44 
estate alone, their have been killed, in honourable sport, no fewer 
than sixty cock-pheasants during the present season. Who can 
doubt, indeed, the fitness of this colony to entertain within its bounds, 
and to naturalize on Australian ground, almost all the members of 
the great gallinaceous family ? Nor is their any class of animals so 
easily acclimatised. We have only to remember what was the 
original country of our domestic cocks and hens, of our turkeys 
and pheasants, to be convinced that nearly all the birds of this 
family are capable of thriving even in a climate opposed to their 
natural one. With this, by way of preface, I will now proceed 
to make mention of such of the game-birds of India as I 
believe are most valuable to this country, cither as objects of sport, 
for their qualities as food, or as interesting and beautiful ornaments 
of the silent and dreary Australian bush. I will begin with a bird 
which the verdict of all Indian sportsmen and epicures invariably 
places at the head of the game-birds of India : I means the floriken, 
which is a kind of small and more elegant bustard, inhabiting the 
plains of India at the base of the Himalayas, with a tolerably wide 
destribution over the dry, sandy districts of the interior and the 
north-west. The floriken is a bird of shy habits, and would, 
perhaps, be difficult to cage, unless previously domesticated. But 
lie is worth all the attention which the Acclimatisation Society can 
bestow upon him, and once introduced here, would certainly thrive 
in the same region with our native bustard or wild turkey. Of 
partridges, there are some half dozen different varieties in India, all 
of which are more or less desirable for this country. Each of the 
three great Indian regions has its special kinds ; but for us, of 
course, the most valuable would be those which inhabit the dry 
plains of the interior, or the upland valleys of moderate elevation. 
Of these, the black partridge (of which there are two solitary males 
already in the Acclimatisation Society’s collection) is perhaps the 
best bird for our purposes, being excellent for the table, hardy, and 
affording capital sport. The ehukore, or red-leg partridge, whose 
habitat is a colder region than that of the black partridge, extending 
northward even to Cashmere, and the lower ranges of the Hima¬ 
layas, is equally good for the table, but is, perhaps, less prized by 
the sportsman. The grey partridge of Bengal is comparatively 
worthless, and should be left alone. Of the other partridges 
proper, there are the two rarer varieties, which are only found at 
considerable elevations—the curria, which is of a rich cliesnut 
brown colour ; and the lenca, or Nepal grouse, which is a splendid 
game-bird, and of delicious flavour. The two latter are inhabitants 
of a cold mountainous region, but would probably thrive in our 
Gipps Land ranges. There is also an Indian wood-partridge, which 
roosts on trees, and the Thibet partridge (perdue Hodgsonii), which 
would be the most difficult of all to procure. Among the birds not 
strictly belonging to the natural genus perdix, but which are vul¬ 
garly classed as partridges, I may mention the painted spur-fowl of 
