104 GAME BIRDS OF INDIA AND ASIA. 



is hard to flush, being an inveterate runner, and 

 when you have got it is apt to be dry and flavour- 

 less ; the best time to get it in good condition is 

 in the early part of the cold weather. It has a 

 very bad reputation as a filthy feeder, but both 

 Pea-fowl and Jungle-fowl, when found near villages, 

 are by no means blameless in this respect, so that 

 very possibly the humble partridge is not so very 

 much behind his betters. 



The breeding-season of this bird is an extended 

 one, for while it usually goes to nest between Feb- 

 ruary and June, many breed a second time be- 

 tween September and November ; the eggs are 

 brownish white, and six to nine form the set. 



The Swamp Partridge. 



Francolinus gularis. Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, 

 Vol. IV, p. 141. 



Native najwes -.—Khyah, Khyr, Kaijah, 

 Bengali ; Koi, koera, Assamese ; Bhil-titar, 

 Cachari ; it was formerly sometimes erro- 

 neously called Chukore by European sports- 

 men. 



This species is easily distinguished from most 

 of our partridges by its large size and compara- 

 tively long legs ; as in the last species, the sexes 

 are alike in plumage, but the cock is easily distin- 

 guishable by his spurs. The upper plumage is 

 brown barred with bufE, and the outer tail-feathers 

 chestnut, as in the Grey Partridge ; but the throat 

 is bright rust-red, and the rest of the under-parts 

 brown longitudinally streaked with white. The 



