252 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



latter all end here, and must presumably be only the " preliminaries," for I 

 have never yet seen a pair in copula. I must not forget to mention here two 

 other points. The first is that I have usually noticed more than two birds 

 taking part in these courtships, and the second is that the hens in this 

 species sometimes appear to court the cocks. On the 25th June 1911 I came 

 across three birds — a large one, and two small ones — indulging in the antics 

 already described. The large bird was a cock, and the two small ones were^ 

 I think, hens ; and I mast confess that their behaviour gave me the impres- 

 sion that they were fightiag with each other for the. possession of the male. 

 One of the small birds drove the other small one away, and then she 

 squatted on a branch by the side of the large bird. Just as they got to- 

 gether, I shot the couple, and on dissection, they turned out, as I suspected, 

 to be of the opposite sexes. Now the bird that had been driven away was, 

 as already stated, a small bird, and I think there can be little doubt that 

 it was another female. In spite of repeated attempts, however, I failed to 

 secure it, for had I succeeded, all uncertainty in the matter would have 

 been removed, still I hive no doabt whatever in my own mmd that it was 

 9. female. All this behaviour on the part of the hens sounds very unladylike, 

 1 know, and is at variance with Darwin's theory of Sexual Selection, to 

 wit, that among all species of animals there is a competition among the 

 males to secure females as mates, but I take this opportunity of putting 

 on record what I think to be true. 



Hume states that this bird " lays during May and June, and perhaps 

 part of July : " the earliest and latest dates mentioned in his work " Nests 

 and Eggs," (2nd edition), on which eggs were found are : — 



Earliest date . . . . 21st May . . . . Sikkim : 2 fresh eggs. 



Latest date . . . . 10th July . . . . Naini Tal: this nest was 



really found on 

 11th July " con- 

 taining two chicks 

 not a day old." 

 My earliest and latest dates are 9th June, (3 semi-incubated eggs), and 

 7th August (3 fresh eggs), respectively. I may, however, mention that on 

 the 9th May I found a nest containing two young ones, about a week or 

 ten days old. The eggs in this case must have been laid some time 

 during the third loeeh of April, but this is exceptional. In these parts May 

 and June are undoubtedly the mon ths during which the majority of these 

 birds lay ; most eggs are, however, to be taken in June. In regard to the 

 breeding time of this species, Captain G. F. L. Marshall notes : — "■ Nest 

 building commences May : Eggs taken at Murree on 5th June, in Kumaon 

 on 29th June and 3rd July : season ends. " 



These Sibias never breed] in company, and they only rear one brood 

 annually. 



