LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 529 
are, I should say, only in fair numbers on the lake. I 
have never seen large flocks of them, and, although I have 
met with a few near Barkul and off Monglajuri, the 
majority congregate near Bhusandpur and Parikud. At Barkul, 
the D. P. W. bungalow is built on the edge of the lake, so 
I had many opportunities last month of watching the com- 
paratively few Water-fowl that had not left for the north from 
the verandah. There were numerous parties of Limosa cgo- 
cephala along the shore, ranging from a pair of birds to a couple 
of hundred. I several times noticed that those birds which 
were standing a little way out where the water was about 
six or seven inches deep submerged their heads and necks 
entirely in search of food, somuch so indeed that I often 
mistook them for Teal until they raised their heads. Their 
plumage then (at the end of March) was in the transition 
stage, the head and neck being quite rufous; we shot 13 or 
14 of these birds. The Demoiselle Crane, the Uriyas call 
it Garara, is to be found in flocks cf about 100 birds here 
and there along the shore of the Chilka. One flock annually 
visits Bhusandpur, where we shot the Crane. I have also seen 
flocks flying overhead at Khorda head-quarters, at Barkul and 
Cuttack, their peculiar cry, like a grating cart wheel, being 
quite unmistakable. And now to come back to our jungle 
birds. The Red Spur Fowl is very common all over the estate ; 
any rocky bamboo-clad hill is a certain find with us. 
They do come also into the jungle at the base of the hill 
and for some distance on to the flat, but the majority will be 
found either on the hill itself or in the very skirts of the bam- 
boo in the open at the base of the hill. Of course they are 
only found in the open either in the morning or evening. 
The Painted Spur Fowl is very rare; only one specimen has 
been shot here as far as Iam aware, and that was shot last 
year by Mr. E. Wylly, of the Forest Department, at or near 
Panchgarh. By the way we have often heard a peculiar call 
in the early morning, something like the syllables To-Kay, 
To-Kay, repeated several times. The natives say it is the 
call of the “ Kainjar” or Red Spur Fowl. I have not been able 
to verify this, but my father has. I know that Spur Fowl were 
in the vicinity wherever we heard this call. 
Among the Quails we get a few of the “common” in the 
cold weather, and the Rain, Bush, Indian, Bustard and Button 
(Turniz joudera) Quails all the year round. The Khorda 
jungles are very difficult to shoot in, being excessively dense 
in most places and one mass of thorny bushes. I am 
speaking now of those jungles where the Quails are to be 
found. The birds get up so close, and after dodging over the 
first bush drop so suddenly that nearly every attempt to shoot 
