PARTRIDGES. 
4i3 
Allied Genera. 
and occasionally is nearly as large as in adult males. The only character for distin¬ 
guishing the sexes is in the lesser and median wing-coverts; in the male, each of 
these feathers being brownish buff, thickly vermiculated with black, with a chest¬ 
nut blotch on either web, and a well-defined pale buff shaft-stripe down the middle, 
while in the female the ground-colour is mostly black with wide-set transverse 
buff bars, in addition to the buff shaft-stripe common to both sexes. 
Passing over the Madagascar partridge (. Margaroperdix mcida- 
gascariensis), distinguished by having only twelve tail-feathers, we 
come to the pigmy Indian partridges, forming two genera with five species, all no 
larger than the quail, but with handsome plumage. In all, the plumage of the 
sexes is different, and the tail feebly developed, being less than half the length of 
the wing; in the first genus containing twelve feathers, and in the latter ten. The 
jungle bush-quail ( Pedicula asiatica), and the rock bush-quail (P. argunda), are 
the representatives of the first genus. In the males the breast and under-parts are 
white barred with black, but while in the former the chin and throat are bright 
chestnut, in the latter they are dull brick-red. The females have the under-parts 
vinaceous buff, but in the jungle bush-quail the chin and throat are bright chestnut 
as in the males, while in the other the middle of the chin and throat are whitish. 
The distribution of these species is complementary to each other, that is to say, 
though both are found over the greater part of India, the localities they affect are 
widely different, the jungle-quail being met with on hilly ground covered with 
moderately thick forest and jungle, while the rock-quail prefers half-barren sandy 
or rocky plains, studded with low scattered bushes. Mr. Hume describes the 
former as “ little, bustling, ground-birds, always keeping, according to my ex¬ 
perience, in packs or families; never coming out into the open; always feeding in 
grass, jungle, or stubble long enough to hide their tiny selves.” The painted bush- 
quails (Microperdix), are chiefly found in rocky ground interspersed with bushes, 
fern, and high grass, and are met with in coveys, and prized by the natives 011 
account of their pugnacious habits. 
These partridges form a group characterised by the short tail, its 
length being less than half that of the wing, and also by their 
peculiarly long and rather straight nails, that of the first toe being well developed. 
There are nearly twenty species, ranging from the Himalaya, through the Indo- 
Chinese countries to Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Formosa, and Hainan. Unlike the 
preceding genera, which are all ground-birds, though individuals may occasionally 
perch, these partridges are not unfrequently in the habit of sitting in trees. The 
colour in most of the species is a mixture of olive-brown, black, and rufous, but in 
the species (Arboricola ardens) from Hainan the chest is ornamented with a patch 
of fiery red. All these birds frequent hill-forest, the common tree-partridge (A. 
torqueolus ) ranging to an elevation of fourteen thousand feet, and being seldom 
flushed except with dogs ; but when they rise their flight is strong and swift. The 
eggs differ from those of other partridges in being pure white. The plumage in 
all but one is practically identical in both sexes, but in the tree-partridge of the 
outer ranges of the Himalaya it differs considerably. In both male and female the 
general colour of the upper-parts is olive-brown barred with black, and the sides 
and flanks are grey, widely edged with chestnut, and spotted with white ; but the 
Tree-Partridges. 
