Alfred Ezra—Successful Bearing of Fytch's Bamboo Partridge 317


then drive out the Hooded Siskins and any of the Sporophilce that

happened to be there. He took no notice of the Grass Finches what¬

ever. The eggs were deserted and when I broke them open I found

them nearly ready to hatch.


After the other Siskins had reared a brood, although the hen was

sitting again, I took out the cock to give the Hooded a chance.


Not very long afterwards the same Sporophila hen, or another one,

built a nest in a privet bush ; when finished the Hooded Siskins seized

it and laid four or five eggs. I hardly liked to examine it but I noticed

one day that some of the eggs had hatched, then on two occasions

I had to go in and rescue some Quail chicks and catch up the parents

as well. This probably disturbed the Siskins too much as shortly

after their nest was empty. Last year they only made feeble attempts

at nest building when in a small flight all to themselves. I put it down

to the cold and wet summer, but it seems as if this hen cannot build

her own nest. The eggs laid in the first nest were like the later ones,

quite different from those of the White-throated Finch, the only

Sporophila eggs that I have seen.



SUCCESSFUL REARING OF FYTCH'S BAMBOO

PARTRIDGE {RAMBUS ICO LA FTTCHIT)


By Alfred Ezra, O.B.E.


Bamboo Partridges (Bambusicola) have rather long tails, long

slender legs with spurs in the males. They are always grey and both

sexes are alike, except for the spurs in the males. There are three

species : The Common Bamboo Partridge (B. thoracica) from Eastern

China ; the Formosan Bamboo Partridge ( B . sonorivox) from Formosa ;

and the above-mentioned Fytch’s Partridge, which inhabits the forest

hills of Tonkin, northern Laos, Yunnan, Szechwan, Shan States,

Kachin Hills, and Assam, at an altitude of 4,000 feet. Those found

in Assam are a slightly different race (B. hopkinsoni). While the first

two species have been bred in aviaries, and have even been acclimatized

in Japan at liberty, Fytch’s Partridge has never reared young in



