THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 595 



Colours of the soft parts. — Bill, fleshy white, greyish white, or pale 

 plumbeous, always with a yellowish tinge at the base, and sometimes 

 darker and brownish on culmen ; legs and feet yellow fleshy or fleshy 

 grey, sometimes with a tinge of orange ; claws the same ; irides straw 

 colour or white, probabljr always white in old birds. 



Measurements. — Length about 6-5" (= 165 mm.), tail about 1-5" 

 from vent (j= 38* 1 mm.), tarsus rather under 1-0" (=25'4mm.),bill 

 at front about "5" (=12-7mm.), and from gape about •7"(=17'8mm.). 

 The wing in a series of about 40 birds (including the so-called albl- 

 wwfns) varies from 3-10" (= 78-7mm.) to 3-52" (= 88-9mm.) with 

 an average for tanhi of 3*43" (= 87"lmm.)j and for alhiventris of 

 3-16" (= 80'2mm.), though some of the tanhi females are smaller 

 than the largest alhiventris. 



Mr. D. Seth Smith has a most interesting article on this Bustard 

 Quail in the Avicultural Magazine of 1903 (pp. 317 et seq.), and 

 from what he records it would really appear that the nuchal red 

 collar is only assumed by the female during the breeding season. 

 He says : — 



"It will be seen from the coloured illustration that appears 

 with this, that in Turnix tanhi the rufous nuchal collar is a 

 very well marked feature of the female, and my two examples 

 of this sex, when obtained on the 24th of October last, were 

 in perfect full colour. However, as the winter approached, 

 they commenced to moult, and the collar %vas com'pletely lost, the 

 plumage becoming apparently similar to that of the male, 

 though I did not handle the birds to examine them minutely. 

 The two females at this time exactly resemble some specimens 

 in the series at the Museum, which are labelled immature, but 

 which, I am now led to suppose, are really adults in winter 

 plumage. Another fact which tends to prove this conclusion 

 to be correct is, that a young female whose history I am about 

 to relate, had developed a perfect rufous nuchal collar, at the 

 age of six weeks. 



" In March the females gradually regained their rufous collars." 

 Adult male. — The adult male is similar to the first stage adult 

 female, but entirely wants the chestnut collar, the centre of the 

 breast is a paler, duller rufous buff", and the general appearance of 

 the upper parts is less bright, though the vermiculations are larger, 

 in places becoming almost bars. 



The younger male resembles the second stage of female described 

 but has no rufous collar. The colours of the soft parts are the 

 same as in the female, but the bill is said to be brown on the 

 culmen and at the tip. I have not noticed any difference myself 

 between the bills of males and females. 



Measurements : males. — Length about 6'0" (= 152-4mm.); tail 

 from vent about 1'3" (= 33-Omm.); bill at front about "45" 



