252 THE RED SPUR-FOWL. 



" I never took the nest myself, but its eggs were brought me 

 during the early part of May, and my Shikaris and the Bhils 

 employed said that the nests were flat and shallow, composed 

 of dry bamboo leaves and placed under, or even in the middle 

 of, clumps of bamboo, in the deeper valleys." 



" I have frequently seen the young broods," writes Captain 

 Butler, " varying in number from four to eight, but have only 

 once seen the nest which I found at Mahabaleshwar. It consist- 

 ed of a slight depression in the ground, probably scratched by 

 the hen bird, amongst a quantity of dead leaves, which formed 

 a lining to the nest, in dense low jungle. The eggs, seven in 

 number, were of a creamy white colour and glossed from 

 incubation. 



" I found this nest in the month of April. I should say 

 there is no doubt about these birds being monogamous, as they 

 are always in pairs in the breeding season." 



The eggs are typically the same shape as a hen's, but much 

 elongated and cylindrical Sand-Grouse-shaped varieties are 

 common. All that I have seen have been entirely spotless, 

 sometimes almost glossless, at others fairly glossy, and varying 

 in colour from a warm pinkish buff to a delicate fawn, a pale 

 cafe'au lait, or even creamy white. 



In length they vary from i'55 to 1*85, and in breadth from 

 1 '13 to 1 # 3 ; but the average of twenty-five eggs is 1*67 by 1*28. 



The following are some dimensions that I have recorded 

 of adults : — 



Males. — Length, 14*0 to 15*0 ; expanse, 18*0 to 20*0 ; wing, 

 &2 to 675 ; tail from vent, 5*0 to &o ; tarsus, 17 to 1*87; bill 

 from gape, ro to V2. Weight, 11 to 14 ozs. 



Females. — Length, 13*0 to 14*5 ; expanse, 17*0 to 19*0 ; wing, 

 5-62 to 6*0 ; tail from vent, 4*5 to 5*3 ; tarsus, 1*65 to 175 ; bill 

 from gape, ro to ri. Weight, 9 to 12 ozs. 



The legs and feet are always red, but vary in shade ; old 

 adults have them coral, or even vermilion red, young birds dull 

 pink ; and light red with a dusky shade, and orange red legs are 

 to be seen. 



The irides equally vary ; dull yellow, orange brown, light 

 brown, dusky brown. 



The bills are dusky red at base, horny towards the tips, in 

 younger birds, purplish on the upper mandible. The male has 

 from three to one spur on each leg, very commonly one more 

 on one leg than the other. Two on each is however perhaps 

 the normal number. Only once have I seen three spurs on both 

 legs. 



The hens also have spurs ; at least I have never seen a 

 hen bird without one on one leg at any rate ; generally they 

 have one on each leg, not unfrequently a second spur on 

 one leg. 



