THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 405 



Distribution. — The whole of India South of the habitat of jplwn- 

 U;pes down to Cape Oormorin. It is said also to enter Ceylon, btit I 

 have seen no skins which are not referable rather to the true pugnax 

 than to taijoor. It has not yet been recorded from Sind, but I have 

 recently had it sent to me from the Punjab, where it would appear 

 to be only a rare straggler, 



Nidificcdion. — Not to be distinguished in any way from that of 

 Ijlumbiijes, though, if Hume is correct, this continental form would 

 appear very often to be contented with laying its eggs in some 

 hollow without making a true nest. Even in such cases, however, 

 a rough collection of scraps of grass, etc, are always placed in the 

 hollow before the >eggs are laid. 



The season for laying may vary somewhat in different places, but 

 it may really be said to last more or less all the year round. Scar- 

 city of food naturally checks breeding so that in the driest portions 

 of its habitat the driest months of the year will form a gap in breed- 

 ing operations, and on the contrary when the rainfall is heaviest, the 

 birds will cease breeding during the height of the rains. 



The eggs are exactly like those of iDhimhiijes and vary to the same 

 extent, but average a trifle smaller, about -92" (=2-34 mm.) x 

 'T&' (= 1-93 mm.). 



In Hume's " Nests and Eggs " Gates gives the average of 30 

 eggs, practically all from Southern India, as -94" x 0-78" (=2-37 

 X 1-98 mm.) ; and in the Catalogue of Eggs in the British Museum 

 he again gives the extremes of measurement, for the same series, 

 i. e., between -8" x 1-04" (= 20-3 x 26-4 mm.) ; in length 

 •71" to -85" (= 18 X 21-6 mm.) in breadth, but these measure- 

 ments include the Eastern and Formosan eggs. 



TUEIS[IX PUGNAX ATEOGULARIS (Eyton). 



The Chinese Bustard Quail. 



Hemipodius atrogularis. — Eyton, P. Z. S., 1839, p. 107. 



Turnix taijoor. — Gates, in Hume-s Nests and Eggs, 2nd ed., iii., 

 p. 367 (part) ; Ggilvie-Grant, Cat. B. M., xxii., p. 530 (part) ; id., 

 Game B., i. p. 265 (part). 



Turnix imgnax. — Sharpe, Hand-List, i., p. 48 ; Gates, Cat. Eggs, 

 B.M., i., p. 69 (part) ; Blanford, Avifauna B. L, iv., p. 150 (part). 



Vernacular names. — Guske-coone, Nock-coone (Siamese) ; Ngon, 

 {Burmese). 



BescrixMon, adult female. — This is the most richly coloured of all 

 the forms of the Bustard Quails, the upper parts being very boldly 

 marked with black and deep rufous, the latter of a darker, redder 

 tint than is found in any of the other sub-species. 



The colours of the soft parts are the same as in imgnax. 



Measurements. — Eemales — Wing varjang between 3-32" (=84* 

 4 mm.) and 3-56" (=91-2 mm.), and averaging 3-45" (=87-6 mm.). 



