PERDICULA ASIATICA. 



Asiatic Bush-Quail. 



Perdix asiaticus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 649. 



Asiatic Partridge, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 278.— Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 281. 



Coturnix rubiginosa, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 507. 



Coturnix Pentah, Sykes, in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc , part ii. p. 153. — Id. Trans. Zool. Soc, 



vol. ii. p. 19, pi. 3.— Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xii. p. 6. 

 Perdicula asiatica, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 254.— Adams in Proc. Zool. Soc, part xxvi. 



p. 504.— Blyth, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xx. p. 322. 

 Lowa, Hind, Blyth. 



There are no birds more puzzling to the ornithologist than the two species of little Bush-Quails inhabiting 

 India, for which Mr. Blyth has proposed the generic name of Perdicula — the variation in their colouring 

 and markings being almost infinite, and running one into the other in such a manner that it is impossible 

 to separate a collection of specimens into their proper species with any degree of certainty ; every ornitho- 

 logist, however, admits that there are two distinct species inhabiting the peninsula* of India — one, the 

 P. asiatica, being very generally dispersed over the greater part of the country, while the other, P. argoondah, 

 occurs in the Madras Presidency and some of the south-western provinces. The males of both species are 

 said to have their breasts strongly crescented with black on a white ground, while the adult female is of a 

 uniform bufFy brown ; or if the uniformity be broken, it is only by an increase of colour in the gorget. The 

 young during the first year, and probably for a longer period, have their backs mottled and freckled with 

 markings of brown and buff in an infinite variety of forms. 



" These birds," says Col. Sykes, speaking of the Bush-Quails of the Dukhun, " are met with only on the 

 mountains, on the slopes and sides of which they rise in coveys from amidst reeds and long grass and brush- 

 wood, with the same startling whirl, uttering cries of alarm, as C. argoondah. My specimens were shot at 

 4000 feet above the sea." 



Dr. Adams, on the other hand, states that it " frequents the valleys of the lower ranges of the Western 

 Himalayas, is gregarious and migratory. Its food consists of small seeds, such as mustard. Rises with a 

 quick whirring noise ; flies only a short distance, frequently dropping into the nearest bush, where it secretes 

 itself. I have not seen this species on the plains of India." 



Mr. Jerdon says, " It is an inhabitant of all the forests of S. India, and also occasionally and more 

 sparingly found in low jungles and wooded nullahs in the Carnatic and other regions. It is found at all 

 levels, from the neighbourhood of the sea to the summits of the lofty mountains of the Western Ghauts." 



The following is, I believe, a correct description of the two sexes. 



The male has the forehead, a broad stripe over the eye, and the throat-gorget rich reddish chestnut ; above 

 the red stripe over the eye a narrower streak of bufFy white ; through the eye, from the base of the bill, a 

 narrow line of white, and a third narrower line below the eye of the same colour ; ear-coverts brown ; all the 

 upper surface marbled with light brown, dark brown, and buff, some of the dark markings being in small, 

 others in large blotches, while the paler ones assume the form of streaks, spots, and bars; tail alter- 

 nately barred with irregular lines of black and rich buff; breast, abdomen, and flanks numerously and 

 alternately barred with black and greyish white ; vent, thighs, and under tail-coverts pale rufous ; irides 

 dark red ; bill slaty black, with a flesh-coloured base ; legs red. 



The female has the head and throat marked very like that of the male ; all the upper surface light 

 brown, minutely freckled with darker brown ; the scapularies and tertiaries streaked with buff, and marked 

 with large and conspicuous blotches of brownish black near the tip of the inner web ; under surface vinous 

 red ; irides, bill, and legs as in the male. 



The Plate represents two males and a female, of the size of life. 



