Vol. XXXV.] 134 



birds exhibited from Coimbatore (23 ius.), Madras (40 ins.), 

 Mysore (30 ins,), S. Konkan (37 ins.). West Khandeish 

 (22 ins.), and Saugor (49 ins,), all belonged to the rufous 

 form and were indistinguishable from specimens obtained 

 by Col. Wardlaw Ramsay in Burma near Karen-nee in a dry 

 plain at Kyaiphogyee, where the rainfall was very small : 

 all these scarcely differed in general colour from Chinese 

 examples from Canton and the Loo-choo Islands. 



When the rainfall exceeded 100 inches, the " plumbipes " 

 type with dark greyish-brown upperparts was met with. 

 As examples of this, specimens were shown from Sikhim 

 (112 ins.), Dibrughur (117 ins.), and Cachar (120 ins.), also 

 from Kossoom, Klang, and Singapore^ all with a rainfall of 

 about 200 inches, and from a locality in Formosa where the 

 fall was about 100 inches. 



Intermediate examples with the upperparts a mixture of 

 rufous and greyish-brown were shown from Pegu and 

 Thayetmyo (51 ins.) and Calcutta (66 ins,). 



So closely was the general colour of the upperparts in 

 these Bustard-Quails associated with the amount of rainfall 

 in the districts they inhabited, that it was possible to make 

 a fairly accurate estimate of the number of inches from the 

 colour of the plumage, 



Mr. Ogilvie-Grant said that he knew of no clearer or 

 better instance of the effect of climate on individual 

 variation. He united the whole of these birds under one 

 name, Turnix taigoor, with two phases of plumage — a rufous 

 and a grey-brown. He could see no possible advantage in 

 giving names to the endless intermediate forms or climatic 

 variations which occurred, as so many modern ornithologists 

 considered desirable. 



Mr. D. A. Bannerman : This is a very big question and 

 there are many aspects of the case to consider. The remark 

 which I wish to make is, I fear, rather far removed from the 

 subject under discussion, but I will instance a somewhat 

 remarkable case of adaptation. 



Lord Rothschild has remarked that when a bird becomes 

 dark the cause is usually considered to be dampness of the 



