TKE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 203 



brown spotted, barred and edged with buff and dark rufous ; lower 

 back, rump, and shorter tail coverts rufous buff very finely edged and 

 boldly spotted with black, the tail coverts palest and dullest ; longest 

 and outer tail coverts white, densely covered with kidney-shaped 

 spots of black centred buflF. Primaries purple-grey, changing to 

 buff on the innermost, freely spotted with kidney -shaped spots like 

 those on the tail coverts, most numerous on the outer webs and 

 bases ; on the inner webs there is a broad line of pale rufous or 

 cinnamon densely covered with minute white specks ; this line is 

 shortest on the first and longest on the innermost primary, and 

 connecting this band with the shafts throughout their lengths are 

 fine bars of black. The shafts themselves are blue. The outer 

 secondaries are like the primaries, but have broad whitish margins 

 to the inner webs, and the spots on the oater webs are developed 

 into black longitudinal bands ; on the outer webs next the shafts, 

 also, there are occelli of iridescent buff, green-grey and purple 

 surrounded with black and with an outermost ring of pale buff; the 

 inner secondaries are withoiit occelli and are mottled black, rufous 

 and brown with white spots, over all of which there is a very faint 

 purple sheen ; on all the secondaries there is a broad ill-defined 

 terminal band of deep purple on which the markings are reduced to 

 white spots and specks and faint rufous bars. Central rectrices 

 black shading to rufous chestnut on the edge of the outer web and 

 to pale French grey on the inner web, both webs spotted with white, 

 these spots being smaller and surrounded by black on the outer 

 webs ; tips dull white. Remaining tail-feathers blackish, spotted 

 and speckled with white and mottled indistinctly. 



Below, from upper breast to vent rufous chestnut, dotted with 

 black and white on the foreneck, and mottled and barred with black 

 elsewhere ; centre of vent dull immarked ashy. 



Colours of soft ijarts. — Iris brown, hazel or greenish brown ; legs 

 and feet red, varying in tint from dull crimson pink to vivid scarlet 

 red ; claws pale bluish horny ; bill light bluish horny ; bare skin of 

 head and neck dull pale slate to blue-grey or bluish lead colour. 



" Iris greenish hazel, feet pale coral pink, bill whitish horn, 

 skin of head pale cobalt blue. " (Eobinson.) 



" The male has the legs and feet bright red, sometimes even 



a vermilion red. The female has them a paler and duller red, 



sometimes a litharge red ; the bill and claws are white, slightly 



tinged blue ; the cere, in the male, is the same colour as the 



bill, in the female pale brown ; irides wood to dark brown ; 



the facial skin pale dull indigo to dark plumbeous blue. 



(Hume.) 



Measurements. — Total length from bill to end of longest rectrices 



about six feet. Wing to end of primaries 17-5" (444 mm.) to 



19-5" (495 mm.) and to end of secondaries, anything between 30 



