110 Capi. H. S. Wood — Humes Bush-quail [No. 2, 



Note on Humes Bush-quail (Microperdix manipurensis) . — By Captain 

 H. S. Wood, i.m.s. Gommunicated by the Natural History Secretary, 



[Received May 26th ; Read June 7fch, 1899.] 



During iny seven years of residence in Manipur I must have sliot 

 over 80 birds of this species there. Tt is by no means such a rare bird 

 as Hume thinks. For my part I thought it was one of the ordinary 

 quails until I saw a description of the bird in Mr. Gates' last 

 book, and I sent a skin to the Indian Museum. I also gave Mr. Turner 

 of Cooper's Hill a few specimens which he had stuffed by a trained 

 taxidermist. I was surprised to find that there were so few specimens 

 in the Museums and regret that I did not keep the skins of a few more. 

 The Manipuri name for the bird is Lanz-Soihol, literally, the Trap Quail, 

 as the Nagas snare this bird in nooses after the jungle fires. These 

 birds breed in Manipur ; the egg as in all the quail tribe is very large 

 in proportion to the size of the bird, and is of a greenish colour 

 blotched with patches of brown and black. The nest is merely a hole 

 scraped in the ground and there is no particular nest formation. The 

 eggs in my possession unfortunately got broken in transit or else they 

 would have been valuable. I have only seen these birds at certain 

 times of the year, during the rains and before the jungle fires. They 

 keep to vei-y dense jungle composed entirely of sun and elephant grass, 

 and as they are great runners they are very hard to see. It is only after 

 the jungle fires from February to April that one sees these birds in any 

 quantity. They are always in coveys varying in number from 6 to 

 8. They are great runners and at first look like black rats running 

 along the ground and are hard to see in the burnt grass the colour of 

 which they so resemble. They will rise readily to dogs and after a 

 short flight drop again into any patch of unburnt grass. I found them 

 in greatest abundance in jungles adjoining nullahs in which there was 

 a certain amount of water, — in fact they are always found close to water. 

 Their call is a low whistle, soft in character, and this is heard chiefly 

 in the evening after one has been firing the jungle, apparently a call for 

 the assembly. This is a very handsome quail when closely examined, 

 the breast markings being particularly handsome. I have never seen 

 these birds in the low Hills. They are associates of the common 

 francolin and where one is found the other is also in the locality. When 

 running they keep very close to each other ; in this way I have bagged 

 as many as four in a single shot. Hume's description as to details 

 of colouring is so accurate that I have nothing to add. 



