140 GAME BIRDS OF INDIA AND ASIA. 



The Jungle Bush-Quail. 



Perdicula asiatica. Faun. Brit. India, Birds, 

 Vol. IV., p. 118. 



Native names : — Lowa, Hind ; Juhar, in 

 Manbhum ; Auriconnai, Sonthal ; Girza 

 -pitta, Telegu ; Kari lowga, Canarese. 



The male of this species is brown above, mottled 

 and pencilled with black and buff ; the head is most- 

 ly of a bright chestnut with white eyebrows, and the 

 underparts conspicuously barred across with black 

 and white. The female has the same chestnut head, 

 but no barring below, the whole plumage being a 

 nearly uniform light brown. 



The young have no chestnut on the head, and a 

 brown plumage streaked with buff above and 

 whitish below. 



In all the pinion-quills are plain brown on the 

 inner web and spotted with buff on the outer. 



The bill is black, the eyes brown, and the legs are 

 orange. 



This, although a thick-set little bird, is decidedly 

 smaller than the common or grey quail, being only 

 a little over six inches long, with a wing of a little 

 over three inches and tail about half as long. 



It inhabits v/ell-wooded tracts in the Indian Pen- 

 insula, and also in the northern part of Ceylon. It 

 is almost always in little flocks, from half-a- 

 dozen to more than twice that number going about 

 together, shooting off in all directions \\-hen alarmed, 

 but quickly collecting again. Their call is a long 

 trilling whistle, something like that which forms 

 so large a part of the song of the German ' ' Roller ' ' 



