TURNTX TAIGOOR. 763 



do Dot differ materially in size, nor can be separated safely on the ground of difference in marking. He writes, 

 however (Str. Feath. vol. vi. p. 451), that " in T. plumbipes the prevailing tint of the interscapular region and 

 back is brown ; in T. taigoor the prevailing tint of these parts is rufous, and this difference extends more or less 

 to the head and the whole of the upper plumage." The rufous tints of the under surface are subject to the same 

 variation. 

 The oldest title applied to the Black-breasted Bustard-Quail was that of Temminck, T. pwjnax, PL Col. ; but the species 

 he described was said by him to inhabit Java, and may have been T. plwmbipes, the eastern ally of T. taigoor. As 

 Sykes, therefore, properly discriminated the peninsular Indian form under the last-named title, it has been adopted 

 by recent ornithologists as more definite than Temminck's original name. 



Distribution. — This Bustard-Quail is scattered over most of the open country in Ceylon, being more 

 numerous in some localities than in others. In the maritime districts of the Western Province, including the 

 sea-hoard from Manaar southwards to Chilaw, and in suitable localities round the south-west coast, it is 

 perhaps more common than elsewhere. Again, in portions of the Eastern Province where the ground is sandy 

 and covered -with low bushes it is numerous, as in the Yala district, where, Mr. Bligh writes me, it was 

 abundant ; and in the northern parts of the low country it is found in old clearings overgrown with grass and 

 shrubs, and also on open bushy land on the borders of tanks. Mr. Holdsworth remarks on its occurrence at 

 Aripu ; and northward of that place along the coast to the Jaffna peninsula (in which latter district Layard 

 says that it is abundant) it is also found. In the neighbourhood of Trincomalie I met with it frequently in 

 grassy places near village tanks and in jungle-clearings. It is common in the cinnamon-gardens of Negombo, 

 Colombo, and Morotuwa, and breeds even in public resorts, such as the "Circular," &c, where there are bushes 

 to afford it the necessary cover. 



To what elevation it ranges into the Kandyan zone I am unable to say ; but I have not myself met with 

 it in any high-lying patnas. It is, I believe, found on the Dumbara upland. 



On the mainland it inhabits suitable localities throughout the peninsula of India, extending westwards to 

 Cutch, where Dr. Stoliczka procured it, and in the opposite direction as far as Eastern Bengal, in which 

 district its Malayan ally, T. plumbipes, replaces it ; but beyond which, in Cachar and in the upper portions 

 of Burmah, according to Mr. Hume, it is again found, though not as commonly as the latter species. 

 In the Manbhum division of Chota Nagpur it was procured by Captain Beavan ; and Mr. Ball records it besides 

 from Lohardugga, Bilaspur, Nowagarh, and Karial, while Mr. Hume notes it from Raipur. In the Deccan it 

 is said to be sparingly scattered throughout ; and by the Rev. Dr. Fairbank it is recorded as common in the 

 Khandala district ; be likewise observed it in grain-fields near the base of the Palani hills. As regards the 

 north-west, Captain Butler remarks that it is not common and does not ascend the Aboo hills; and Mr. Hume 

 observes that he has not heard of it from Sindh , Jodhpoor, or Kattiawar. 



Habits. — The Black-breasted Bustard-Quail is an inhabitant of open scrub, long grass dotted with bushes, 

 the outskirts of low jungle, cinnamon-plantations, and such-like situations where cover is combined with grass 

 and rank vegetation. It is rarely found in damp spots like the last species, and, in fact, is especially partial to 

 sandy soil, which is the driest ground to be had anywhere in the maritime regions of Ceylon. It is only when 

 accompanied by their young brood that these birds are found in coveys ; they are generally met with singly, or 

 two at some little distance from each other ; they lie close, and when they rise either fly straight back over 

 your shoulder, or dart like an arrow round the nearest bush, suddenly alighting again when out of reach of 

 danger. At times they are very difficult to flush without a dog, as the bird runs in and out among bushes, 

 and dodges backwards and forwards and in and out among the grass and shrubs, most of the time visible to 

 the sportsman, who is eagerly waiting for it to rise. Some of the Bustard-Quails, and particularly the present 

 species, are remarkable for the Amazonian disposition of the females, which, being larger and more handsomely 

 plumaged than their partners, exhibit, during the breeding-season particularly, the bold and combative pro- 

 pensities which usually characterize the males. The hen birds attract each other by uttering their note, which 

 Jerdon aptly styles a "purring call;" and when a rencontre takes place they at once engage in combat. So 

 intent are they in carrying on the battle that I have stopped my carriage within a few yards of a pair fighting 

 by the roadside in the " cinnamon," and watched them for some time without their taking any notice of me ! 



5f 



