SYPHEOTIDES AURITUS. 



Lesser Florikin. 



Otis aurita, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 660.— Less, in Belanger's Voy. aux Ind. Orient., p. 278 ; Atlas Ois., 

 pi. 10.— Jard. and Selb. II. Orn., vol. i. pi. 40, and vol. ii. pi. 92.— Jerd. 111. Ind. Orn., pi. xxxiii. 



— fulva, Sykes, in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc, part ii. 1832, p. 155. 



marmorata, Hardw. and Gray, 111. Ind. Zool., p. 60. 



Eupodotis aurita, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 533 ; Eupodotis, sp. 18. 



Sypheotides auritus, Gray, List of Spec, of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part iii. p. 57.— Blyth, Cat. of Birds in 



Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 259.— Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. part ii. p. 619. 

 Passarage Bustard, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., p. 228.— Id. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 365. 

 Charaz or Charas, Hindoos in the South of India. Chulla-charz, Hindoos of some parts of India. Likh, Hindoos 



in Hindoostan. 

 Tan-mor of the Mahrattas. Kan-noul, Canarese. Mala nimili, Telinga. All three names signify Ground Peafowl. 

 Wurragu Koli, Tamool. 

 Khartitar of the Bheels near Mhow, i. e., Grass Partridge, vulgo Ghas Ka murghi or Grass-fowl. (Jerdon.; 



How profusely ornamented are the males of most, if not all, the members of the Otididfs, or family of 

 Bustards ! — some being adorned with a lengthened crest, others with plumes on the neck or springing 

 from the ears, and others, again, being distinguished by some peculiar coloration of the body. In every 

 case, I believe, these adornments are seasonal, and only retained during the period of reproduction ; for 

 their assumption by the male is always accompanied by demonstrations of love for the female. In no 

 instance, perhaps, is ornamentation more singularly displayed than in the species here represented — one of 

 the smallest members of its family ; curiously enough, also, in this instance the male is smaller than the 

 female, a circumstance which combined with the difference in its colouring during the breeding-season, has 

 sadly puzzled many of the travellers and residents in India, by whom the bird has been considered as two 

 distinct species. But Mr. Jerdon has satisfactorily proved, both in his ' Illustrations of Indian Ornithology ' 

 and in his ' Birds of India,' that the Common and Black Florikin, as it is called in that country, are one and 

 the same species. His reasons for believing them to be identical are : — 



" 1st. All Black Florikins hitherto examined have been male birds. 



" 2ndly. The Black Florikin agrees exactly in size and comparative dimensions with the male of the 

 Common Florikin, but more especially in the length of wing and in the acumination of the primary quills, 

 the essential point of difference from the female. 



"3rdly. Some black feathers are in general to be found on every cock-bird, not, however, always 

 noticeable till the feathers of the abdomen are pulled aside ; and this mottling varies from a feather or two 

 to so many that the specimen would be considered by sportsmen a Black Florikin. 



" 4thly. I have watched the progressive change in birds at Jalnah, where a few couple always remain 

 and breed, from the garb of the female to the perfect Black Florikin, and back again from this, the nuptial 

 plumage, to the more sober livery of the rest of the year. 



" 5thly. I have seen more than one specimen of the cock-bird in the grey plumage which, from some 

 cause or other, had not as usual dropped the long ear-feathers ; but these had, in conformity with the change 

 in the system causing this alteration of plumage, become white. 



" These reasons will, I trust, be sufficient to convince the most sceptical of the identity of the Common 

 and Black Florikin. Other testimony might be brought forward in support, but I shall cite only that of 

 Lieut. Foljambes, in a brief paper in the ' Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' who, from observations 

 in Guzerat, where they appear very numerous, states it as his belief that they are the same bird, but that 

 the Black one is only met with in Guzerat during the monsoon, which is the breeding-season." 



"The Leek or Lesser Florikin," continues Mr. Jerdon, "is found throughout India, from near the base 

 of the Himalayas to the southernmost districts, but has not, I believe, been seen in Ceylon. It is more rare 

 in Northern India and Bengal, but has been killed even in Arrakan. It is most abundant in Central and 

 Western India during the rains, and in Southern India in the cold weather ; whilst those that have occurred 

 in Bengal and the neighbouring districts have chiefly been seen in the hot weather or commencement of the 

 rains. I saw it on the banks of the Ganges in April and May, and know of its having been occasionally 

 killed in Purneah in May and June. In the Carnatic, Mysore, the Deccan, and Northern Circars it is chiefly 

 found in the cold weather, from October to February and March ; and in the westernmost portion of 

 Central India and Western India, Guzerat, the neighbourhood of Malwah and Indore, and the southernmost 

 portion of Rajpootana chiefly during the rains, from June to September. The few that I saw in Saugor 



