wi iiiiMiiiitii mu 



Arboricola brunneopectus, Tickell. 



Vernacular Nan©S-— [Toun-hka (Burmese), Pegu ; 



HIS species is found in the Eastern Hills of Tenas- 

 serim, from, at any rate, as far south as the lati- 

 tude of Tavoy to our northern boundary north 

 of Tonghoo. It is also abundant along the eastern 

 slopes of the Pegu Hills, which bound the valley 

 of the Sitang on the west. 



Elsewhere it is not known to occur within our 

 limits, though it may extend along the hills further south 

 than I have above indicated. 



Wardlaw Ramsay met with it in the Karenee Hills, and it 

 doubtless (though this has yet to be ascertained) extends into 

 the southern portions of Independent Burma, the Shan States, 

 and the north-western portions, at any rate, of Siam. 



I KNOW nothing of this species personally. One of my 

 collectors, Mr. Darling, who procured me a considerable 

 series of specimens, notes as follows : — 



"There was not a day at Thoungyah that I did not see* 

 two or three coveys of this Partridge, counting each from 

 3 to 10 or even more birds ; but owing to their shyness and 

 dead-leaf colour, they are very difficult to secure. They feed 

 amongst the dead leaves on seeds, insects, and small shells, 

 and are very restless, giving a scratch here, a short run and 

 another scratch there, and so on, uttering a soft cooing whistle 

 all the time. When disturbed by a man, they always dis- 

 appeared into the dense undergrowths, but a dog always sent 

 them flying into some small tree, whence they would at once 

 begin calling to one another, whistling first low and soft, and 

 going up higher and shriller, till the call was taken up by 

 another bird. I often got quite close to them, but the instant 

 I was seen, away they ran helter-skelter in all directions, and 



* This was in September, October and November.— A. O. H. 



