214 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



have in my collection a clutch of six taken by Dr. H. N. Coltart 

 in Margherita, Assam. 



Mr. C. W. Beebe and others have examined many female birds, 

 and have assured me that in no case have they found more than two 

 ova in the ovaries, and certainly no captive bird has ever been 

 known to lay more than two eggs. 



Some of my nests, however, have been found under circiimstances 

 which would appear to effectively disprove the suggestions that the 

 larger clutches are the productions of more than a single hen 

 pheasant. 



One siich instance I can well recall. I was at the time camping 

 on the Diyung River in N. Cachar, and m}^ camp, a cluster of rough 

 grass huts, was placed in the middle of a number of " jhums " (rice- 

 clearings) on the hill side, divided from one another by narrow, 

 strips of dwarf bamboo and bush jungle. The "jhums" extended 

 practically without inteiruption for nearly three quarters of a mile 

 along the river bank whilst they also ran up the sides of the hills for 

 a distance of a quarter to half a mile fi'om the river. At one place, 

 however, the ground had proved too broken to allow of easy cultiva- 

 tion, so that after it had been partially cleared it had been again 

 abandoned, there, for about a hundred yards either way, had grown 

 lip a wild tangle of raspberry canes, shrubs, and high grass, 

 interspersed with cluuips of bamboos, a few young saplings, and 

 one or two big trees which had escaped being cut b}^ the cultivators. 



I had been busy fishing in the stream below this patch, and 

 was just about to return to my camp when I heard the hoarse 

 chuckle of a Peacock-Pheasant in the bushes close above me. It 

 was too late then to search for the eggs, if an}', but very early the 

 next morning with the assistance of two or three Nagas, I com- 

 menced hunting all through in the hopes of finding the nest, and in 

 about half an hour, one of the JsTagas announced the find. The nest 

 Isij in a bed of weeds and nettles and contained five eggs ; the 

 vegetation around M^as untrodden by the birds biit a well-worn 

 tunnel through the weeds showed how they approached and left the 

 nest. A few nooses were set by the Naga inside the tunnel, and 

 within half an hour the female was caught after which a beat through 

 the bushes put up the cock bird which was shot. With the excep- 

 tion of a couple of Bustard Quail, this patch of cover held no other 

 game bird, and from its isolated position it would appear most un- 

 likely that two other hens should have discovered this nest and 

 ventiired across the open cultivation to lay in it. 



The only nest recorded by Hume and Marshall is that described 

 by Mr. Clarke who says of the eggs: "one egg hatched, the others 

 went bad "; so in this case also there were more than two. 



The eggs of the Grey Peacock-Pheasant are just like small eggs 

 of the domestic fowl. In colour the}'' are usually a rather rich 



