THE BROWN-BREASTED HILL PARTRIDGE. 89 



both to be particularly silent. I have occasionally seen them 

 in the bed of a nalla, where they were probably either bathing 

 or dusting themselves." 



We may conclude that they are denizens of the dense ever- 

 green forests, from almost sea level to an elevation of nearly 

 4,500 feet ; that, like most of the other Hill Partridges, they go 

 about in pairs in the spring, and in coveys in autumn, and 

 perhaps the early part of the colder season ; and that, generally, 

 their habits, &c, are much those of their familiar congener, 

 the Common Hill Partridge. 



Nothing is yet on record about their nidification. 



The FOLLOWING are the dimensions, &c., recorded from a large 

 series ; the plumage of the two sexes is identical, but the 

 males are rather larger than their spouses : — 



Males. — Length, 1 o*6 to ir6; expanse, 17*5 to 19*5; wing, 

 5 -2 to 6'0 ; tail from vent, 2T to 2*6; tarsus, 1*5 to 1*8 ; bill 

 from gape, roto it ; weight, 9 to 13 ozs. 



Females. — Length, 10*0 to I0'8 ; expanse, 17*0 to 18*4; wing, 

 5-15 to 5 -8 ; tail from vent, 2*2 to 2*5 ; tarsus, 1*5 to 17 ; bill 

 from gape, 0*98 to it ; weight, 8 to 12 ozs. 



Bill black ; irides deep brown ; eyelids, orbital patch, and 

 gular skin (thinly covered with feathers) bright red, but varying 

 in shade, and especially the two former often duller. The legs 

 and feet vary much in colour. Old adults always have them, I 

 believe, red, varying from dull coral to a pale bright red, but in 

 younger birds they are always pinker, in some a dirty salmon 

 pink, and, Mr. Oates says, though we have seen none such, even 

 orange. 



The PLATE is really very good ; only, in 19 specimens out of 20, 

 the breast is browner than in the specimen figured. 



The specimens vary very greatly in several respects. In the 

 first place, in some birds, the black spots on the head are very 

 small, leaving the prevailing tint olive brown ; in others they are 

 so large, becoming, especially on the occiput, broad tippings, as 

 to leave only a few spots of the brown peeping through here 

 and there ; in some the barrings of the back are very broad 

 and conspicuous, an eighth of an inch broad perhaps ; in others 

 they are not above a twentieth of an inch wide ; in some the 

 breast is only slightly tinged with rusty ; in others very strongly 

 so, and in these latter specimens the whole bird, above and 

 below, is somewhat more rufescent. 



In some specimens the red throat skin shows through a great 

 deal more than in others, or than is shown in the plate. 



12 



