THE GAME BIRD8 OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 389 



its habitat ; in the same way birds from Pegu and certain of the 

 drier portions of Southern Burmah also somewhat approach the 

 South Indian form, but are still, on the whole, nearer to the typical 

 Burmese form than to the South Indian one. 



This race, or sub-species, should be known as Turnix ]pugnax 

 flumhipes (Hodgson, 1837). 



Directly we get South of the districts named as being the habitat 

 of Turnix jp. plumhi^yes we come to yet a third sub-species, a decidedly 

 smaller and very much paler race, typically of a very bright rufous 

 above, but running from this colour to a pale, almost isabelline gi'ej 

 in birds from the extreme North-East of its habitat. As a rule in 

 this race the under parts are at least as strongly marked as in 

 plumhi2oes, but, in addition to being paler and more rufous on the 

 upper parts, the pale borders to the scapulars and wing coverts, 

 generally, are far more developed, and there are also more of the 

 longitudinal pale marks on the back. 



In size this bird is at once noticeably smaller than the preceding 

 sub-species. Calcutta females have a wing of 3*32" (^84-3mm.) 

 and males of o-03" (=77-0mm.). Those from North-West, Central 

 and West India are practically the same, whilst those from South 

 India have them under 3-20"(=81-8mm.) and 2-93"(=74-4mm.) 

 respectively. 



This form occurs in its Easternmost limits in and about Calcutta, 

 and specimens obtained in the Botanical Gardens of that city are 

 very pale, quite as pale as many Southern Indian birds, but they 

 are of an isabelline grey rather than a rufous, though one specimen 

 has this colour considerably developed. From Calcutta it works 

 Westwards, South of the Indian districts mentioned above, and by 

 the time Manbhoom is reached we have a typical Southern Indian 

 pale rufous bird. North and West it stretches away to Oudh and 

 the North-West Provinces into Bombay, Cutch and Rajputana and 

 South to the extreme limits of Madras and Travancore, also crossing 

 into the North of Ceylon. 



This sub-species is that which Sykes named iaijoor from specimens 

 obtained by him in the Deccan, and it will therefore stand as 

 Turnix ])ugnax iaijoor (Sykes, 1832). 



In Ceylon we have yet another race which is, once more, darker 

 above, approaching very nearly in colouration to the birds found in 

 China and the Shan States, but it is less rich in general tint, not quite 

 so dark, and has, in most of the females, a fairly well defined rufous 

 collar on the nape and upper shoiilders. In the numerous specimens 

 of Southern Indian birds which I have examined, I can find no 

 trace of this collar in any well-made and complete skin, and the 

 Ceylon form seems to be exactly the same in every detail as that 

 which is found in Java and Sumatra, which Ogilvie-Grant has 

 divided from taijoor as a sub-species, named imgnax. 



