GALLOPERDIX LUNULOSA. 



Painted Spur-Fowl. 



Perdix lunulosa, Valeria (Blyth). 



lunulatus, Valeria Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat.— Gray. 



Hardwickii, Gray in Griff. An. Kingd. vol. iii. p. 48,-Gray, 111. Lid. Zool. vol. i. pi. 52.-Frankl in Proe 



of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part i. p. 123. 

 — lunulata, Cuv. Mus. Paris. 



nivosus, Deless. Rev. Zool. 1840, p. 100,-Ib. Mag. de Zool. 1840, Ois. pi. 18.-Ib. Voy. aux Indes 



pi. 10. 



— Hardwickii, Jerd. 111. Ind. Orn. pi. lxii. 



Francolinus lunulata, Less. Traite d'Orn. p. 504. 



Ithaginis lunulatus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 504, Ithaginis, sp. 2.-Gray, List of Birds in Brit. 



Mns. Coll. part iii. p. 32. 

 Galloper dix lunulosa, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 241. 

 Curria Partridge, Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. viii. p. 270 ? 

 Sitta Kodi, Telugu, Jerdon. 



The native habitat of this handsomely-marked species of Spur-Fowl is the jungled Ghauts of Southern India, 

 over which, if it be not universally, it is very generally dispersed, as is evidenced by specimens received 

 through various sources from those districts. It is said to extend its range, but in smaller numbers, as far 

 north as Scinde. The Hon. F. J. Shore found it at Jubulpoor in April 1835 and at Sagur in 1836, and 

 drawings of both sexes accompany the notes of that highly talented gentleman, but for whose premature 

 death the ornithology of India would have been far better known to us. 



In the early part of 1853 a living example of this fine bird was brought to England, and for many months 

 graced the menagerie of the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park, where it did not fail to attract the 

 notice of the visitors generally ; its sprightly actions and beautiful markings rendering it a conspicuous 

 object among the other denizens of the great aviary in the South Garden. When in a state of quietude 

 and repose, it usually stood in the attitude of the front figure in the accompanying Plate ; at other times, 

 especially when excited or on the alert, it assumed a more sprightly air, and carried the tail higher than the 

 line of the body, like the front figure of Galloperdix Zeylonensis. 



We are indebted to Mr. Jerdon of Madras for the greatest amount of information we possess respecting 

 this species. In his " Illustrations of Indian Ornithology," in which the female is figured for, I believe, the 

 first time, he says, — 



" In Southern India I have only found this very handsome Spur-Fowl in the jungles of the eastern Ghauts, 

 and in some of the spurs that jut out from them both above and below. M. Delessert procured it in the 

 neighbourhood of Pondicherry. I obtained many specimens from the Ghauts inland from Nellore, and I 

 have been told that it is found near Bellary, Cuddapah, and Hyderabad. Farther north I never saw it, from 

 Goomsoor, and it is unknown in Bengal and the Himalayas. General Hardwicke procured it, I believe, in 

 the north-west of India. 



" It associates in small flocks, keeping to the low shrubs and brushwood, and seeking its food among 

 fallen leaves and low herbage. I kept several individuals of this species alive for some time, and found 

 that it is a most pugnacious and quarrelsome bird. It carries its tail erect like the Jungle Fowl, to which 

 the natives invariably assert its affinity, as they also do F. spadiceus. 



" I have found that both the spotted and common Spur-Fowl feed much on insect food in the wild state, 

 especially on the larvee of two or three kinds of wood-bug (Reduvins), so abundant in most of our jungles." 



The Hon. Mr. Shore mentions that some specimens he had dressed, although in fine condition, were 

 poor in flavour, and that the female weighed barely nine ounces. 



The male has the head and neck black, with a streak down the stem and a spot of white near the tip of 

 each feather ; upper surface rich dark chestnut, with a spot of white encircled with black at the tip of each 



