126 THE PAINTED BUSH-QUAIL. 



behind some bush, creeps softly up, throws a cloth over the hole, 

 and captures them. 



" In these, and other ways, great numbers are captured, partly 

 for sale, partly for fighting purposes. They are considered great 

 acquisitions by the natives of the plains, who greatly delight in 

 Quail-fighting, and lay large bets on the issue." 



Jerdon remarks, and I myself noticed this, that this species 

 rises with a less noisy whirr than the Rock and Jungle Bush- 

 Quails, the whole plumage being softer. 



They feed very greedily on the lesser millets, and when they 

 can get any of these like the " Sawan" [Panicum miliaceum\ they 

 feed on them exclusively, but at other times no small seeds or 

 insects seem to come amiss to them. 



From the end of August until well into April, according to 

 situation and elevation, eggs of the Painted Bush-Quail are to 

 be found. As in the case of many other species, their season 

 of nidification probably depends a good deal upon whether their 

 habitat is exposed to the south-west or north-east monsoon. 

 Possibly they have two broods. 



Ten is, I believe, the full complement of eggs, but many more 

 are said to be sometimes found, and perhaps two hens occasion- 

 ally share a nest. 



The nest is placed on the ground under the shelter of some 

 cover, and varies precisely as does that of the Rock Bush-Quail. 



Miss Cockburn writes : — " The Painted Bush-Quail breeds in 

 the months of January, February, and March, and again in Sep- 

 tember and October. They build no nests, but merely scratch 

 shallow holes in the ground, in which they lay from ten to 

 fourteen eggs. A few minutes after the young are hatched, 

 they are able to accompany their parents in search of food. I 

 do not know a prettier sight than a brood of these young Quails 

 running after the old birds. They are such pretty little dark 

 downy things, with three stripes of a very light cream colour 

 extending down their backs." 



From the Wynad, Darling reports : — 



" Down here the Painted Bush-Quail lays from August to 

 November. I have taken numbers of their nests both here and 

 on the Nilgiris. I have never found more than ten eggs. The 

 nest is on the ground, and is placed in a tuft of grass, or close 

 under a small bush, or in patches of weeds between the coffee 

 bushes. Sometimes it is merely a bare hole scratched in the 

 ground, but at others it is lined with grass." 



Eggs of this species sent me from the Nilgiris are long 

 ovals, pointed towards the small end, somewhat glossy, spotless, 

 and of an uniform, often very pale, cafe an lait colour. Both in 

 colour and size these eggs are intermediate between those of the 

 Grey Partridge and the Rock Bush-Quail. 



