TRE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA. 9 



The extent of the black markings varies to the same degree as 

 in that bird, but they are generall}^ bolder, and in one bird the 

 smaller vermiculations are entirely'' wanting on the upper surface, 

 the black being restricted to bold bars. 

 Colours of Soft Parts as in G. s. simdicea. 



Measurements. — Wing, 148-150 mm. (4 specimens); tail, 

 125-129 mm.; tarsus, about 48 mm.; spurs, from one on each leg 

 to two on each leg, up to 15 mm. long. 



The Young Male differs from the young male of tj^pical sijadicea 

 in being niTich more richly coloured. The upper parts are rufous 

 with the black bars reduced to stria3, whilst the breast and lower 

 parts are bright chestnut brick -red with the black markings 

 showing merely as black shaft lines on the extreme upper breast 

 and foreneck, and as obsolete bars elsewhere. 



Distribution.- — Travaiicore only, between the foot hills and 3,500 

 feet. 



Nidiiication. — The Travancore Spur-Fowl breeds during Febru- 

 ary and March, and it is during these two months only that Mr. 

 Stewart obtained all his eggs. The nest-hole is always scraped 

 in dense cover, and most often in some almost impenetrable cane 

 brake in evergreen forest. Less often it is placed under a bush 

 or a mass of creepers, and it may also occasionally be found in 

 thick bamboo jungle. Like G. spaiicea it makes no nest, the 

 only materials used being the fallen leaves and rubbish accumu- 

 lated on the ground. 



The eggs number 2 or 3 only, and whilst Mr. Stewart has 

 never seen or heard of more than 3, he has often taken 2 well 

 incubated. 



The eggs are, of course, quite inseparable from those of G. s. 

 simdicea. 



The average of 24 eggs is almost exactly 40 x 30 mm. The 

 largest I have measured in length and breadth was 41*7 x 31 -1 

 mm., and the smallest in length and breadth were 39-1 x 30-2 

 mm. and 40*7 x 28-3 mm. respectively. 



The cock is monogamous, and Mr. Stewart thinks they pro- 

 babl}^ pair for life, and as with the common Red Spur-Fowl, the 

 cock bird proves an excellent father and husband. 



They seem to breed only in the area of heaviest rainfall, to 

 which fact is due their brilliant and dark colouration. The 

 average rainfall is about 150 inches or more annually, an amount 

 greatly in excess of that falling over the greater part of the range 

 of the tyjaical bird. 



General Habits. — This Spur-Fowl is very common in Travancore 



on the Shinkotta Hills between 1,000 and 3,000 feet, being more 



common at elevations half-way between these two extremes, and 



sometimes being found still lower than 1,000 feet. They are 



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