206 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL RIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIl. 



From the crests of the hill one could see the birds afar ofE out in the 

 open scratching about and feeding like small barn-door fowls, and 

 every now and then the cock-bird would mount to the crest of an 

 ant-hill or the top of some fallen stump and ring out his hymn of 

 praise. Even in the breeding season and when the cock-birds were 

 calling from many directions, I never saw a calling bird attacked, 

 or, indeed, approached by another, and it never seemed to be either 

 uttered by the birds or accepted by others as a challenge to fight. 



They appeared to feed in the open only in the very early mornings 

 and again for about an hour in the evenings before sunset, but they 

 continued to crow much later and to start again earlier, whilst, 

 during the months of March, April and May, one might often hear 

 an odd call at almost any hour of the day. 



On the rare occasions I shot them for the pot I found them quite 

 nice eating, but I nearly always had. them in a stew-pot, as roast 

 they were rather dry. Birds of the year after they have been 

 feeding in the mustard fields on the young shoots are excellent 

 eating however cooked. 



When the hill rice is ripe they are very fond of lying up in the 

 thick cover it affords, and birds shot from them always have 

 their crops full of rice. 



The family parties seem to break tip in November or early De- 

 cember, but the grass was always so dense and high in these 

 months that it was not easy to know whether one had flushed the 

 whole party or not. 



They are very easy to keep in captivity, and become so tame 

 that they can be allowed almost total freedom without fear of losing 

 them except during the breeding season when they naturally 

 require closer looking after. 



Franc OLiNus pictus pictus. 

 The Southern Painted Partridge. 



Perdix picta— J a.rd. and Selb., 111. Orn., p], 50 (1828) (Bangalore) : Jard 

 Nat. Libi. Om. IV., p. 103, pi. III. (1834). 



Perdix hepburnii. — Gray, III. Ind. Zool. 1, pi. 55, Pig. 1 (1830-32). 



Francolinus pictus.— Gr&j, Gen. B. III., p. 505 (1846)''; Jerd. B of I IT p 

 561 (1863) (part) ; Blyth, Ibis, 1867, pp. 157-8 ; Holdsw., P. Z. S., 1872 ' p 469 

 (Ceylon) ; Hume, N. and E. Ind. Birds, p. 538 (1873) : Fairbank, Str.' Feath 

 IV., p. 262 (1876)( Deccan); Day. & Wen., ibid, VJI., p. 87 (1878) (Deccan) ': 

 Hume & Mara., Game-B. Ind. il., p. 19 (1879) (part) ; Legge., B. of Ceylon III 

 p. 744 (1880) ; Butler, Cat. B. of S. Bom., p. 68 (1880) ; Vidal., Str. Feath X ' 

 p. 160 (1881) (Western Ghats) ; Davidson, ibid, p. 316 (1882) (W. Khandesh) '• 

 Macgregor, ibid, p. 440 (1887) (Deccan & S. Mahratta) ; Taylor ibid p 530 



il^^^i'oSf^' !n-* ^"°''''' ^- ^ ^§S8 in., p. 430 (1890) (part) ; Ogilvie- Grant, 

 Ib.s. 1892, p. 40 (part) ; id., Cat. B. M. XXIL, p. 138 (1893) /id., Man. Game- 



