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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVII. 



July. In tlie Eastern Diiars and the foot hills of Nepal, June and 

 May seem to be the two months principally affected as breeding 

 time, but in the higher ranges they once more revert to April. 



Everywhere the time is governed by the abundance of food, and 

 this in turn depends on the rainfall and the time of year the natives 

 burn off the grass. 



The nest varies considerably. As a rule it is a slight ill-formed 

 pad of dead leaves and grass collected in some small hollow in 

 grass or scrub jungle, but now and then one finds quite a well-made 

 nest. I once came across one near Shillong on the 6th June 1907 

 placed between grass roots on a small stony grass-covered hill close 

 to the station. Cattle had been feeding in this grass forming little 

 deep tracks amongst the roots, and the nest in question was wedged 

 into one of these. The base of the nest was a thick compact mass 

 of dead leaves, bracken-fronds and grass, and over this was placed 

 a thick lining of grass worked up on either side so that the nest was 

 almost semi-domed. The nearest bracken grew at least 100 yards 

 from the nest, so that in this instance the birds must have gone to 

 some trouble to make their nest comfortable. 



They breed up to 6,000 feet, but not often over 4,000, and prob- 

 ably their favourite altitude is under 2,000. They almost always 

 select sun-grass land in which to nest, and seem to prefer such as 

 is from 1 to 3 feet high. A few breed in high grass, ekra, elephant 

 grass and scrub jungle, but even in these instances they are invari- 

 ably near grass land and, almost equally invariably, the patches 

 themselves are small and not too dense. 



The nests are easy to find, for the Cock-bird calls long and cheerily 

 morning and evening close to it, and if one has a little patience it 

 can soon be located, moreover the hen sits very close in the cool of 

 these hours and seldom rises until one almost steps on her, when 

 away she goes with a tremendous whirr of wings and loud 

 protests against being disturbed. In the heat of the day the cock- 

 bird is silent and the hen leaves the nest, so that finding the nest 

 then becomes a mere matter of luck. 



As far as my own experience goes this Partridge does not lay large 

 clutches, and I think 4 to 6 is the number most often found, and 

 more than once I have known 3 eggs only to be incubated. I have 

 never seen more than 8 eggs in a clutch, and that only once, and 

 perhaps half-a-dozen times 7 eggs. I think 16 days is the period of 

 incubation, but it may be a day or two more. 



The eggs are, ^ as might be suspected, indistinguishable from 

 those of F. f. asiw, and vary over about the same range of colour 

 as does that bird, but on an average they are darker, and, I think, 

 browner and less olive. At the same time I have had one or two 

 clutches a very distinct dark olive-green. 



