740 GALLUS LAFAYETTII. 



young chicks in July, and in the neighbourhood of Kadugannawa in December, whilst at Horton Plains young 

 have been seen in April ; and, finally, in the Kukul Korale I have taken its eggs in August. From this it 

 will appear that it breeds throughout the year. The nest is almost always placed on the ground near a tree, 

 under a bush, and beneath the shelter of a fallen log ; a hollow is scratched and a few dry leaves placed in 

 it for the eggs to repose upon. I once found a nest in damp soil between the large projecting flange-like 

 roots of the Doon-tree, containing two eggs partly incubated. I have generally found that the eggs do 

 not exceed two in number, but sometimes three and occasionally four are laid. The general colour is 

 creamy, but some eggs are whiter than others ; white specks sometimes prevail all over the shell in the same 

 manner as in the ordinary hen's eggs. Sometimes they are closely stippled with brownish specks or minute 

 points of reddish grey, which occasionally tend slightly to form an indistinct zone at one end, either the 

 smaller or larger. They vary from 175 to 20 inches in length by from 1-24 to l - 49 inch in breadth. 



In 1873 Mr. Parker found a nest on the top of a young tree about 30 feet high. He writes me that it 

 had the appearance of a Crow's or a Hawk's nest, of which the Jungle-hen had taken possession. She flew 

 off, and three eggs were found to be in the nest. After incubation the young would have been doubtless 

 carried down by the mother to the ground, just as young ducklings are conveyed from a tree-nest to water. 



The young chicks, when slightly larger than a Quail, fly well and very strongly ; they show their Galline 

 nature in displaying a strong affection for the parent. I once shot a hen which was accompanied by a brood 

 of half-grown chicks, and as I approached they ran to and fro by the dead bird until I was close to them, 

 when they flew off. 



The figures in the Plate represent a cock from the Trincomalie district, a female from the Horton Plains, 

 and a chick shot on the summit of Allegala Peak. 



Genus GALLOPEEDIX. 



Bill straighter than in Gallus, the culmen less curved and flattened at the base ; nostrils 

 lateral and elongated, placed in a capacious membrane ; the margin of the mandible widened 

 beneath the nostril and suddenly compressed towards the tip. Wings pointed, the primaries 

 acuminate ; the 6th quill the longest, and the 1st and 2nd much curved. Tail short, divaricate, 

 and of 14 feathers. Tarsus moderately long and stout, covered in front with pentagonal scales, 

 and armed with long spurs, the number on one leg sometimes exceeding that on the other. 

 Middle toe exceeding considerably the lateral ones, which are subequal. 



Head and throat feathered, but the orbits nude. Tail held erect. 



