THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. .17 



The number of eggs laid by the Pea-hen is generally 3 to 5 

 sometimes 6, but very rarely more, 8 was the largest clutch ever 

 found by Hume, whilst Marshall, Anderson and others never took 

 more than 6. Personally, I have never seen more than 5 in a nest, 

 and have taken 3 and 4 highly incubated. Miss Cockburn cer- 

 tainly declared that they lay from 1 to 15 eggs in the Neilgherries, 

 but much of her information was evidently obtained from natives, and 

 not first hand, and no other observer in these hills has corroborated 

 her statement, which maj?', I think, be dismissed as quite incorrect. 



The hen sits fairly close when the eggs are nearing hatching, 

 but at other times sneaks cjuietly away before she is spotted, and 

 the silence with which she will move away amongst dried leaves 

 and rustling grass is very striking, especially when compared with 

 the noise and fluster she creates when suddenly startled. 



Hume describes the eggs as — 



" Typical Rasorial ones, much like gigantic guinea-fowl's eggs, with 

 thick, very strong and glossy shells, closely pitted over their whole 

 surface with minute pores." 



In colour thej vary from a very pale cream or fawn to a warm 

 buff or cafe~au-kcit, the majority being a rather decided, though 

 pale buff or cream. Occasionally one comes across eggs which are 

 freckled with a colour the same as, but darker than, the ground 

 colour, and I have one egg in my collection which is mottled all 

 over with a dull grey which makes the egg look as if mildewed. 

 Hume also mentions eggs freckled with reddish brown as thickly 

 as those of the Monal, but such eggs are very exceptional. In 

 shape the eggs are broad blunt ovals, with both ends almost the 

 same, though they vary a good deal, and I have seen one clutch of 

 eggs almost as peg-top shaped as a Plover's. 



1 have no eggs bigger than the biggest in the Hume collection, 

 which measure 3" (=76'2 mm.) in length, and 2-2" (=58-9 mm.) 

 in breadth, but I have a remarkable clutch from the Khasia Hills 

 of which the five eggs average only 2*5" (= 63-5 mm.) x 1*8" 

 (= 45-7 mm.), and of which the smallest is only 2-45" (= 61*2 

 mm.) X 1-42" (= 35 mm.). 



Hume gives the average of 40 eggs as 2-74" (= 69-5 mm.) x 

 2*05" (=52 mm.). This is practically the same as the average of 

 the eggs I have had pass through my hands. 



Incubation of Peafowls' eggs is said to take 32 to 35 days in 

 England, but is shorter in India, and seldom exceeds 30 days. 



The Peafowl is, as is well known, polygamous, his harem con- 

 sisting of from two to five hens, but he takes no interest in the eggs 

 when laid or the young when hatched, leaving all the incubation 

 and care for the young to the females. 



Habits. — Wherever it is found the Peafowl is resident, whether 

 in the plains or in the hills. On the whole it is a bird of the plains 

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