Capt. G. A. Perreau,



366



the true Quails of the genus Coturnix which appear to be poly¬

gamous, the males of the latter genus taking no notice of nests

or young, but proceeding to find other mates immediately those

they have paired with commence incubation. I11 the case

of Syncecus both parents continued to brood the young until the

latter were too big for such attentions, and when nearly full

grown old and young would keep together in one family-party.

At about two months old the sexes of the young were distinguish¬

able, the plumage of the two cocks being slightly more pinkish

than the hens and their markings less coarse.



A SMALL AVIARY IN THE HILLS IN INDIA.


By Capt. G. A. Perreau.


I have alwa3^s been very keen on keeping small birds in

outdoor aviaries, but until comparatively lately have not been

able to indulge in the luxury in India owing to frequent changes

of station. However in 1S9S I joined my present regiment at

Bakloh, a small station in Chamba State, which borders on

Jammu and Kashmir in the 'North-Western Himalayas. The

station stands nearly 5,000 feet in altitude and is 40 miles from the

nearest rail station. Like other Gurkha stations it is a permanent

station, i.e., one does not move in relief to other places, but

always comes back after temporary absences elsewhere (which

are pretty frequent), such as garrison duty on the frontier,

camps of exercise, &c. These absences are often very nice and

are certainly good for one, but they form the greatest drawback

to successful bird-keeping, and effectually put a stop to keeping

any but hardy seed-eaters, as will be shown later on. Our Aryan

brother, with few exceptions, cannot be trusted to look after birds

in the prolonged absence of the owner, unless he has practically

no excuse for things going wrong. I find that giving fresh water,

seed and a little green stuff, with perhaps an occasional clean out

and a bit of cuttle-fish bone is as much as I can expect from my

Mali, who in addition to his duties in the garden, looks after the

house and the biids during my absence. Of course my con¬

demnation only includes men of the lower menial class, and



