THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 1115 



towards the plumage of the adult, and on the completion of this 

 moult, when he is just under two years old, he either obtains the 

 adult plumage in full or else he does so at the second yearly moult 

 in the autumn. From this time onwards there is no further 

 retrograde step. Of course, I have seen very many cocks in the 

 winter in either wholly female or half stage feathering but these 

 have been small birds which, though they were sometimes very 

 fat and in prime condition, never weighed more than 2 to 2^ lbs. 

 There is no doubt that a cock Florican takes at least two years to 

 grow to his greatest size and weight, and it is but natural that his 

 dress should keep pace with his growth and that he should not 

 arrive at his full splendour of plumage until he also arrives at his 

 full vigour and size. 



Distribution. — Although so many years have passed since Hume 

 described the habitat of the Florican, there is but little to add to 

 his account ; he says " The Bengal Florican is almost confined to 

 Eastern Bengal, the valley of Assam, the Bhutan Dooars,^nd those 

 portions of Bengal, Oudh and the North- Western Provinces lying 

 North of the Ganges. Jerdon says that it spreads through the 

 valley of the Jximna into Bajputana, the Cis-Sutlej States, and parts 

 of the Punjab ; but this is wrong. It is the Houbara that is found 

 in these localities, not the Bengal Florican ; but sportsmen con- 

 stantly call the Houbara the Florican, and hence the mistake. I 

 have never seen the true Florican anywhere west of the Kadar of 

 the Ganges, except as a rare straggler in the Dun ; and there again 

 it does not, to the best of my belief, extend further than the Kadar 

 of the Jumna. In Meerut I have killed both the Houbara and the 

 Likh, but it is only when you get quite down into the Kadar of 

 the Ganges at Hastinapur and Makhdumpur, or again southwards 

 below Garhmuktesar, that you meet the true Florican, and here we 

 used to pick up a few couples every cold season. 



" This species has been recorded from Tipperah and Sylhet, 

 but Captain Williamson tells me he has never seen it in the 

 latter, and both he and Mr. Inglis say the same as regards 

 Oachar. 



" This Florican is essentially Indian, and extends so far as we 

 know, nowhere beyond the limits of the empire. It is possible, 



