572 BIRDS OP INDIA, 



cautiously and seizes the wild bird as it is heedlessly engaged in 

 the fight. 



This Partridge feeds on grain and seeds of all kinds, and is 

 very partial to small grasshoppers, white ants and other insects. It 

 is often accused of being a dirty feeder when living near villages, 

 but I am inclined to think unjustly. 



823. Ortygornis gularis, Temminck. 



Perdix, apud Temminck — Blyth, Cat. 1505— Hardwicke> 

 111. Ind. Zool. 1. pi. 56, f. 1. — Khyr, or Kyah or Kaijah, II. 

 — occasionally Ban-iitar, ' Chikore' or ' Bengal Chikore' of 

 sportsmen in Bengal. 



The Kyah Partridge. 



Descr. — Top of the head olive-brown ; supercilium, lores, and 

 a streak below the eye, pale buff or fulvous, and a dusky line 

 passes through the eyes to the upper part of the ear-coverts ; 

 upper plumage brown, barred with narrow cross streaks of whitish 

 or fulvous, edged black, and the shafts of the feathers mostly 

 white, except those of the hinder part of the back and rump ; 

 primaries plain brown externally, passing to ferruginous brown 

 within; tail ferruginous except the central feathers; beneath, 

 the chin and throat are bright ferruginous brown ; the rest of the 

 lower plumage, with the sides of the neck, are brown, with white 

 streaks, edged by black, which on the breast and belly become 

 large dashes or blotches, giving a handsome character to the 

 plumage ; lower tail-coverts ferruginous, and the under surface of 

 the wings mostly ferruginous also. 



Bill blackish ; irides dark brown ; legs dull red. Length 15 

 inches ; extent 22 ; wing 6f ; tail 4 ; bill at front nearly 1 ; 

 tarsus 2|; weight 17 oz. to 1 lb. G oz. 



The male is furnished Avith a strong and sharp spur, ^ inch 

 long. The female is a trifle smaller, and wants the spur. Length 

 13 J to 14 inches. 



This fine bird in its upper plumage, very closely resembles the 

 common Gre}^ Partridge, but the lower surface is very different, 



