by means of a soft-low whistle constantly uttered as they 
move along. They also indulge in a crooning chuckle which they give 
vent to as they move about, turning over the leaves in their search for 
insects, seeds, etc., and scratching in all the fallen rubbish for odd 
scraps of food. I have often sat in the open forest and watched them 
feeding, and have been much impressed with their habit of conducting 
a sort of follow my leader game. First one bird will saunter casually 
along, scratching here and picking there, and then giving a quick 
little run to another attractive spot ; the next bird comes along and 
carries out almost exactly the same programme, and then another and 
another, until they have all passed out of sight, and one hears their 
low whistle gradually fade away in the distance, as they call to one 
another to “come on.” The illustration gives a capital idea of how 
these little birds come out to drink in a more or less open place. With 
moss coveys of game-birds when one of their number has taken the 
plunge and decided it is safe to face the open, the rest at once 
follow suit without further precautions, but with the Hill Partridges 
each individual has to satisfy himself that all is safe before he follows 
in the stept of those ahead of him. 
During the breeding season they split up into pairs, and the old 
birds drive off their last brood to fend for themselves. The call, I 
think there is no difference between that of male and female, is a loud 
double whistle, very clear and musical, and one which can be heard at 
a great distance. They are not fighters, as far as I am aware, but one 
hears their call ringing out morning and evening, all over the forests 
where these birds are plentiful, one bird answering another until the 
sun gets high in the mornings or the darkness begins to close down in 
the evenings. I have already syllablized this whistle as ‘‘ Wheea-whu”’ 
the first note rather prolonged, the second short and sharp. 
Although a partridge, one can really hardly consider this a gamebird 
from the sportsman’s point of view, for I know of no place where they 
are sufficiently plentiful to ensure a day’s sport. They fly well and 
fast, and are extraordinarily clever in getting through bamboo and 
tree forest without mishap, and to kill them in cover it takes a rare 
good shot to bowl them over with any certainty, for they twist, dodge 
and turn in every direction at full speed. When out Jungle-fowl 
shooting in N. Cachar, one or two of these birds generally formed a 
portion of the bag, but the number never exceeded a dozen, and was 
seldom half that number. 
They roost either on trees or on bamboos, and I have frequently 
disturbed them from such places during the heat of the day. When 
