FRANCOLINUS PICTUS. 747 



a heavy shower of rain, when the cocks resort to the tops of the white-ants' hills and give out their harsh cry. 

 With a dog they may easily be found, but without it is difficult to flush them. By marking the spots from 

 which the crowing came, I generally found the birds in clumps of grass and bushes, of about 3 feet high or 

 less, out of which I put them by running into them with a shout. They fly straight and with considerable 

 speed, and were, as far as I can judge, usually in pairs. My friend, Mr. Edward Watson, informed me that 

 he had often shot, with the help of a dog, several brace in an afternoon at the same locality (Wellemade) of 

 which I now write. The flesh of this Partridge is good eating, and would, no doubt, be much improved could 

 it be kept as in a cold climate. 



Jerdon, who was a keen observer of the habits of Indian game-birds, has the following paragraph on this 

 species : — " It delights in grassy plains and fields, but more affects open, dry, and raised plains with scattered 

 bushes than the low -lying damper meadows that the Black Partridge delights in. It is always when the grain 

 is ripe, as well as at other times not unfrequently, to be found in wheat-fields and other cultivated lands, 

 occasionally in open and grassy glades in the midst of thin forest-jungle. It chiefly occurs in pairs, now and 

 then several, not far from each other. Early in the morning the cock bird may be heard uttering his peculiar 

 guttural call or broken ' crow/ chee-kee-kerray, chee-kee-kerray , which can be heard a very long way off, though 

 by no means loud, and is answered on all sides. On approaching the spot whence the sound proceeds, if 

 carefully looked for, he may be seen seated on the stump of a tree or a thick bush, or an ant-hill, or other 

 elevated spot ; but when he finds himself discovered, he sinks down and runs off in a way that puzzles dogs 



much When the grass is not too high, the Painted Partridge affords very fair shooting with a steady 



pointer, as also in the wheat-fields in November and December, when the birds have scattered. I have seen 

 this bird perch on a low tree, but very rarely, and only when disturbed by a dog." 



I have no doubt that the Uva birds take to the rice-fields in the same way when the grain is ripe. The 

 food of all the specimens I shot consisted entirely of black ants. The cry, as noticed by myself, resembled the 

 syllables quserk-quserk-quserk, and was one of the most singularly harsh and grating bird-sounds I have ever 

 heard. 



Mr. Blewitt writes that " it is peculiarly active, uttering a low click, click while it scratches up the ground 

 for food ; or it will roll itself in the dust and nestle on the ground with apparent delight, all the while uttering 

 the low click, click." 



Nidijication. — As I procured immature birds at Wellemade in May, I presume this Partridge breeds during 

 the November and December rains in Uva. According to Mr. Blewitt it breeds at Jhansi in July and 

 September, its nest being placed on the ground in a slight excavation, and under the shelter of a bush or thick 

 patch of grass ; it is made of roots of grass and grass itself. The regular number of eggs is seven or eight ; 

 and in shape " they are very broad and obtuse at the large end, and much pointed towards the small end." 

 " The colour," writes Mr. Hume, " varies a good deal ; some eggs are drabby white, with a faint greenish 

 tinge, others are brownish drab, others cream- colour, and some pale cafe au lait." They are spotless, and 

 measure 1*39 by 116 inch. 



5d 



