38 THE LESSER FLORICAN OR LIKH. 



It more habitually erects its tail than any other species of 

 Bustard that I know, and Jerdon is quite correct in saying that, 

 as a rule, " walking or running it raises its tail, the lateral 

 feathers diverging downwards, while those of the centre are the 

 most elevated, as is seen in domestic fowls, &c." 



Its flight much resembles that of the larger Bengal species, 

 but it is, I think, rather more rapid and not so strong. 



I have never myself seen it hawked, but should fancy it 

 would fall an easy prey to a good Shaheen or Peregrine. 

 Jerdon says he has hawked it both with F.jugger and the 

 Shaheen, and that on one occasion he had slipped a Falcon 

 at one, when the Falcon, though in hot pursuit, being a little 

 behind, a pair of the Common Eagle {A. vindhiand) came down 

 from a vast height and joined in the pursuit. One of them 

 made a headlong sweep at it, which the Florican skilfully 

 avoided, but only to fall a victim to the other which stooped 

 almost immediately after its confederate, and dashed the quarry 

 lifeless to the ground with its back laid open for its whole length. 

 One of the very few specimens I obtained in the Etawah dis- 

 trict was killed in a similar manner by a Bonelli's Eagle (which 

 I shot) within 30 yards of me, and before I had had time to 

 fire at the Florican, which rose quite unexpectedly out of a 

 small patch of grass into which I had fired after a scuttling hare. 



The majority of the birds lay in September and October, 

 and in the regions into which I have already stated that they 

 migrate during the rains, but some still remain to breed in all 

 parts of Southern India, and a considerable number in the 

 Deccan, and Jerdon says : " I have put the hen bird off her nest 

 in August in the Deccan, and in October near Trichinopoly, and 

 have heard of the hen having been found incubating still later, 

 up to January indeed. 



As to the nests, they are mere depressions, often mere spaces, 

 between tufts of grass. 



Mr. Wenden, writing to me of two nests that he took, says : 

 " One nest was placed between the roots of several tufts of 

 tussock grass growing in black soil, and in the intermediate 

 space, the soil not being held up and protected by roots had 

 been washed out or had sunk from the effects of rain, and thus 

 a natural basin had been formed. In this the bird had excavated 

 a saucer-shaped hole, perhaps four inches deep and nine inches 

 in diameter, the bottom of which was bare. Round the edges 

 was a slight fringe of grass, which had not so much the appear- 

 ance of having been placed there by the bird for any purpose, 

 as it had of being simply scraped away from the actual sitting 

 place. The nest contained three eggs. 



" The other nest, taken on the 19th September, was the only 

 one which I had an opportunity of watching. The eggs were 

 deposited on the bare ground, which was perfectly level (without 



