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PLATE XIx|
CHAMBA MOONAL PHEASANT.
Pee SS. NATURAL Hrs TorR Y.
EDITED BY R. BOWDLER SHARPE, LL.D., F.L.S., &c
sl [
3-0", HAND-BOOK
a
LO} GHEE
Cv E- biR DS.
BY
wis Ko OGILVIE-GRANE,
ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT, BRITISH MUSEUM.
BOT stk.
SAND-GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, PHEASANTS,
LONDON: ( ee
12, SALISBURY SQUARE, FLEET STREET.
1896.
PRINTED BY
WYMAN AND SONS, LIMITED.
PREFACE.
THE name of my colleague, Mr. Ogilvie-Grant, is now so well
known as an authority on the Game-Birds that very few remarks
are necessary to introduce him to my readers. The work is
founded on his volume of the “ Catalogue of Birds in the British
Museum,” where the student will find detailed the material, on
which he has grounded the present monographic review. The
aim of the Author has been to provide such a “ Hand-book ”
as may be useful to sportsmen in every part of the world, and
the present volume will prove of service to travellers in Africa,
as it gives a diagnosis, whereby every species of Francolin,
known up to the present time, may be distinguished.
The second volume will deal with the Pheasants, American
Partridges, Megapodes, Curassows, and Hemipodes, in the
same concise manner, and will, I believe, be found of equal
service to the sportsman and naturalist.
R. BOWDLER SHARPE.
nae +
=) 4 bit Lo = in
ies ee Ne a Ash sere fi
sv es, re - Bs Ds
1s > ae pik jaa ity ze,
mo hHOkS (PREEACE.
IN preparing the present volume, which includes the first half
of the species commonly termed ‘‘ Game-Birds,” my great aim
has been to treat the subject in such a way that this little book
may not only be useful as a scientific work of reference, but
also as a handy book for sportsmen and field naturalists.
With its aid, they should be able not only to identify the birds
they shoot, with as little trouble as possible, but also to find out
what is known concerning the life-history of each species.
References are, in every case, given to the more important
works, especially those in which good figures of the birds are
to be found.
The descriptions of the adult male and female have been
made as short as possible, only the distinguishing characters
being given, while the more important points are printed in
italics ; and it is believed that, in every case, the descriptions
will be found quite sufficient to enable those who have no
previous knowledge of this group, to identify any species of
Game-Bird they may chance to meet with.
In such birds as the Seesee Partridges, and in some of the
closely allied species of Kalij and Koklass Pheasants, the
females so closely resemble one another, that it has been found
impossible to give characters by which they may be distin
guished one from another. In such cases the best guide to
vl AUTHOR’S PREFACE.
identification is the Jocadity (if that is known) in which the
individual bird was obtained.
My endeavour has been, as far as possible, to give the de-
scription, &c., in the plainest language, devoid of scientific
phraseology, but should the reader ever be in doubt as to
which part of the bird is referred to, he has only to turn to the
diagram (of a Francolin) given at the beginning of the book
(p. xvi.), which will clearly explain the terms employed in the
description.
I have to acknowledge the great assistance I have received
from the works of Captain Bendire on the “ Life History of
North American Birds,” and the notes published by Mr. A. O.
Hume, C.B., in the “ Game Birds of India.” On the Grouse
and Ptarmigan I have also derived much useful information
from the “‘ Shooting Sketches” of Mr. J. G. Millais.
W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT.
SYSTEMATIC: INDEX.
ORDER PTEROCLETES. ... ... aed” Laks Has “sue, sal
fPoaviriy I. PLEROCLIDA,
3
I, SYRRHAPTES, Illig. a
I. paradoxus (Pall.). oes no aan ae aes
2, tibetanus, Gould. es os sa on ae 0 6
II. PrEROCLURUS, Bp. 7
fee alehatuss(1.,). 8
a. pyrenaicus (Seeb.). ... oe er ae wat Jee
2. namaquus (Gm.), sae ae es von ee Baer el's
3. exustus (Temm.). acs are Hae aa a AS Stee 2
4. senegallus (L). ... wate wad ne oh Bor ie ta
III. PreRocies, Temm. aes ae ee ae APP: one hG
I. arenarius (Pall.). wae Pci ate ate ses eae
+ Gecoratus, Cab. ... Race ae’ ees Aa ane moe AK)
. variegatus, Smith. ie ves wee see wisi ee ole
. coronatus, Licht. bic cod nee aia vas rie oils)
. gutturalis, Smith, mae ves vee sa eae eu WO)
. personatus, Gould. or nee eve vas sce mo
. lichtensteini, Temm. ... ct sah “tei ar eee AO)
. bicinctus, Temm. ss ace vee wee re re AN!
. fasciatus (Scop.). ane ce ae PA eh ieee
10, quadricinctus, Temm. ... ed ‘ro tee “gt os 24
ORDER GALLINA, ...__... As oe ne ee
Pav T) TETRAONIDA:, sg wie see athe eee ZO
ON OM BW ND
X=)
I, LAcopus, Briss, vise ae fa re a aie sc 220
I. scoticus (Lath.). uae cus a d's oss ey)
2, lapopusi(L.). ss se <r ee was ware tee 30
3. mutus (Montin), 38
4. rupestris (Gm.). ... oe a fe: a 52 alae
5. hyperboreus, Sundev. ... Se es ae noe aosh, SAS
6. leucurus, Swains, & Rich. ae “ce a fe vse RAE
vill SYSTEMATIC INDEX:
II, LYRURUS, Swains. ... at ue ee evi sa ey
1. tetrix (L.). a ae =A age x oe wits: Vat
2. mlokosiewiczi (Tacz.). ... is Kore A oS ase OO
Pie Err aAo, “Ls. )-..% aa at an bist , «ss AO
r, urogallus, . © <., aide ah ose Sc ids <i ao
a. uralensis, Nazarov. ... aoe iss Pe Hen i he
2. parvirostris, Bp. ses ven aes she ss Pe
3. kamtschaticus, Kittl. ... oe i oa A Roe ae
IV. CANACHITES, Stejn. ae ap aoe at = eee ey!
I. canadensis (L.). oe sais 5 x le ase eres).
2. franklini, Dougl. eae te See dee pas «i450
V. FALCIPENNIS, Elliot. ... sas 508 soo Soe sin soe 57
1, faleipeanis (Hartl.). 2% iat sist an “5 ag
VI. DENDRAGAPUS, Elliot. Bre sade ae od’ nat rue
I, obscurus (Say). ... ice ies BS au ax oe aS
a. fuliginosus (Ridgw.). 354 SH ae st sas» 160
2. richardsoni(Dougl.). ... man ee Asis se sna WOE
VII. TyMPANUCHUS, Gloger. ... ais ae Ses = soz ar
I. americanus (Reichenb.). sf i ase — bao tae
2. cupido (L.). me Sp os me <a 55 ont OS
3. pallidicinctus (Ridgw.). mae tg aa eae a=. 05
VIII. CENTROCERCUS, Swains. a wis - otis es ROO
I, urophasianus (Bp.). ... a aed sie ate we 66
IX. PEDIGCETES, Baird. awe ase “ee sae 56 i OS
I. phasianellus (L.), ae ae om See oe «we. 65
2. columbianus (Ord.). ... Sg: ash nee zsh see 409
X. Bonasa, Steph. eae ae nbs She oat aes = aenge
t. umbellus (1e,), sec 585 ee ssp sis te ee
ME TEGRASTES, Keys. u. Blas, ... ea aes at = 2 Se
i, bonasta(l.), <.. rr eas fe sae Use eee
2. griseiventris, Menzb, ... She es a ih as:
3. severtzovi, Prjev. Jes ee Se 503 as cl ee
FAMILY II, PHASIANIDA‘, ae ae oF: ans a ee
SUB-FAMILY I, PERDICINA ... Be sas re isd eG
I, Lerwa, Hodgs. a 5c 2a Bas an Gent fee x gO
1. lerwa (Hodgs.). ... he nae he See oy ss. seG
SYSTEMATIC INDEX,
II, TeTRAOPHASIS, Elliot.
I,
2a
obscurus (Verr.).
széchenyii, Madar.
III, TerraocaLuus, J. E. Gray.
. tibetanus, Gould.
2. henrici, Oust.
. altaicus (Gebler).
. himalayensis, Gray.
. caspius (Gm.).
. caucasicus (Pall.).
IV. CAccABIS, Kaup.
I,
saxatilis (W. and M. ae
a, chukar (J. E. ae
. magna, Priev.
> rufa (L.).
. petrosa (Gm.). ...
5.
melanocephala (Riipp.).
V. AMMOPERDIX, Gould.
ir
bonhami (Fraser).
2, heyi (Temm.). .«..
VI. FRANCOLINUS, Steph.
. francolinus (L.).
. pictus (J. and S.).
. chinensis (Osbeck).
. lathami, Hartl. ...
. pondicerianus (Gm).
. coqui (Smith). a
. hubbardi, Ogilvie-Grant.
. schlegelii, Heugl.
. streptophorus, Ogilvie-Grant. ...
. sepheena (Smith),
. granti, Hartl.
. kirki, Hartl.
. spilogaster, Salvad.
, albigularis, Gray.
, spiloleemus, Gray.
. gutturalis (Riipp.).
. uluensis, Ogilvie-Grant.
. IQI
. 101
SiO
. 106
Piey,
. 108
. 108
a E
an TE2
oe le
. £12
Bee Ni)
ane a!
Se RE
Pee 8%
Pee =
Bey Belts
et 5)
nly
SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
FRANCOLINUS—(continued).
18,
19,
20,
21.
22.
22,
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
Bie
Q2.
africanus, Steph.
finschi, Bocage. a
castaneicollis, Salvad. ...
levaillanti (Valeng.).
gariepensis, Smith,
jugularis, Biittik.
shelleyi, Ogilvie-Grant.
elgonensis, Ogilvie-Grant.
gularis (Temm.).
adspersus, Waterh.
griseostriatus, Ogilvie-Grant.
bicalcaratus (L.).
clappertoni, Childr.
gedgii, Ogilvie-Grant. ...
hartlaubi, Bocage.
32a. dybowskii, Oust.
43.
44.
. icterorhynchus, Heugl.
. sharpii, Ogilvie-Grant.
» capensis (Gmi.)./...
. natalensis, Smith.
. hildebrandti, Cab.
. johnstoni, Shelley.
. fischeri, Reichenow.
. squamatus, Cass.
. schuetti, Cab.
. ahantensis, Temm.
jacksoni, Ogilvie-Grant.
erckeli, Riipp.
VII. PTERNISTES, Wagler.
I.
Oo ON AM HW NHN
nudicollis (Bodd.).
. humboldti (Peters).
. afer (P. LL. S. Mull.).
. cranchi (Leach).
. boehmi, Reichenow.
. swainsoni (Smith).
. rufopictus, Reichenow.
. leucoscepus, Gray.
. infuscatus, Cab....
PAGE
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SYSTEMATIC INDEX. x]
PAGE
VIII. RHIZOTHERA, Gray. oe se oes a so: boy EARL
1. longirostris (Temm.), ... a Ase sins aes op le
2. dulitensis, Ogilvie-Grant. aa sa vhs re sts E42
IX. PERDIX, Briss. bora oS vs a0 a a wv. 14
Fe perdix a.) 2. ae oii ace Bg ae Hs TAZ
a, damascena, Briss, ... .y a: ant ae coel4s
Ze adauried (Ealls): 2 ae Sy Soe st Be 2) 149
3. hodgsoniz (Hodgs.). ... wes ‘isa Sets foe 202150
Apesitanica, Prev. -.. i Sie = gat Ba 56g RT
X, MARGAROPERDIX, Reichenb. are ee ote a eras we
I, madagascariensis (Scop.). si a a oe on E52
XJ. PERDICULA, Hodgs. ... och a nee aie aa ees 5S
I. asiatica (Lath.), S60 aes une ae os Sa ESS
2. argoondah (Sykes). _... ie: Son ace Be Bae boos
Poll MICROPERDIX, Gould. _... ne 400 2: ae ive) ESO
I, erythrorhyncha (Sykes). sie ics a aie 50
2. blewitti, Hume. ae ae one oe sae ema
3. manipurensis (Hume). ... so bn ei “as san THO
XIII, ARBORICOLA, Hodgs. _... awe = Ste Sc ej LOO
. torqueola (Valeng.). ... + Boe ane ae sae OO
. atrigularis, Blyth. ie SBE Ace aah os 120 LOR
wardens. otyan.= .-. sa sins ees eas hes <a 104
. crudigularis (Swinh.), ... ase ois sat ni aug TOA
. Intermedia, Blyth. er war sa aes ae «1b LOS
. rufigularis, Blyth. ate aie SOL “3% BoC sees
. gingica (Gm.). ... oe ass et re wre so, 166
. mandellii (Hume). at vr nor 6 wale ee LOy
. javanica (Gm.), ... bce ae se: sop 5c v6 LOY
. rubrirostris (Salvad.), ... a ei os ie sn 10S
brunneipectus, Tick. ... jas be és =e ... 169
. hyperythra (Sharpe). ... ee 530 ba se aoe diz)
. erythrophrys (Sharpe), ... sie me ee we say pe
. orientalis (Horsf.). 520 Ses sae se fig ine a7
I5. sumatrana (Ogilvie-Grant). ... wae ta ake oly
—
HOO ON ANBWDHD
|
SW N
XIV. TROPICOPERDIX, Blyth. ... a aie = tse Re ye:
t, chloropus, Blyth. ses oe ee sits aoe sosmeli72
2. charltoni (Eyton). one eas oe de ns Soe e
xil SYSTEMATIC INDEX,
PAGE
XV. HAMATORTYX, Sharpe. ... aie ves Ji sei vee EF
I, sanguiniceps, Sharpe, ... sis te ae sas can Lt
e
XVI. CALOPERDIX, Blyth. nese fe ee a af ses
I. oculea (Temm.). 55 ee aoe ~ te won ES
a. sumatrana, Ogilvie- eran os Be. Ss a oe 76
é. borneensis, Ogilvie-Grant. ... ee nee ee ko
XVII, RoLiuus, Bonn. aia i ae Na ie Orne Hi
I, roulroul (Scop.). aaa oer ee ae ae eg 97)
XVIII. MELANOPERDIX, Jerd. ... ee an ove Be aoe iris:
i. miora (WVie.). 0 7 2: sae 406 ae ive — sae 279
XTX. COTURNIX, Bonn. ..; nue ah sia ae fe Jot Ae
1. cotumix-(l:), 4... a ch aA ae sa Jae OO
a, capensis, Licht. ... A ns aoe ee i Os
2. japonica, demm.and Schlo 22) 2 i. wee vas .-» 184
3. coromandelica (Gm.). ... Be a se sae =. atS5
4. delegorguei, Deleg. _... a + Sie as ss. EOF
5. pectoralis, Gould. Ses sei nm ste at woe LOZ
6. nove-zealandie, Q.andG. ... Sint tea a «as LOO
XX, SyNacus, Gould. ... ae we ai ops ae sae) LOO
I, australis (Temm.), a oat Be sis ae i140
2. raalteni (Mull, and Schl. , soe ae aie sch ait BO2
3. plumbeus, Salvad. — oe cas se uae sae GZ
XXI, EXCALFACTORIA, Bp. ... ave oe aks Ae sa. 208
1. chinensis (L.), ... eae F a ie es a. O83
2. lineata (Scop.). ... a er is sin ee <2 100
a. lepida, Hartl. <:. ais Be <i Jes es Bee 2 )"/
4. adansonii (Verr.). aie ste a on se oa, LOF
SUB-FAMILY II. PHASIANINA. ae uate. ae es
I, PrILOPACHYS, Swains. wis alee ae sat =F £99
1. fuscus (V.). hae Ese sie a bk sth Jes TQ9
II, BAmMBUSICOLA, Gould. ae ae Rie ae on un OZ
1. fytchii, Anderson, Ae oa ae ae re sn 2O02
2, thoracica (Temm. ). ad. Ns eas i Be Bee 0
3. sonorivox, Gould. she she ae see sya ... 204
III. GALLOPERDIX, Blyth. ax aes ae os dud an 40h
I. spadicea (Gm.). eee ae “is ae ay -+. 206
SYSTEMATIC INDEX. x1
GALLOPERDIX—(conti7ued).
2. lunulata (Valenc.). ex Sa Set ses ee en 208
3. bicalcarata (Penn.), «+ oe sta sa ae at AO
IV. Opnrysia, Bp. ss 2
I. superciliosa (Gray), ... oe sist He se ee
V. ITHAGENES, Wagl._... aie san ie oe Be (eo
1. cruentus (Hardw.). —... eee pe ous es Rae
2. geoffroyi, Verr.... aa ax he ae sae 2
3. sinensis, David. ie ua ae ee ak fe 219
VI. TRAGOPAN,-Cuv, _ «:. Ses ae isi uae Soe ae 220)
I, satyra (L.). 503 ee awe bn Sin vue tun 220
2. melanocephalum (J. E. Gray), tee a bes eee!
3. temmincki (J. E. Gray). ses an o Se Shoeey/
4. blythii (Jerd.). ... Sh ss ae she “oe sees
5. caboti (Gould). ... oe oe oe sp a snap 220
VII. LoPHOPHORUS, Tem... oe ae os on ne 230
1. refulgens, Temm, Sue a a are ae vin 28
a. mantoui, Oust. “Ag aa ae as _ oa 20
6. obscurus, Oust. oes se se ane Jus +3230
2, impeyanus (Lath.). ... ma we ee ae Pree 27)
3. Vhuysii, Verr. and Geoffr, ... ee a ie eras
4. sclateri, Jerd, ... ee six ae se za «ae. 240
VIII. Acomus, Reichenb. sos as 50 aes se .+». 240
I, erythrophthalmus (Raffl.). ... oe a a nite 2A
2. pyronotus (Gray). a oe: Ass Ses ste ten 8242
3. inornatus, Salvad. Snr see Sa oe sie ee 2A
IX. LopHuRA, Flem.... ve ck vee 25 aa ae 248
1, rufa (Raffl.). ... for ss ohn aor aa ssa, 244
2. ignita (Shaw). ... sat aah Sts Sor oe an 240
3. diardi (Bp.). + mre re sit ae ues see 2A
X. LOBIOPHASIS, Sharpe, ae at So or ste ... 248
1. bulweri, Sharpe. sist set so “Git ane sr 249
XI. CrossopTiLon, Hodgs. ... wee se Be rae Borate!
I. tibetanum, Hodgs,_.... Bae a te ne ee 2G
2. leucurum, Seeb. nan wal sist ait tes Pease
3. manchuricum, Swinh. ... ane nie ae o on254
XIV
SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
CROSSOPTILON—(comtined@).
4.
5.
auritum (Pall.), ...
harmani, Elwes.
XII. GenN@us, Wagl.
XIII.
if
2:
o
4
i:
6.
VE
8.
albocristatus, Vig.
leucomelanus (Lath.)
melanonotus (Blyth)
. horsfieldi (Gray).
a, cuvieri (Temm.),
4. davisoni, Ogilvie-Grant.
lineatus (Vig.). .. :
a. oatesi, Ogilvie-Grant,
andersoni (Elliot).
nycthemerus (L.). ass
swinhoil, Gould.
PUCHRASIA, Gray.
1G
2
3
4.
5
6
macrolopha (Less.).
a. biddulphi, Marshall.
. nipalensis, Gould.
. castanea, Gould.
meyeri, Madar.
. xanthospila, Gray.
. darwini, Swinhoe,
PAGE
PiSt= Ole ser LES.
TO FACE PAGE
T.—Pallas’ Three-toed Sand-Grouse bs to zien a ene |
I1.— Feathers of Scotch Grouse _... ne ae as Sey
III.— ,, <; rr ee oe Ais a seer Ue
IV.—-Rock Ptarmigan... ore ae oe es Be tae 43
V.—Ural Capercailzie ore nae oe me ia aan She
VI.—Sage Grouse... f eG fe ar ey
VII.—Northern Sharp-tailed Groueey. ; ae nC aoe SiasOO
VIII.— Ruffed Grouse ... ; ao ae 5h we Boriey fi
IX.—Altai Snow-Cock $$ di oad ae ae sss SO
X.—Spanish Red-legged pariidee. : oe aie sh -72= 90
XI.—Common Francolin ... So Be at ai «2 103
XJa.—Hubbard’s Francolin ... eZ eae aah bine en
XIb.— Reichenow’s Bare-tbroated Praneolin an aa ... 140
XIc.—Hose’s Long-billed Francolin ... nea tae me age G2
XII.—Mountain Partridge... Ber oo ey ate sea, LAG,
XIII.—Manipur Painted Bush-Quail ... a Le ses iaeTSG
XIV.—Mandelli’s Tree-Partr:dge e vr nee ae -eeO7
XV.—Red-crested Wcod-Partridge ... rt ee aE Sei
XVI.—Japanese Quail ... A: a oe nee ae ee LOS
XVII.—Blood Pheasant ... aa re a ie aoa Beer a
XVIII.—Cabot’s Tragopan a we ae 12209
XIX.—Chamba Moonal Pheasant __... rs one Thesiignnce
XX.—Bulwer’s Wattled- Pheasant... ats we a <8 240
XXI.—Koklass Pheasant ee , my ae ae en eee
Kander crown | Grown
; ' ' Forehead
Seams eta. : ;
Nope ( Gomerp-.. / Lores
’ ee
‘\ : ‘Glaen
% mO) es .%
Ind neck $ Vee © ai
‘\ : , Ses yey Ss
: 5. og ee Bi
Martle or Interscapalary requ, eh Ait een = -o@
~ sere : ‘ “Chin @
*s Throat j
N
‘Lower Throab
WS 1)
’ Fore Neck
?
* i 1
‘ “Gise
:
;
Le Taxl- coverts :
Hind Toe -* 7 SS
+
.
Outline figure of a Francolin to illustrate the nomenclature employed in
a . i)
describing a bird, |
Vib inS:
THE SAND-GROUSE. ORDER PTEROCLETES.
THE sixteen species comprising this small Order, intermediate
in its affinities between the Pigeons (Co/wmbae) and the True
Game-Birds (Gadéine), are all included in one family, /erv-
cide. ‘Their general structure presents many striking Colum-
bine characters, as in the vocal organs, pterygoid bones, and the
Sn
Bret. —oxkull of 2. exzstits. Fic. 2.—Skull of P. exustus,
presence of basipterygoid processes (4f) in the skull (Fig. 1),
the shoulder-girdle, sternum, and especially the great deltoid
process of the humerus, or upper-wing bone ; but the digestive
organs are like those of the True Game-Birds. Among other
distinctive characters may be mentioned the “ schizorhinal”
9 B
2 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
nasals* and the sternum with /wv notches on each side of the
posterior margin, the inner one being sometimes reduced to a
foramen (Fig. 4).
The bill resembles that of the True Game-Birds, but is not
so strongly developed.
Three toes only occur, the hind-toe, when present, being ina
rudimentary condition. The feet are very short and feathered,
and the toes are either naked or thickly covered with plumes.
The wings are long and pointed.
The feathers of the body have well-developed after-shafts,
Tic, 3.—Skull of P. alchatus,
like those of the True Game-Birds, but the fifth secondary
flight-feather is absent.
The young are born covered with down, and are able to run
soon after they are hatched.
The eggs are almost invariably three in number, smooth and
glossy in texture, equally rounded at both ends, and double
* This character is not of very much importance, as it varies in the
different species of Sand-Grouse. In the common Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse
(Pleroclurus exustus) the backward prolongation of the inter-maxillary
bones falls short of the horizontal line drawn between the posterior
margins of the nasal notches, so that in this species we see a typical
** schizorhinal” skull (Fig. 2). In Pallas’ Sand-Grouse (Syrrhaptes para-
doxus) the inter-maxillary processes reach this line and a perfectly inter-
mediate type ensues; but in the Hastern Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse (P.
alchatus) they extend beyond, and practically a ‘‘ holorhinal ” form is shown
(Fig. 3). :
ge ttl
Prt LR EE-fOED SAND-GROUSE.
4
ay
spotted, a set of pale purplish marks beneath the surface of the
shell underlying the brown surface spots.
All the Sand-Grouse are birds with immense powers of
Tic. 4.—Sternum of 2. arcnatus.
flight, able to traverse g:eat distances in a remarkably short
space of time.
The majority of the species are migratory, some of them
wandering thousands of miles.
fae SAND-GROUSE.. FAMILY P'TEROCLIDA:.
aie tk eE-TOED SAND-GROUSE.. GENUS SYRREHAPTES.
Syrrhaptes, Iliger, Prodr. p. 243 (1811).
ype, S.paradoxus (Pall.),
This genus is distinguished from the rest of the Sand-
Grouse by the want of the hind-toe. The other toes, as well
as the feet, are entirely covered with feathers.
I, PALLAS’ THREE-TOED SAND-GROUSE. SYRRHAPTES
PARADOXUS.
mengo paradoxa, Pall. Reis. Russ. Reichs. ii..p. 712, pl. F:
(1773):
B 2
4 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Syrrhaptes paradoxus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii,
p. 2 (1893).
(Plate L.)
Adult Male—General colour pale sandy. No black spots on
the sides of the neck; a band of white feathers across the
breast, each feather with a narrow black cross-bar before the
tip ; throat rust-red, not margined with a black line. A /arge
black patch on the abdomen. ‘Total length, 14°6 inches; wing,
Ors Mail. tarsus, 70:8.
Adult Female——Differs from the male in having the sides of
the neck spotted with black ; the band across the breast is
wanting ; a black line bounds the pale buff throat. Total
length, 12°8 inches ; wing, 8; tail, 5°5 ; tarsus, o°8.
Nestling—Covered with beautifully-patterned down, each
plume of the body being distinct and almost scale-like in
appearance, quite different from the fluffy down of young
Game-Birds. The general colour is pale buff, with patches of
sienna and brown arranged in pairs on the sides of the head
and upper-parts of the body. These patches are mostly mar-
gined and connected by irregular dotted black lines. (Cf.
Newton, Ibis, 1890, p. 210, pl. vil.)
Range.—Kirghiz Steppes, throughout Central Asia to Mon-
golia and Northern China, extending northwards to the north
of Lake Baikal and south to Turkestan. A sporadic migrant
to Western Europe. Periodically, and from some unknown
cause, great numbers visit Europe in early summer, even pene-
trating to the islands on the western coasts. ‘The first great
visitation took place in 1863, and again, in 1888, enormous
numbers spread themselves over Europe and bred in various
places, both eggs and young having been obtained. In other
years smaller flocks have been observed, but none have ever
succeeded in establishing themselves permanently, the com-
paratively small number that escaped being shot or killing
themselves on the telegraph wires, having always disappeared,
and possibly succeeded in returning to the Kirghiz Steppes.
“ASNOWO-ANVS CHOI-SquHL SV1TVd
Ege fe
THE THREE-TOED SAND-GROUSE, 5
Habits.—All the Sand-Grouse are very similar in their habits,
drinking in the early morning and evening, and often travers-
ing great distances to reach their accustomed drinking-places.
They feed in the morning and afternoon, resting, sunning, and
dusting themselves during the heat of the day in fine weather,
though on rough stormy days they are generally very unsettled
and constantly on the move. Pallas’ Three-toed Sand-Grouse
does not differ in habits from the rest of its allies, and Prjeval-
sky gives the following account of its mode of life. ‘ After their
morning feed, the flocks betake themselves to some well. or
salt-lake to drink, apparently preferring the fresh to the salt
water. At the drinking-place, as well as at the feeding-places,
these birds never settle on the ground without first describing
a circle, in order to assure themselves that there is no danger.
On alighting they hastily drink and rise again ; and, in cases
where the flocks are large, the birds in front get up before
those at the back have time to alight. They know their
drinking-places very well, and very often go to them from
distances of tens of miles, especially in the mornings between
nine and ten o'clock, but after twelve at noon they seldom
visit these spots.” In autumn they are very gregarious and
large flocks are to be met with in the neighbourhood of their
breeding-ground, unless compelled to migrate to greater dis-
tances by a heavy fall of snow.
Swinhoe tells us that in North China great numbers of these
birds are sometimes caught after a snow-storm, when they
arrive in large flocks in search of food. Having cleared the
snow from a patch of ground, the natives scatter a small green
bean to attract the birds and sometimes manage to catch a whole
flock in their clap-nets.
Nest.—None; merely a slight hole scratched in the ground.
Eggs.—Like those of all other members of the group, the
eggs are perfectly oval in shape and remarkably Rail-like in
appearance, closely resembling those of the Corn-Crake (Crex
crex). The ground-colour is olive or brownish-buff, spotted
6 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
all over, though not very thickly, with brown and pale lilac or
grey, the former markings being on the surface of the shell, the
latter beneath. Z%ree is the usual number, though it is said
that four are occasionally found.
Il, TIBETAN THREE-TOED SAND-GROUSE. SYRRHAPTES
TIBETANUS.
Syrrhaptes tibetanus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1850, p. 92; Hume and
Marshall, Game Birds of India, 1, p. 43, "ply (137078
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 5 (1893).
Adult Male-—Differs from S. paradoxus in having the abdo-
men white, zzth 10 black patch ; the black vermiculations, or nar-
row wavy markings, on the back of the neck and interscapular
region, are very fine, and gradually become obsolete on the
wing-coverts and scapulars. Total length, 16 inches; wing,
Gaon, tail, 7-9 ; tarsus, 1.
Adult Female.-—Similar to the male, but having the vermicu-
lations and markings equally well-defined on all the upper-
parts of the body. ‘Total length, 15 inches ; wing, 9°7; tail, 7°4 ;
tarsus, I.
Nestling.—Closely resembles that of S. paradoxus.
Range.—The home of this species is Tibet, where it inhabits
the Alpine tracts, from 12,000 to 18,000 feet. In the north
it extends to the steppes of Koko-nor, westwards to the Pamir,
and southwards to Ladak and the upper portions of the Sutlej
Valley. Mandelli obtained specimens from the part of Tibet
immediately to the north of Sikhim, but how far east it is met
with is somewhat uncertain.
Habits.—The semi-desert plains of the desolate steppes are
the favourite haunts of these birds, and there they feed on
grass, seeds, and berries, being generally met with in pairs or
small flocks. Mr. Hume says: ‘‘ During the middle of the day
it squats about, especially if the day be hot, basking in the sun,
very generally scratching for itself a small depression in the
soil. Both when feeding and taking its siesta, it is not un-
THE PIN-TAILED FOUR-TOED SAND-GROUSE. 7
commonly in considerable flocks (I have seen several hundreds
together) ; but in summer, at any rate, itis perhaps more com-
mon to meet with it in little parties of from three to twenty.
Whilst feeding, it trots about more rapidly and easily than its
short feather-encased legs and feet would lead one to suppose,
individuals continually flying up and alighting a few yards
farther on, and now and again the whole flock rising and flying
round, apparently without reason or aim.
“Sometimes it is very shy, especially in the early mornings
and evenings ; and though it will not, unless repeatedly fired
at, fly far, it will not let you approach within one hundred yards ;
but, as arule, during the heat of the day, you may walk right
in amongst them. ‘They are precisely the colour of the sand
when basking, and often the first notice you have of their
proximity is the sudden patter of their many wings as they rise
and dart away, and the babel of their cries, which, if the flock
be a large one, is really startling fora moment. . . . Early
in the morning, and quite at dusk, they come down to the
water to drink; by preference to fresh water, but, as at the
Tso-Khar, at times to quite brackish water.
“They are always noisy birds when moving about, uttering
a call something like ‘ guk-guk,’ to my ear, or, again, as some
people syllable it, ‘ yak-yak,’ ‘caga-caga,’ &c., &c., but they are
specially noisy in the evenings when they come down to drink.”
Nest.— None.
Eggs.— Very similar to those of .S. paradoxus, but larger.
THE PIN-TAILED FOUR-TOED SAND-GROUSE. GENUS
PTEROCLURUS.
Pteroclurus, Bonap. Compt. Rend. xhi. p. 880 (1856).
Type, P. alchatus (Linn.).
The five members of this genus are distinguished from
Sy7rhaptes by having the hind-toe always present, though small,
and only the feet feathered, he does being naked ; from Plero-
8 i LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY,
cles it differs in having the two middle tail-feathers much longer
than the rest and pointed.
I. THE EASTERN PIN-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLURUS
ALCHATUS.
Tetrao alchata, Linn. S. N. i. p. 276 (1766).
Pterocles alchata, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, i.
P. 77, pl. (1878).
Pteroclurus alchata, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii.
p- 7 (1893).
Adult Male.*—Lower breast and belly pure white, and the
* It is to Mr. E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, who has for many years kept
Spanish specimens of the Western Pin-Tailed Sand-Grouse (P. pyrerazcus)
in captivity, that I owe the following remarkably interesting details re-
garding the seasonal changes of plumage in this species. His observa-
tions are based on a number of specimens kept in his aviary, one male
having lived for eight years, and I now find that specimens in the British
Museum bear out the correctness of Mr. Meade-Waldo’s statements, so
far as one is able to judge from specimens which have only been obtained
during the winter months of December to February. No doubt, from the
absence of material, I misinterpreted the changes of plumage in the fine
winter series of birds in the British Museum. Many of the specimens in
December plumage, still retaining some barred autumn feathers on the top
of the head and back, and with the throat nearly, or entirely, pure white,
which I treated in the ‘‘ Catalogue of the Game-Birds ” as zzmzature males, I
now perceive to be in many cases adz/¢ males assuming winter plumage.
Again, February specimens which I regarded as younger males in a more
advanced stage of plumage are mostly adult males moulting into their sum-
mer or breeding dress.
Mr. Meade-Waldo writes: ‘‘ The seasonal changes in the plumage of
the males of my tame Sand-Grouse (P. pyrerazcus) take place in this man-
ner. At the annual complete moult 27 the beginning of June, when all
the feathers, as well as those of the wings and tail, are changed, the breed-
ing plumage is exchanged for one of the following pattern : the whole of
the back and upper-parts are replaced by feathers of a sandy-yellow with
black transverse bars ; the black throat and black stripe behind the eye by
white ; the broad chestnut belt on the breast by one much lighter in colour,
the black edges of which are indistinct. In this plumage the male closely
resembles the female, only wanting the double black bar on the throat and
the bluish-grey band on the feathers of the back.
In September the back-feathers are replaced by a suit of plain olive with-
out cream-coloured tips.
In December the full breeding plumage begins to appear, and is com-
plete by the end of January. The plain olive of the back is replaced by 3
THE PIN-TAILED FOUR-TOED SAND-GROUSE. 9
sub-terminal bars on the wing-coverts white. Throat in swm-
mer plumage black, in winter white, like that of the female ;
chest in swmmer light rufous, in zzfer much paler and similar
to that of the female ; upper-parts in sammer dull olive, with an
ochreous patch at the end of most of the feathers ; in autumn
barred with yellowish-buff and black, and somewhat like the
plumage of the female at all seasons ; in zo/vfer uniform dull
olive, with rarely any ochreous markings. ‘Total length, 14°8
mches; wing, "4; tail, 6-3; tarsus, 1-1.
Adult Female.— Distinguished from the male at all seasons by
the slate-grey or whitish bands near the extremity of the barred
feathers of the back and upper-parts; the throat is white at
all seasons ; and the chest paler rufous than that of the male
in summer plumage, but similar to that of the winter plumage.
Moral length, 13°5 inches; wing, 7°8; tail, 5°5; tarsus, 1.
Nestling—Very similar to that of the Pallas’ Three-toed
Sand-Grouse (S. pavadoxus), but differing somewhat in pattern
and readily distinguished by the naked toes and rudimentary
hallux.
Range.—South-western Asia is the home of this species,
which is found from Palestine to North-western India, and
extends southwards to the head of the Persian Gulf and
paler olive with creamy-yellow tips; the white throat and white stripe
behind the eye by black ; the barred head by uniform creamy slate-colour,
and the chestnut belt on the breast becomes bright in colour, with sharp
black bands above and below, caused by the wearing off of the edges of
the feathers.
These changes are complete in adult and vigorous male birds, but in
some individuals, when the moult happens to be prolonged, those feathers
of the back which are /as¢ cast, and are consequently developed towards the
time when the autumn plumage should be assumed, partake of the charac:
ters of both the summer and autumn plumages, being olive with more or
less distinct yellow and black bars.
The female does not appear to go through any of these changes, only
changing the white stripe behind the eye for a black one, and a few of the
dorsal feathers being replaced about the beginning of January for others
with brighter and broader blue-grey bands, while the black bands on the
breast and throat become more intense by tip-shedding,
rae) LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
probably Arabia, while to the north it is met with in Asia
Minor, Transcaucasia, and Turkestan.
Habits.—In North-western India it is only a cold-weather
visitant, arriving in enormous flocks, which are said to far out-
number those of any other species of Sand-Grouse. It does
not breed in the Punjab, but takes its departure about the end
of March. Severtzov tells us he found it breeding in the Tian
Shan and Karatall ranges at elevations of from 1,000 to 4,000
feet, and eggs have been obtained in the neighbourhood of
Smyrna. Mr, Hume writes: “I have seen very little of this
species myself, and only on a vast plain some miles from
Hoti Mardan where, during the winter, they were in tens of
thousands. ‘This plain is partly barren, partly fallow, and
partly cultivated with wheat, mustard, and the hke. It was
only on the barren and fallow lands that I saw them. They
were extremely wary, and it was only by creeping up a za/a, or
small ravine, that it was possible to get within even a long
shot of them. ‘Their flight is extremely rapid and powerful:
to me it seemed more so than that of any of their congeners.
They are very noisy birds, and whether seated or flying, con-
tinually utter their peculiar cry.” ‘The food consists of seeds,
grain and green leaves, &c. ; and though some of the birds shot
by Mr. Hume were remarkably fat, when cooked they proved
dry and tasteless. Occasionally they are hawked with Shaheens,
and sometimes shot by working a couple of Peregrines over
them, when they lie very close and are easily approached ; but
the easiest way of capturing them is in horse-hair nooses.
Nest.—None ; merely a depression in the ground.
Eggs.—Very similar to those of S. paradoxus; but the
ground-colour has a warm reddish-cream tinge, and generally
the markings are more profuse.
SUB-SP. @. THE WESTERN PIN-TAILED SAND-GROUSE.
PTEROCLURUS PYRENAICUS.
Pterocles pyrenaicus, Seebohm, Ibis, 1883, p. 26 (ex Briss.).
THE PIN-TAILED FOUR-TOED SAND-GROUSE. Ter
Pteroclurus pyrenaicus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.
XH... 0 (1893).
This is merely a darker, and more richly coloured, western
form of 2. alchatus.
Adult Male.—Differs from the male of P. a/chatus in having
the sub-terminal bars to the wing-coverts yellow, instead of white;
the chest in summer plumage rich chestnut, instead of rufous.
Adult Female.— Differs from the female of P. a/chatus in having
the sub-terminal bars to the wing-coverts yellow, instead of
white ; the chest rufous or pale chestnut, very similar to that
of the male of P. a/chatus in summer plumage.
Range.—Southern Europe and North Africa are the home of
this form, which is found in suitable parts of Spain and Por-
tugal, as well as the south of France, while it has been ob-
tained at various other localities to the east, as, for instance,
sicily, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus. South of the Mediter-
ranean it is common in Eastern Marocco and the extensive
sandy plains at the base of the Atlas Mountains.
Habits.—Similar to those of its eastern ally. Canon ‘Trist-
ram writes: “Though this bird does not approach so near the
verge of cultivation northwards as the Black-bellied Sand-
Grouse (P. arenarius), it is far more generally abundant, and
continues to occur in vast flocks in winter in the M’zab and
Touarick country.”
Eggs.—Rich fawn-colour, covered and sometimes zoned with
large maroon-red surface blotches, and pale lilac shell-mark
ings.
II, NAMAQUA PIN-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLURUS
NAMAQUUS.
Letrao namagqua, Gmel. 8. N. i. p. 754 (1788).
Prterocles namaqua, Bocage, Orn. Angola, p. 396 (1881).
Pteroclurus namagua, Gurney, ed. Andersson’s B. Damara-
land, p. 242 (1872), Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.
Pp. 10 (1893).
12 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY,
Adult Male—Lower breast and belly zo¢ pure white; che shaft
of the first flightfeather white , a white and chestnut band sepa-
rates the vinaceous buff-coloured chest from the brown breast,
which shades gradually into buff on the belly. ‘Total length,
12 inches ; wing, 6°6; tail, 4°6 ; tarsus, 0°85.
Adult Female—May be distinguished from the male by hay-
ing no pectoral band, while the breast and belly are buff,
barred with black. ‘Total length, 10°5 inches ; wing, 6:2 ; tail, -
Are satarsus, (O'S;
Range.—South Africa, from the Transvaal in the east to
Damaraland and Benguela in the west, and extending south-
wards to the Great Karroo.
Habit;.—Andersson found these birds very abundant in some
parts of Damaraland, where immense flocks were observed at
the water about eight or nine o’clock in the morning. Before
descending to drink, they might be seen circling round the
water at a considerable height, and adding to their numbers at
almost every turn. He says: ‘“ Frequently they make no
attempt at a descent until they are directly over the spot they
intend to visit, when they suddenly descend with great velocity,
at the same time describing more or less of a semicircle before
they alight.”
II], THE COMMON PIN-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLURUS
EXUSTUS.
Pterocles exustus, Temm. Pl. Col. v. pls. 28, 29 [Nos. 354 and
360] (1825); Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India,
i. p. 69, pl. (1878).
Pteroclurus exustus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxil. p.
12 (1893).
Adult Male—The lower breast and belly are zo¢ pure white,
and the shaft of the first flight-feather is dark. The chest is
uniform vinaceous-buff, divided from the yellowish-buff upper
breast by a narrow white and black band ; lower breast and
THE PIN-TAILED FOUR-TOED SAND-GROUSE. 13
belly deep chestnut-brown. Total length, 13 inches ; wing, 7:1;
tail, 5°3 ; tarsus, o°g.
Adult Female —-Has the chest and upper breast buff, spotted
with black; and the belly blackish-brown, closely barred with
rufous-buff. Total length, ro inches; wing, 7:0; tail, 3°6;
tarsus, o°8.
Range—This bird is found over a wide area, and extends from
Senegal in Western Africa through North and East Africa across
South-western Asia to the Peninsula of India. To the north,
it ranges to Palestine and Central Asia, and south to the Pan-
gani River in East Africa.
Habits.— This is the commonest species of Sand-Grouse, and
in India, where in suitable localities it is specially numerous, it
is to be found in the sandy districts where vegetation is scarce.
From the excellent account given by Mr. A. O. Hume the fol-
lowing lines are borrowed :—“ The Common Sand-Grouse,
though frequently met with in considerable packs numbering
from twenty to two hundred individuals, is never, so far as my
experience goes, seen in those enormous flocks which P. ahatus
and, in a somewhat lesser degree, P. arenarius, affect. In all
parts of the country where I have shot them, I have most fre-
quently seen them in parties of from five tothirty. . . They
live wholly on seeds, and no small seeds seem to come amiss
to them. . . From 8 to to a.m., according to season, they
are off to some stream, river, or tank to drink, and where, or
at times when, water is scarce and drinking-places few and far
between, very considerable numbers resort to the same place,
and afford opportunities for very pretty sport, if several guns lie
up at distances of from one to two hundred yards from the pool,
and shoot the birds fairly as they come and go, high over head.
Their flight is then swift and strong, and they will carry off a
great dealof shot. . . Their approach is always notified by
their peculiar chuckling, far-reaching double call, which they
continually utter during flight. . . After the morning drink,
14 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
they again resort to their feeding-ground, zof¢ that where they fed
earlier, but much more open and bare ground, ploughed fields,
and perfectly open sandy plains.” Here, like the rest of their
kind, they enjoy a noontide siesta, after which, having again
fed for a while, they return to the water for their evening
draught. Except when coming and going to their drinking-
vlaces, the parties are so scattered that it is not easy to obtain
many shots, but they are generally far from shy, and, when
squatting, exactly resemble the colour of the ground, whence
they rise with great rapidity, and often add considerably to
the excitement of a day’s sport. In India this species breeds
during the greater part of the year, and probably two or more
broods are reared in the season.
Eggs.—Very similar to those of P. alchatus ; but propor- —
tionately smaller, and with the ground-colour, which varies
from pinkish stone-colour to pale olive-brown or grey, gener-
ally paler. Three is the number of eggs generally found
in a nest, but sometimes only two are laid. Four and even
five have been found in one nest-hole, but they are probably
the produce of more than one female. The average measure-
ment is 1°45 inch by 1°03.
IV. SPOTTED PIN-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. PFEROCEURGS
SENEGALLUS.
Tetrao senegallus, Linn. Mantissa, p. 526 (1867-71).
Pteroctes senegalus, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India,
ib ps53, pl. (1878).
Pteroclurus senegallus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxil.
p- 14 (1893).
Adult Male—Chest and upper breast uniform pale fawn-
colour; the shaft of the first flight feather dark, and the
middle of the belly d/ack. Neither the upper-parts nor the
chest are spotted. Total length, 13 inches; wing, 8 ; tail,
5°4; tarsus, I.
THE SHORT-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. 15
Adult Female-—Differs from the male in having the upper-
parts of the body and chest ornamented with round greyish-
black spots. Total length, 12°5 inches; wing, 7°4; tail, 4;
tarsus, o’°9. The only species this bird can be mistaken for is
the Coronetted Sand-Grouse (Prerocles coronatus) described be-
low, but this can be at once distinguished by its short tail.
Range-—F rom the Southern Sahara in North Africa through
South-western Asia to North-western India.
Eggs-—Similar to those of PL. exustus, but the markings
more sparse.
Gee SHORT-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. GENUS
PEEROCEES.
wverocies, Lemm. Man. Orn. p. 299 (1815); id. Pig. et. Gall. ii.
e235, 712 (1815).
Type, 2. arenarius (Pall.).
The characteristics of this group are the same as those of
Pteroelurus, but the middle pair of tail-feathers are not pro-
duced, being but little longer than the second pair.
I. THE LARGE OR BLACK-BELLIED SAND-GROUSE: PTEROCLES
ARENARIUS.
Tetrao arenarius, Pallas, Nov. Com. Petrop, xix. p. 418, pl. viii.
(1775).
LPterocles arenarius, Wume and Marshall, Game Birds of India,
i. p. 47, pl. (1878); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
Dato (1893).
Adult Male.—Distinguished from all the other species by its
large size and uniform black belly, none of the feathers being
edged with white. Throat chestnut, terminated by a black
band ; the chest and breast uniform dove-grey, and the feathers
of the back pale rufous and grey, with rufous-buff or yellow
ends. Total length, 13°5 inches; wing, 9°3; tail, 4°2; tarsus, 1.
Adult Female-—Differs from the male in having the throat
16 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
yellowish white, terminated by a black band; the chest and
upper breast pale buff, spotted with black ; and the back pale
rufous-buff, thickly barred with black. Total length, 13
inches ; wing, 8°6 ; tail, 4; tarsus, 1.
Range.—This species has a wide range, being found in
North Africa, Southern Europe, and South-western and
Central Asia. In the west it extends to the Canary Islands,
in the east to North-west India, while northwards it occurs.
in the Kirghiz Steppes and Dzungaria, and southwards in
the Sahara.
Habits.—This extremely handsome bird is only a cold-
weather visitant to India, but during the coldest months
of the year, is generally to be met with in enormous flocks
where sandy plains stretch far and wide, and water is within
easy distance. Their habits generally resemble those of the
rest of their kind, and they feed, go to the water, and rest at
mid-day, in the same way. In parts of the country, where rivers
are far distant, they repair morning and evening to drink at
such tanks as have not dried up with the approach of hot
weather, and by hiding near such spots, it is not difficult to
procure large numbers as they come and go. ‘This species is
not known to breed in India, but, to the west, it has been found
nesting on the lower plateaux at elevations of from four.to
seven thousand feet.
Nest.—A slight depression in the soil.
Eggs—Three in number; light stone-colour or buff, mar-
bled with purple-grey shell-markings, and light brown surface
blotches. Size, 1°85 to:2 inches by 1:3 to’ 1°35.
II. THE BRIDLED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLES DECORATUS.
Pterocles decoratus, Cabanis, J. f. O. 1868, p. 413, and 1870,
pl. iii.; ,Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.. xxii pia
(1893).
Adult Male.—Size small. Belly black, most of the feathers
THE SHORT-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. 17
narrowly margined with white. A broad black bar, edged on
both sides with white, passes up the middle of the throat and
surrounds the gape; eyebrow-stripe white and black; chest
uniform buff-grey. Total length, 8°8 inches; wing, 6'4 ° tail,
27, tarsus, rf.
Adult Female.—Distinguished from the male by having the
chin and throat uniform buff, or with a few small black spots ;
the eyebrow-stripe wanting ; and the chest buff, barred with
black. Total length, 8°6 inches ; wing, 6°1; tail, 2°6 ; tarsus, 1.
Range.— This species is found over a somewhat restricted
area compared with that of the preceding species, and has
only been met with about Lake Jipi and Mount Kilimanjaro
in East Africa, and westwards on the Wembaere Steppes in
Masai-land. It has also been sent from Nassa, in Speke
Gulf, on the Victoria Nyanza, by the Rev. E. H. Hubbard.
III. THE VARIEGATED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLES VARIEGATUS.
Plerocles variegatus, Smith, Rep. Exped. Centr. Afr. p. 56
(1836); id. Zool. S. Afr. Aves, pl. x. (1838); Ogilvie-
Grant Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 22 (1893).
Adult Male.—Belly dul? rufous, the feathers of the feet
uniform buff, zo¢ barred with black or brown; under tail-
coverts uniform; upper surface of the shaft of the first flight-
feather zi¢e ; upper- and under-parts of the body spotted with
white ; the eyebrow-stripe, chin, and throat séa/e-grey. Total
feneth, o°8 inches ; wing, 6°3 ; tail, 2°8; tarsus, 1.
Adult Female.— Distinguished from the male by having the eye-
brow-stripe, chin, and throat fale duff, and the belly indistinctly
barred with white. ‘Total length, 9°8 inches ; wing, 6°3 ; tail,
20; tarsus, 0°95.
Range.—South Africa, extending eastwards to the Transvaal
and west to Damaraland.
Habits.— Ayres met with numbers of pairs of this beautiful
little species along the Crocodile River in June, showing that
9 €
18 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY.
the breeding-season had commenced. These, like other Sand:
Grouse, he tells us, are very tough if cooked fresh, but if kept
for nearly a week, become tender and well-flavoured.
IV. THE CORONETTED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLES CORONATUS.
Pterocles coronatus, Licht. Verz. Doubl. p. 65 (1823); Gould,
Birds Asia, vi. pl. 63 (1851); Hume and Marshall, Game
Birds of India, i. p. 57 (1878) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus. xxii. p. 23 (1893).
Adult Male—DBelly duff, feathers of feet uniform, zo¢ barred
with black or brown ; under tail-coverts uniform* ; upper sur-
face of the shaft of the first flight-feather z/Az/e ; the plumage ~
not spotted with white; throat yellow, divided for about half
its length by a black bar, which surrounds the gape, but is
interrupted on the middle of the forehead by a whitish patch ;
the chest and breast wzzform, ‘Total length, 11 inches ; wing,
gai; tail; 3°25 tarsus;.0‘9.
Adult Female.— Distinguished from the male by having the
throat yellow zz¢hout a black bar, and the chest and breast
barred with greyish-black. ‘Total length, 10°3 inches ; wing,
@ Or; taal, 35 tarsusy.o'o.
The male of this species is similar in general appearance to
the male of the Spotted Sand-Grouse (P. sevegal/us) described
above, but may be at once distinguished by the short middle
tail-feathers, the black on the throat and round the gape, and
the absence of black on the belly.
Range.— his species is met with in North-eastern Africa
and the south-western portions of Asia, and extends from the
Southern Sahara to the extreme north-west of India.
Habits.—Its cry is said to resemble that of the Spotted Sand-
Grouse. Canon Tristram met with it in small numbers in the
* The female sometimes has a bar or two of black on the under tail-
coverts, but always wide apart,
THE SHORT-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. 19
Sout>ern Sanara and found it breeding. Practically nothing
is known regarding the habits or arecise area of distribution of
this bird.
Eggs.
markings.
Ashy-white, with a few, almost obliterated, pale brown
V. SMITH’S CHESTNUT-VENTED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLES
GUTTURALIS.
Lterocles gutturalis, Smith, Rep. Exped. Centr. Afr. p. 56 (1836)
and Zool. S. Afr. pl. iii, [male] and pl. xxxi. [female]
(1838-9); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 25
(1893).
Adult Male.—Lelly uniform deep chestnut; tarsus uniform
rufous-buff, sot barred with black or brown; under tail-
coverts uniform dark chestnut ; upper surface of the shaft
of the first flight-feather dark or dusky, xever white ; eyebrow-
stripe and throat pale yellowish-buff; a black band across
the neck, and a second one from the gape to the eye. Total
Feueun, ©2 inches ; wing, 8°3 ;, tail, 3°4; tarsus; 1-2.
Adult Female.—-Differs in having xo marked eyebrow-stripe ;
no black band across the throat ; that from the gape to the
eye brownish ; and the lower breast and belly chestnut, barred
with black. Total length, 11°6 inches; wing, 8-2; tail, 3-1;
RarSUS, I°I.
Range.—-Found in South-eastern, Eastern, and North-eastern
Africa, from the Transvaal to the highlands of Abyssinia and
to the Wembaere Steppes and Masai-land.
Habits.—This large and handsome bird is one of the most
plentiful of the Sand Grouse near the Limpopo, and Ayres
found it breeding there in June. In the neighbourhood of
Potchefstroom, he tells us, they are tolerably plentiful towards
the end of winter and beginning of spring, but appear to leave
in summer. ‘They are seldom met with singly, generally in
companies of from three to a dozen or more, and frequent
C2
20 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
the bare ground not far from water. Their flight is exceedingly
strong, and on the wing they somewhat resemble some of the
Pigeons, especially Columba pheonota. On the approach of
danger, they crouch and lie very close to the ground, being
then extremely difficult to see; when disturbed, they do not
run, but rise quite suddenly with a loud whirring noise.
Eges.—Three, placed on the bare ground amongst grass,
without the slightest appearance of a nest.
VI. THE MASKED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLES PERSONATUS,
Pterocies personatus, Gould, P. Z. 5. 1843, p. 15; id. Voyage of
the “Sulphur.” Zool. p. 49, pl. 30 (1844) ; Ogilvie-Grant,
Cat. B. Brit Mus. xxii. p. 26 (1893).
Adult Male.—Belly rufous-buff, ‘closely barred with black;
tarsi uniform buff, zof barred with black or brown ; under tail-
coverts uniform buff; upper surface of the shaft of the first
flight-feather dark or dusky, ever white; a broad black band
surrounding the gape; upper back uniform isabelline-brown.
Total length, 11°6 inches ; wing, $°5; tail, 3°7; tarsus, 1.
Adult Female.— Distinguished by having wo black band round
the gape; the wpper dack, as well as the lower breast and belly,
barred with black.. Total length, 11°5 inches; wing, 8; tail,
3°4; tarsus, I.
Range.—Peculiar to the island of Madagascar.
VII. CLOSE-BARRED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLES LICHTENSTEINI.
Pterocles lichtensteint, Temm. Pl. Col. v. pls. 25, 26 [Nos. 355,
361] (1825) ; Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, i.
p. 65, pl. (1878) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit, Mus. xxii. p.
29 (1893).
Adult Male.-—Tarsus uziform w/ite; under tail-coverts closely
barred with black ; a pectoral band of four bars, buff, reddish-
brown, buff and black ; throat spotted with black ; chest above
the pectoral band narrowly barred with black; the wing-
THE SHORT-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. 21
coverts white, narrowly barred with black, and with buff tips.
‘otal length, 10°3 inches; wing, 7; tail, 2°38; tarsus, Ir.
Adult Female—Differs from the male and is distinguished
from the females of allied forms by having xo pectoral band ;
the throat thickly spotted with black, to the chin, the upper
breast barred with black ; the tarsus pure white, and the black
bars on the wing-coverts and chest narrow and regular. Total
length, 9°7 inches; wing, 7; tail, 2°8; tarsus, 1°1.
Range.—North-eastern Africa and South-western Asia, ex-
tending from Kordofan and Nubia to Abyssinia, Somali-land,
and the Suk Country. Across Arabia to the western portions
of Sind.
Habits.—Like the Painted Sand-Grouse described below,
this species is chiefly met with among bush- and thin tree-
jungle, and in other respects their habits appear to be very
similar.
Eggs-—Heuglin occasionally found “nests” of this species,
which, he says, contained “two cylindrical-shaped eggs, much
the colour of dirty and faded Peewits’ eggs.”
VIII. THE DOUBLE-BANDED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLES
BICINCTUS.
Pterocles bicinctus, Vemm. Pig. et Gall. ili. pp. 247, 713 (1815) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 30 (1893).
Adult Male-—Under tail-coverts closely barred with black ;
a pectoral band of ¢wo bars, white and black; throat not
spotted with black; chest above the pectoral band uniform.
Total length, 9:7 inches ; wing, 6°9 ; tail, 3°3; tarsus, o’o.
Adult Female—/Vo pectoral band ; throat spotted with black
to the chin, especially on the sides ; upper breast and chest
rather irregularly barred with black; tarsus barred with black-
ish-brown. ‘Total length, 9°7 inches; wing, 6°6; tail, 3-2; tar.
sus, 0°9.
LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
bo
to
Range.—South Africa, extending east through the Transvaal,
west to Mossamedes, and south to the Orange River.
Habits—A common species in many parts of South Africa.
Ayres says that “next to P. gwtturalts, this is the most plentiful
Sand-Grouse found near the Limpopo. The greater number
of those we saw in June were in flocks, but some few had
paired and were breeding.” According to Andersson it is the
commonest species in Damara and Great Namaqualand, ©
where considerable numbers may be seen during the dry
season, at any of the few permanent waters that exist in those
countries. Large flocks frequent these pools about dark and
during the early part of the night, as well as sometimes at
early dawn; they remain only a short time at the water and
announce their arrival and departure by incessant sharp cries.
IX. INDIAN PAINTED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLES
FASCIATUS.
Tringa fasciaia, Scop. Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr. 1. p. 92
(1786).
Pterocles fasciatus, Gray, List B. iil. p. 49 (1844) ; Hume and
Marshall, Game Birds of India, i. p. 59, pl.(1878) ; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 27 (1893).
Adult Male—Under tail-coverts closely barred with black ; a
pectoral band of ¢hrvee differently coloured bars, chestnut,
white or buff, and black ; throat not spotted with black ; the
chest above the pectoral band uniform yellowish-buff, and each
wing-covert with a white anda grey band near the extremity,
sometimes with four alternate white and grey bars. ‘Total
length, to’8 inches ; wing, 6°7 ; tail, 3°35 SarsHs, “oro:
Adult Female.— Wo pectoral band; only a few black spots af
the base of the throat, upper breast and wing-coverts with
narrow regular bars of black ; the feathers of the feet darred
with blackish-brown. Total length, 10°5 inches; wing, 6:2;
tail, 2°9; tarsus, 0'9.
THE SHORT-TAILED SAND-GROUSE. Aig
Range —Only found ii the Peninsula of India.
Habits.—The habits of this beautiful little Sand-Grouse re-
semble those of P. “ichtensteini, and are very different from
those of most of the species already mentioned, and, though
widely distributed throughout India, Mr. Hume saysthat it is very
local, being chiefly found in the neighbourhood of low rocky
bush-clad, or thinly wooded, hills, and in forest-tracts where
the ground is stony and broken up by ravines. “They seldom
stray far from their natural haunts, unless during the dry
season, when compelled to do so in search of water. Compared
with other Sand-Grouse, they run extremely well, and never
associate in huge flocks, seven to ten being the largest num-
bers flushed at one time. When flushed they seldom fly far,
and run for a considerable distance after they have alighted.
Excellent sport may be had in localities where they are abund-
ant, for they lie well and are seldom, if ever, wild. Writing
from the Central Provinces, Mr. Thompson observes: “I can
quite corroborate Dr. Jerdon’s observations as to the crepus-
cular habits of this species. It is quite nocturnal and feeds
and goes to water even in the darkest night. I have seen birds
atrive at the edge of a plain at dusk, and remain feeding and
going to water during the dark hours before the moon got up.
I have frequently, too, noted parties of six or seven flitting
about noiselessly over an opening in the forest long after sunset.
“During the early part of the rains these birds entirely leave
the forests and jungles, and then, all through the rains, live
in the open country, exactly as P. exustus does, but they are
never noisy like the latter.
“Large numbers of Painted Grouse are taken during the
rainy season by bird-catchers, who, approaching under cover of
a screen made of green leaves and twigs, drop a circular net,
suspended to a loop and held out horizontally at the end of
a long bamboo, over the birds, which, as a rule, never seem to
suspect that there is danger at hand.”
24 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTCRY.
Nest.—A slight depression scratched in the soil, sheltered by
a tuft of grass or low bush.
Eggs.—Two, but more often three are laid; rarely four.
Pale salmon, and sometimes buffy stone-colour, with the usual
purple spots and clouds underlying specks and tiny streaks of
brownish-red. Measurements average 1°42 by 0°98 inch.
X. THE AFRICAN PAINTED SAND-GROUSE. PTEROCLES
QUADRICINCTUS.
Pterocles quadricinctus, Temm. Pig. et Gall. i. pp. 252, 713
(1815) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 32 (1893).
(nas bicinctus, Vieillot (zec Temm.), Gal. Ois. iii. p. 60, pl.
220 (1825).
Pieroces tricinctus, Swains..B. W. Africa, p. 222, pl scum
[female ] (1837).
Adult Male.— Under tail-coverts closely barred with black ; a
pectoral band of ¢/vee bars, chestnut, white or buff, and black ;
throat not spotted with black; chest above the pectoral band
uniform ; and each wing-covert with one or two separate deep
black bars, narrowly edged on each side with white. The male
of this species closely resembles that of the Indian Painted
Sand-Grouse (?. fasciatus), but may be at once distinguished
by the markings on the wing-coverts.
Adult Female.—/Vo pectoral band; no spots on the throat ;
upper breast uniform buff, contrasting with the belly, which is
barred with white and black ; tarsus barred with black.
Range.—Extends from Senegambia in the west, to Abyssinia
in the east.
Habits —Unknown.
THE TRUE GAME-BIRDS.
to
Ur
THE TRUE GAME-BIRDS. ORDER GALLINZA.
This Order includes the great bulk of the species commonly
known as ‘‘ Game ”-Birds, and may be recognised by the follow-
ing characters.
The nasals are holorhinal (Fig. 5) and true basipter ygoid
processes are absent, but represented by sessile facets (sf)
situated far forward on the sphenoidal rostrum (Fig. 6). The
Fic. 5.—Skull of Red Grouse. Fic. 6.—Skull of Red Grouse.
episternal process of the sternum is perforated to receive a pro-
cess from the base of the coracoids (Fig. 7, 4), and there are
two deep notches on each side of the posterior margin of the
sternum (Fig. 7, 2).
The bill is short and stout, the upper mandible being
arched and overhanging the lower.
The hind-toe is always present, but varies in size and posi-
tion.
The feathers covering the body are provided with well-
developed after-shafts.
The nestlings are born covered with down, and able to run
a few hours after being hatched.
26 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
The eggs, especially of the smaller species, are often numer-
ous, and when spotted have only a single set of surface marks,
aS
Fic. 7.—Sternum of Red Grouse,
none of the pale underlying spots characteristic of the Sand-
Grouse, Hemipodes, and Wading Birds, being found.
THE GROUSE... FAMILY ‘TETRAONDDA:
Distinguished by having the hind-toe raised above the
level of the other toes. The nostrils are wholly, and the
feet (metatarsi) partially or entirely hidden by feathers, never
armed with spurs. ‘The toes are either covered with feathers
or naked and pectinate, z.e., with a series of horny comb-like
processes on each side.
I: THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN:
GENUS: LAGOPUs,
Lagopus, Briss. Orn. i. pp. 181, 216 (1760).
Type, Z. Zagopus (Linn.).
These birds may be easily known from all other members
PLATE II.
FEATHERS OF SCOTCH GROUSE.
THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN., 27
of the Galtine by having their fect and toes densely covered
with feathers. The tail is moderately long, and composed of
sixteen feathers, the outer ones being nearly as long as the
middle pair.
lpekne RED eCROUSE. SLAGCOPUS: SCOLIGCUS:
(Piates If. and L/1.)*
eer7ao scouczs, Lath- Gen. Syn. Suppl. 1. p. 290 (1787).
Lagopus scoticus, Leach, Syst. Cat. p. 27 (1816); Millais,
Game-Birds, pp. 43-62, pls. and woodcuts (1892) ; Ogilvie-
Sidiipeate be Brit. Mus. xxii.-p. 35 (1893): id) Ann
scot. Nat. Hist. 1894, pp. 129-140, pls. v. vi.
Adult Male and Female—This species may be distinguished by
having the flight-feathers a/ways blackish-brown.
Male: ‘Total length, 15:5 inches; wing, 8:1 ; tail, 4°8 ; tar-
Bus, 1°4.
Female: ‘Total length, 15 inches ; wing, 4°83 tail, 4-3'stare
Bas, 1°35.
Range-—Great Britain and Ireland. The only species of
Game-Bird peculiar to the British Islands.
Changes of Plumage.—As no group of birds, as far as we are
aware, go through so many and such varied annual changes of
plumage as the members of the genus Zagofus, which includes
the Red Grouse, Willow Grouse, and four species of Ptarmigan,
it will be necessary to enter somewhat fully into details so as
to thoroughly understand the subject.
The Red Grouse being one of the most variable birds in
existence, we must begin by saying a few words regarding
individual variation. ‘The ordinary varieties of the ma/e may
be divided into three distinct types of plumage: a red form, a
* T am much indebted to the courtesy of the editors of the ‘* Annals of
Scottish Natural History” for allowing me to reproduce the plates illustrating
my article ‘‘ On the Changes of Plumage in the Red Grouse,” published in
their magazine and quoted above.
28 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
black form, and a white-spotted form. ‘The first of these, in
which the general colour is rufous-chestnut (PI. II., Fig. 8) with-
out any white spots on the breast, is mostly to be found on the
low grounds of Ireland, the west coast of Scotland, and the
Outer Hebrides. Typical examples of the second, or black
form (Pl. II., Fig. 10) are rarely met with, and are usually found
mixed with either the red or white-spotted forms, but most
often with both, and specimens in mixed plumage are those
most commonly met with. The third, or white-spotted form,
has the feathers of the breast and belly, and sometimes those
of the head and upper-parts, tipped with white. The most
typical examples of this variety are found, as a rule, on the
high grounds of the north of Scotland.
In the fema/e, no less than ve distinct types are recognisable,
the ved, the dlack, the white-spotted, the buff-spotted, and the
buff-barred, forms. The first two are the rarest, the latter being
extremely uncommon (PI. III., Figs. 5 and 13). The white-
spotted form occurs as in the male; the buffspotted form,
which is much the commonest and most usually met with, has
the feathers of the upper-parts spotted at the tip with whitish-
buff (Pl. III, Figs. 2 and 3); the fifth, or buff-barred form
(Pl. III., Fig. 4), is met with in the south of Ireland, and re-
sembles in winter (autumn plumage) the ordinary female in
breeding plumage, having the upper-parts coarsely barred with
buff and black. Very little is known of this last variety, owing
to the difficulty in obtaining birds, except during the shooting-
season.
The great peculiarity of the Red Grouse, and one without
parallel among birds even of the genus, lies in the fact that the
changes of plumage in the male and female occur at different
seasons.
The madze has no distinct summer plumage, but has distinct
autumn and winter plumages, and retains the latter through-
out the breeding-season.
The female has a distinct summer plumage, which is com-
THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 29
plete by the end of April or beginning of May; also a distinct
autumn plumage, which is retained till the following spring.
To put it more concisely, both male and female have two
distinct moults during the year, but in the male they occur in
autumn and winter, and in the female in summer and autumn ;
the former having no distinct summer, and the latter no dis-
tinct winter, plumage.
Inthe Willow Grouse and Ptarmigan there are ¢Aree distinct
changes of plumage in summer, autumn, and winter in both
male and female alike, the winter plumage being w7¢e in all.
The Red Grouse is considered by most ornithologists
merely an insular form of the Willow Grouse, and consequently
one might naturally suppose that as the British species does
not turn white in winter, such protective plumage being un-
necessary in the localities it inhabits, the winter moult has
been gradually dropped. Nowthis is the case with the female
only, and we find the male, for no apparent reason, changing
his newly acquired buff and black autumn plumage for a winter
one of chestnut and black. Further investigations may lead
to some explanation of this strange anomaly, but at present we
know of none.
Adult Male.—Autumn Plumage.—After the breeding-season a
very complete autumn moult takes place, the quills, tail, and
feathers on the feet being entirely renewed. In most examples
the feathers of the upper-parts are black, margined and irregu-
larly barred with tawny-buff, and in most cases the bars cross
the feathers more or less transversely (Pl. II., Fig. 4), but in
some they are more or less concentric and parallel with the
marginal band, giving the upper-parts a scaled appearance.
(Pl. II., Figs. 6 and 7.) The feathers of the chest are rather
widely barred with buff or rufous-buff and black (Pl. II., Fig. 11),
and some of the flank-feathers are more narrowly barred with
tne same colours. The rest of the under-parts vary according
to the type to which the individual belongs, being chestnut,
black, or white-spotted, or a mixture of all three. In a bird
30 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
shot on the 6th of June, the autumn moult having commenced
on the upper mantle, three different sets of feathers can be
seen on the back at once, belonging to the new autumn, the
old winter, and the old autumn plumages, both the latter very
clearly showing the result of wear and tear (PI. II., Figs. 1-3).
The males at this season, no matter to what type they be-
long, bear a much closer resemblance to one another than they
do in their winter plumage, only the under-parts of the body
differing conspicuously. |
The first feathers of the winter plumage begin to appear
about the beginning of September.
Adult Male.—Winter-Summer Plumage.—General colour above
black, with finely mottled bars of dark chestnut (PI. II., Fig. 5);
head, neck, and chest (Pl. II., Fig. 12) mostly dark chestnut,
finely marked with black ; and the flanks mottled and barred
with the same colours, the chestnut usually predominating.
Generally a greater or less number of autumn feathers are re-
tained, and are conspicuous among the new winter plumage.
The rest of the under-parts remain the same as after the
autumn moult.
The general colour of each bird varies, of course, according
to the type to which it belongs, some being darker, some lighter,
When once the winter moult is complete, 20 change whatever
takes place in the plumage of the male till the following
autumn moult, except that the feathers become bleached and
worn at the extremities.
Adult Female——Autumn-Winter Plumage.*—Upper-parts black,
* The form described is the commonest or be//-sfolted form of the female
in autumn plumage, In typical examples of the red form the buff spots at
the ends of the feathers of the upper-parts are absent, and this is also the case
in the much rarer black form. In the buff-barred form, from the south and
west of Ireland, the terminal buff spot takes the form of a marginal bar, and
the feathers are practically indistinguishable from the breeding or summer -
plumage. It may transpire that, in the south of Ireland, the most southerly
point of this bird’s range, the female retains her breeding plumage through-
out the year, but this seems unlikely, and birds killed between the months of
April and August are wanted to settle this point, :
PLATE
8.
dures
FEATHERS OF SCOTCH GROUSE
TIGZE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 31
with narrow irregular bars and mottlings of rufous, and a bufi
spot at the tip of most of the feathers (Pl. III., Figs. 2 and 3);
chest and flank-feathers narrowly and often irregularly barred
with rufous and black, and usually more or less tipped with
buff (Pl. III., Figs. ro and 11). The rest of the under-parts
are dark chestnut, mottled and barred with black, or black,
barred with chestnut. The typical white-spotted form differs,
of course, in having the feathers of the under-parts widely
tipped with white.
Adult Female.-—Summer Plumage.
A. Feathers of the Upper-parts.
So far as I have been able to ascertain from examining a
large number of specimens, the summer feathers of the wfper-
parts are always attained by moult, and never by change of
pattern. ‘The summer moult of these parts is very complete,
and the transformation from the autumn-winter plumage very
remarkable. Every female assumes the summer plumage, and
at this season all the different types closely resemble one an-
other, but one can generally tell by the colour of the under-parts
to which form an individual belongs. In the average female in
full breeding dress the upper-parts may be described as black,
each feather being rather widely margined, barred, and marked
with orange-buff (Pl. III., Fig. 1). ‘The protection afforded by
this plumage is so perfect that, when the bird is sitting on its
nest among heather and dead grass, it may easily remain unob-
served, though only a few yards distant.
This plumage, however, varies much in different individuals,
birds from the west of Scotland, Yorkshire, and Ireland having
the orange-brown bars much brighter and wider than in the
more finely mottled and darker specimens generally charac-
teristic of the east of Scotland.
L. Leathers of the Sides and Flanks.
By the first week in May the summer plumage of the female
32 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Grouse is fairly complete, and many of the finely mottled
rufous and black autumn flank-feathers are replaced by widely,
and often irregularly, barred buff and black feathers, similar to
those of the chest. It must be particularly noted that in ome
of the many females examined, in breeding plumage, were
the zvho/e of the autumn flank-feathers cast or changed in the
summer moult, a large proportion being retained, unchanged
in colour, till the next (autumn) moult. The summer flank-
feathers are produced in two ways, either by a gradual re-
arrangement and change in the pigment of the autumn feathers
(Pl. III., Figs. 6-8) or by moult (Pl. III., Fig. 9). In some birds
the whole of the alteration in the plumage of the flanks is pro-
duced by change of pattern in the old autumn feathers, in
others the change is entirely produced by moult, while some-
times both methods are employed by the same individual.
In the former case, the first indication of the coming change
may be observed in the beginning of November, or even
earlier, when many of the flank-feathers show traces of an
irregular buff stripe or spot near the terminal half of the
shaft (Fig. 7). As the bird only changes about half its flank-
feathers, these buff marks are only to be cbserved on such as
are destined to undergo alteration of pattern, which, roughly
speaking, means every second or third feather. The buff spot
gradually enlarges and spreads along the shaft, then becomes
constricted at intervals and broken up into patches which
gradually extend laterally towards the margins of the webs,
forming wide irregular buff bands (Fig. 8). Meanwhile the
interspaces become black, and the rufous of autumn dies out.
When the summer feathers are supplied by moult, they
usually begin to make their appearance about the beginning of
March, and even when fully grown, may generally be recog-
nised from those produced by change of pattern, by their more
regular black and buff barring (Pl. III., Fig. 9) The change of
pattern without a moult appears to take a long time to become
complete, for we find, as already shown, that though autumn
———
THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 33
feathers, altered in this way, begin to show traces of the coming
metamorphosis as early as the beginning of November, the
colours are often imperfectly arranged by the end of April.
- When the summer feathers are supplied entirely by moult, no
change whatever is visible in the autumn plumage of the flank-
feathers till about the end of February, when the first new
feathers begin to appear, though we have noted a single in-
stance of one summer feather making its appearance as early
as the middle of December.
There can be no doubt that the male completes his autumn
moult very much more guickly than the female does, many
males being in full autumn plumage by the beginning of Sep-
tember. Possibly this may be accounted for by the resources
of the female being more severely taxed than those of the male
during the breeding-season. It may very naturally be asked
why some females should change their summer flank-feathers
by moult, while others are enabled to arrive at the same result
by going through the much less exhaustive process of re-
decorating their old autumn feathers, and making them
serve the purpose of new breeding plumage. This isa difficult
question to answer, but it seems natural to suppose that the
more vigorous birds gain their summer flank-feathers by moult,
while nature has enabled the weaker individuals to obtain the
necessary protective nesting plumage by a more gradual and
less exhaustive process.
C. Leathers of the Chest.
The summer change of the feathers of the fore-neck and
chest in the female Red Grouse is similar to that which takes
place on the sides and flanks, but is very much more complete,
ail the feathers being widely barred with black and yellowish-
buff by the beginning of May (PI. III., Fig. 12).
As will be easily understood, these being conspicuous parts
_ of the bird when she is sitting on her eggs, it is most important
for her that the protective black and buff plumage should be
8) D
34 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTGRY
complete. The greater part of this change is generally pro-
duced by moult ; but, as is the case with the flank-feathers,
some individuals (probably less robust females) attain the
change without moulting. The same rearrangement of the
pigment described in speaking of the flanks takes place in the
chest-feathers, and the finely mottled and barred rufous-and-
black autumn plumage becomes widely barred with black and
buff.
Young birds in July resemble the adult female in breeding
plumage in their general colour, but the flank-feathers of the
adult plumage begin to appear about this time. By the month
of November the young are generally not to be distinguished
from the adults.
Nestling. —In this and all the other species of Zagopus, the
nestling is covered with fluffy yellow down, with rich brown
pattern on the upper-parts.
Habits.—This species inhabits the open moors covered with
heath and ling from sea-level, but is not found above the limits
where these plants grow, its place being taken on the mountain
tops of many parts of Scotland by the Ptarmigan. Unlike the
Black Game, the Red Grouse is strictly monogamous, each male
pairing with one female only, and assisting her to rear the
young. The nesting-season is, roughly speaking, April and
May, but varies according to locality and season, eggs being
sometimes found much earlier and as late as June, though the
latter are probably second sittings, the first having been
destroyed. ‘The female in her black-and-buff summer garb is
practically invisible when sitting on her nest, her colours har-
monising perfectly with her surroundings.
As the young Grouse becomes strong on the wing and the
season advances, the various coveys, especially if the weather is
wet and stormy, soon unite their forces and go about in large
flocks known as “packs,” the males and females generally form-
ing separate parties ; and it is not uncommon to find that all
THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 35
the birds killed in one drive are cocks, while on another beat
the reverse obtains.
Grouse-shooting commences on the 12th of August and
ends on the roth of December. During this period enormous
numbers of birds are shot, the great majority by driving. In
Yorkshire and other parts of the north of England where the
moors are of large extent and comparatively level, the birds pack
so early in the season, and are then so wild, that driving them
is the only means of obtaining a bag. From a sporting point
of view, it is hardly necessary to add that the superiority of
birds driven at a headlong pace over the guns, as compared
with those walked up and shot as they rise, is beyond all
question. On some of the rougher moors, when driving is im-
possible or nearly so, one may still have the pleasure of seeing
dogs used to find the birds, but unfortunately this form of sport
is rapidly going out of fashion. In the west of Ross-shire, the
Isle of Skye, and the Hebrides the tameness of the Grouse is
well-known, and in fine weather the birds lie as close in
December as at the beginning of the season, remaining in small
coveys and often sitting till nearly trodden on. Grouse are
extremely fond of grain, and during the autumn may generally
be seen in the morning and evening in numbers on stubble-
fields within reach of the moors they inhabit. Periodically the
moors are devastated by a terrible scourge known as “ Grouse-
disease,” which sometimes destroys the greater part of the
stock in the localities affected. Itis now generally agreed that
over-stocking is the primary cause, and the disease is almost
always most severe in the springs which follow unusually good
seasons, when birds have been particularly numerous and were
not sufficiently killed down. The liver and intestines are the parts
attacked, the former becoming like dull red jelly and of about
the same consistency. Although parasitic worms are usually
specially numerous in birds which have died of the disease, they
are in no way the cause of death and are often numerous in
perfectly healthy individuals.
D 2
36 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
The Red Grouse occasionally interbreeds with the Black-cock
(Lyrurus tetrix) and perhaps with the Ptarmigan (Z. mtus)
but the supposed hybrids with the latter species are possibly
merely partial albinos of the Red Grouse. Mr. J. G. Muillais
records and figures a singular hybrid between this species and
a Bantam Fowl!
Nest.—A slight hollow in the ground, sheltered by the longer
heather and grass, and lined with moss and grass or such
materials as chance to be on the spot.
Eges.—Vary in number from seven to ten and sometimes
more. The ground colour is pale cream or buff, spotted and
blotched all over with dark reddish-brown, which often nearly
conceals the ground-colour. Average measurements, 1°75 by
1°32 inches.
II. WILLOW GROUSE, OR RIPA. LAGOPUS LAGOPUS.
Tetrao lagopus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 274 (1766).
Tetrao albus, Gmel. S. N. 1. pt. ii. p. 750 (1788).
Tetrao saliceti, ‘Temm. Pig. et Gall. iii. pp. 208, 709 (1815)
[ part].
Lagopus albus, Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. xi. p. 292 (1819) ;
Dresser, B. Europe, v. p. 183, pls. 483, 484 (1874).
Lagopus lagopus, Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 69, pl. ii.
figs. 5-10 (1892); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
p. 40 (1893).
Adult Male and Female-—Outer tail-feathers black, with only the
bases and tips more or less white; the flight-feathers a/ways
white ; the tll much larger and stouter, like that of L. scottcus,
and the wing about 8 inches in length from the bend to the
tip of the flight-feather.
Male: ‘Total length, 15°5 inches ; wing, 8'1; tail, 4°8 ; tarsus,
1s
female: Total length, 15 inches; wing, 7°8 ; tail 4°3 ; tarsus,
1°35.
THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 37
Range.—Circum-polar, inhabiting the Arctic tundras_ of
Europe, Asia, and America.
Adult Male and Female.—Winter Plumage.—Pure white, with the
exception of the black outer tail-feathers, which remain un-
changed.
Adult Male.—Summer Plumage.—The head and neck chestnut,
shading into dark chestnut, or sometimes even black on the
chest ; rest of the upper-parts chestnut, mottled and barred
with black, and often tipped with buff; flight-feathers and rest
of under-parts white, as in winter. ‘This is the most com-
plete form of summer plumage found in birds inhabiting
the more temperate parts of the range; in those from high
altitudes, all the upper-parts, from the back of the neck, remain
white, merely interspersed here and there with a few feathers
uf the summer plumage.
Adult Female.—Summer Plumage.—Very similar to the female of
the Red Grouse in breeding plumage, but the buff markings are
paler and more conspicuous and the flight-feathers are zA7‘e.
Unlike the male, the summer moult of the female, no matter
the locality, is always complete, birds from the far north of
Alaska being in quite as complete breeding-dress as those from
more southern latitudes.
Adult Male and Female.—Autumn Plumage.—Head, throat, and
chest light brick or pale chestnut colour, usually with finely
m_-ttled black cross-bars (in the female these parts are generally
largely intermixed with the old summer feathers) ; the upper-
parts are black, with narrow bars of rufous or rufous-buff. The
flight-feathers, tail-feathers, and feathers of the feet are, as in
other members of this genus, renewed at this season.
Quite young birds have the first flight-feathers greyish-brown,
mottled with buff at the tip and along the outer web.
Habits.—These birds in every way resemble the Red Grouse.
Their call is the same, and their eggs are indistinguishable, but
they inhabit somewhat different ground, being chiefly found
38 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
among birch- and willow-trees, and, unlike the Grouse, they are
fond of perching on trees, and prefer to roost in them.
Note.—The Newfoundland bird is said to differ in having black shafts
to the flight-feathers, and has been distinguished under the name of Lago-
pus allenz, but specimens recently obtained from that island show that this
difference is not constant, and of no importance. Black shafts to the pri-
mary flight-feathers, usually accompanied by black on the adjacent parts of
the web, are characteristic of younger birds in the first white winter plu-
mage, but are sometimes to be seen in individuals which are certainly more
than one year old.
Nestling, Nest, and Eggs,—Like those of LZ. scoticus.
III. THE COMMON PTARMIGAN. LAGOPUS MUTUS.
Tetrao lagopus, Scop. (nec Linn.) Ann. 1. p. 118 (1769).
Tetrao mutus, Montin, Phys. Salsk. Hand. if p. 155 (1776-86).
Lagopus mutus, Leach, Syst. Cat. p. 27 (1816); Millais, Game
Birds, pp. 63-72, pls. and woodcuts (1892) ; Ogilvie-Grant,
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 45 (1893).
Adult Male and Female at all seasons——Outer tail-feathers black,
with only the bases and tips more or less white ; flight-feathers
always white, bill much more slender than in the Red Grouse
or Willow Grouse; wing shorter, males measuring about 7°5
inches from the bend of the wing to the end of the longest
flight-feather.
Adult Male and Female.—Winter Plumage.—General plumage and
middle pair of tail-feathers white, with a black patch in front
of the eye in the made, which is absent or rudimentary in the
female.
Adult Male.—Summer Plumage——Head, upper-parts, middle pair
of tail-feathers, sides, and flanks dark brown, mottled and barred
with grey and rusty ; breast brownish-black, sometimes more
or less barred and mottled with buff; rest of under-parts
white.
Adult Female-——Summer Piumage.—General colour above black,
mixed with rufous-buff, most of the feathers being edged with
whitish-buff ; middle pair of tail-feathers and under-parts rufous-
buff, barred with black.
THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 39
Adult Male and Female—Autumn Plumage.—Upper-parts, middle
pair of tail-feathers, breast, and sides grey, finely mottled with
black, and sometimes with buff; rest of under-parts white.
The female may generally be distinguished by having some
feathers of the faded summer plumage remaining among the
grey autumn plumage.
Male: Total length, 14°5 inches ; wing, 7°6; tail, 4°6 ; tar-
sus, I°3.
Female: Total length, 14 inches; wing, 7°4; tail, 4°1; tar-
ets, 1°3.
Range.—The mountains of Europe, and possibly also some of
the ranges of Central Asia, are the home of the Ptarmigan, but
the birds found in the latter localities should, perhaps, be re-
ferred to the more northern rufous form, Z. rafestris, which was
the bird found by Mr. Seebohm on the Yenesei at 711%4° N.
latitude. In the west it ranges to the mountains of Scotland,
in the south to the Pyrenees and Alps, and in the east at least
as far as the Ural Mountains.
Changes of Plumage.—Mr. J. G. Millais, who has had excep-
tional opportunities of studying the plumage of the Ptarmigan
from different parts of Scotland, gives the following excellent
account of the various changes during the year :—
*¢ January.—The white plumage.
“ February.—The same. (In very early spring the first
summer-plumage feathers begin to appear, always on the
neck.)
“ March and April.rSummer plumage coming gradually in,
the breast-feathers being the last to appear.
“‘ May.—Summer plumage quite complete by the last week
of the month.
“«/une.—Summer plumage. Males generally showing white
tips to feathers.
‘* /uly.—The white tips to the feathers of the back and
breast in the male have now worn off the feathers, the breast
40 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY.
being very black and the whole plumage much darker, and
in the female the whole plumage is more rusty and faded.
During the last week of the month many of the blue-grey
feathers of the autumn make their appearance, and the feathers
moult from off the legs. This is the case with both cock and
hen, but some specimens are far more advanced than others.
“ August.—A complete change of both cock and hen to
blue-grey plumage of the autumn, the whole being complete —
about the 2zoth of this month. The hens sometimes retain
a few of the faded summer-plumage feathers till the first week
in September, most noticeably on the back and flanks. At the
beginning of this month the head and neck are more or less
dark, with a brown tinge in both sexes, but by the end of the
month the whole bird has changed to a very much paler blue-
grey, the black ribbings on the feathers becoming less distinct.
At the end of the month the feet are covered with the new
feathers, though these are short.
“ September.—The fading of the feathers in both male and
female continues throughout the month; the males exhibit a
slight difference in the ground-colouring of the back-feathers,
some retaining the brownish tinge and others a pure blue-grey.
In the brown-tinged: birds the black markings on the feathers
are always far less distinct than in the grey birds.
“ October.—The plumage of both sexes still continues to fade,
while the black markings become less and less distinct, till the
middle of the month, when the first pure white feathers of the
third moult make their appearance. ‘These first show on the
back and flanks of the birds, and gradually increase, till by the
end of the month both male and female have an equal propor-
tion of both old and new feathers. The feet are by this time
quite fully covered, the feathers having been gradually growing
since the beginning of August.
“ November.—A few of the old feathers of the autumn re-
main on the back, and one or two on the head. ‘Thoseon the
back kave, by the 15th of this month, become so pale that the
THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN, 41
small black markings across them can hardly be discerned, but
those on the head and neck do not fade much. At this season,
most of the birds will have cast the last of these old feathers,
and will stand complete in their new winter dress, in which
they continue until the end of February.
“* December.—The different plumages noted in the preceding
month may be more or less normal, but during this month
many birds, especially the cocks, retain throughout the winter
a large amount of the autumn feathers on the back. One that
I received on December 31st, 1890, from West Ross-shire, is
figured (Z.c.) as an example of this stage, and may be taken asa
typical specimen, though somewhat dark. In December the
average of pure white birds is about one in four, but in severe
winters they vary materially, and all the birds may be pure
white.”— Game-Birds and Shooting-Sketches, pp. 69, 70 (1892).
Habits—The home of the Ptarmigan is among the high stony
table-lands and rocks above the limits of tree-growth and heaths.
Like the Willow Grouse, the plumage of the male varies greatly
in different localities, and the amount of white feathers retained
during the summer and autumn plumages is greatly affected
by the latitude which the birds inhabit, examples from the north
of Norway retaining much white in the upper-parts throughout
the summer months. ‘This does not apply to the females, all
of which get their full summer breeding-dress, which is no
doubt essential for their protection during the nesting-season.
In the same way, the mixed plumage of the males no doubt
renders them leSs conspicuous among the patches of snow
which, in the more northern latitudes, are not melted during
the short summer. ‘The general habits of the Ptarmigan re-
semble those of the Grouse, their monogamous habits, mode
of nesting and feeding, being much the same, but the call is
very different from the “ bec” of the latter, and is more of a
hoarse croak. The female is an excellent mother, taking the
greatest care of her young, and boldly menacing any unex-
pected intruder who may come on her unawares. She flutters
42 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
along the ground or runs towards her supposed enemy with
drooping wings and halting gait to attract attention, while the
young disappear as by magic, and vanish among the crevices
of the stones. Ptarmigan depend greatly for safety on the per-
fect harmony of their plumage with their natural surroundings,
and it is astonishing to see how they will sometimes rise all
round one, almost from under one’s feet, on comparatively bare
ground, without any previous evidence of their presence.
Nestling, Nest, and Eggs.—Similar to those of the Red Grouse,
but the eggs of the latter are rather smaller, less thickly covered
with blotches, and more buff in general appearance.
IV. THE ROCK PTARMIGAN. LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS.
Tetrao rupestris, Gmel. S. N. i. pt. ii. p. 751 (1788).
Lagopus rupestris, Leach, Zool. Misc. ii. p. 290 (1817); Ben-
dire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 75, pl. il. figs. 11-15 (1892) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 48 (1893).
Lagopus rupestris reinhardti, p. 78; L. 7. nelsont, p. 80; L.
r. atkhensis, p. 81; L. welchi, p. 82; Bendire, Life Hist.
Ne Am. B..(13892):
(Plate LV.)
It appears to me: more and more doubtful whether this
so-called species should be considered more than a mere
climatic variety of the Ptarmigan. In typical examples, the
summer and autumn plumages are certainly more rufous
in birds from Iceland, Greenland, Arctic America, Japan,
and Asia; but in Newfoundland we find a greyer form,
apparently scarcely to be distinguished from the European
bird, and similar forms are recorded from some of the islands
to the north of Arctic America. Insufficient material pre-
vents us at present from settling this point, but we believe
that the most reasonable way of treating the matter is to regard
all as climatic variations of one circum-polar species. It is
obviously useless to give endless names to slight climatic varie-
ties because they occur in different parts of the globe, when,
me
NVOTINUVLd MOO
‘AI dhw td
THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 43
unless one knows the locality whence each individual is ob-
tained, it is practically impossible to name a specimen. Birds
from Iceland, Arctic America, Japan, and North Asia are indis-
tinguishable in summer and autumn, and those from Europe,
Scotland, and, apparently, also from Newfoundland and some of
the islands to the north of Arctic America are equally so, while
examples from Greenland have the markings somewhat finer
than in North American birds, though, like them, they be-
long to the more rufous form. In the white winter plumage,
all the forms are, of course, perfectly similar to one another.
The reader must judge for himself which view of the matter
is the most natural. He can regard the Ptarmigan and
Rock Ptarmigan as forming one widely distributed species
with various climatic phases of grey or rufous plumage, which
occur in scattered localities ; or he may consider each local
form as representing an incipient sub-species or race, but,
from all we at present know, the former view seems prefer-
able. The mere fact that indistinguishable grey or rufous
forms are found in intermediate localities over a very wide
range, seems to show that only one polymorphic species really
exists. Among many parallel instances we may mention the
little Hemipode ( Zwrnzx ¢azgoor) found in India and the Indo-
Chinese countries.
V. THE SPITSBERGEN PTARMIGAN. LAGOPUS HYPERBOREUS.
Lagopus alpina, var. hyperborea, Sundev. in Gaim. Voy. Scan-
din. Atl. livr. xxxvili. pl. (1838).
Lagopus hemileucurus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 3543; Dresser,
B= Hurope; v. p. 170, pl. 482 (1871).
Lagopus hyperboreus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
51 (1893).
Adult Male and Female-—This species may be easily distin-
guished, at all seasons of the year, from the other Ptarmi-
gan, by having much more white on the basal part of the tail-
feathers. ‘The second pair has the basal two-thirds of both
44 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
webs white, and the outermost pair shows at least the basal two-
thirds of the outer web white; on the median tail-feathers,
the amount of white decreases, being confined to the basal
third of the outer web in the seventh pair.
Range.—Only known to occur in Spitsbergen.
Habits—According to Mr. Abel Chapman, the cry of this
bird differs from that of the Common Ptarmigan and resembles
the “bec” of the Red and Willow Grouse, instead of the
hoarse croak of the Ptarmigan.
VI, THE WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. LAGOPUS LEUCURUS.
Tetrao (Lagopus) leucurus, Swains. and Richards. Faun. Bor.-
Amer. ii. p. 356, pl. 63 (1831).
Lagopus leucurus, Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 83, pl. ii.
figs. 16, 17 (1892) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii, —
p. 52 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Distinguished from the allied species
at all seasons by having the outer tail-feathers pure white, as
well as by its smaller size.
Male: Total length, 12:6 inches ; wing, 7°3 ; tail, 4°35 tar
sus, I°2. te
Female. Total Tength, 12-inches ; wing, 7°25 tail, 3:7¢rame
sus, 1°4.
Range.—Only met with towards the summits of the Rocky
Mountains, from Alaska southwards to the north of New
Mexico.
Changes of Plumage.— Very similar to those of Z. mutus and L.
rupestris, but the black markings on the swzmmer plumage of
the ma/e are much bolder, and in winter the black mark in
front of the eye is absevt.
Hahits——The White-tailed Ptarmigan, Capt. Bendire tells us,
is ‘a resident and breeds wherever found, rarely leaving the
mountain summits, even during the severest winter weather,
and then only descending 2,000 or 3,000 feet at most, seldom
THE BLACK GROUSE. 45
being found at a lower altitude than 8,000 to 9,000 feet at any
time.” In the Rocky Mountain region it is generally known
by the very appropriate name of the “White” or ‘Snow ”
*Quail. Grinnell writes: “On the high plateaux where this
bird is found, the wind often blows with a tremendous sweep
and is almost strong enough to throw down a man. When
such a wind is blowing, the Ptarmigan dig out for themselves
little nests or hollows in the snow-banks, in which they lie with
their heads toward the wind and quite protected from it.” In
general habits this species is very similar to the Common
Ptarmigan, but apparently it is mostly found in small parties
of about a dozen, and even in late autumn is rarely met with
in packs.
- Eggs.—Creamy-buff to pale reddish or salmon-buff; the
markings, generally small and well-defined, varying in colour
from reddish-brown to chocolate-brown. ‘They resemble far
more the eggs of Dendragapus than Lagofus” (Bendre).
Average measurements, 1°75 by 1°2 inches.
TEE BUACK GROUSE. GENUS: LYRURUS.
Lyrurus, Swains. Faun. Bor.-Amer. ii. p. 497 (1831).
Dype,-L.-rerrix (linn, ).
Characterised by having the feet feathered, but, unlike
Lagopus, the toes are naked and pectinate on the sides. The
tail is composed of eighteen feathers, and in the male the
outer pairs, which are much the longest, are curved outwards
at the extremity.
Only two species are known.
I. THE BLACK GROUSE. LYRURUS TETRIX.
mea dein, Linn. 5. N. 1. p. 274 (17606); Millais, Game-
Birds, pp. 21-42, pls. and woodcuts (1892).
Lyrurus tetrix, Swains. and Richards. Faun. Bor.-Amer. ii.
p. 497 (1831); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
55 (1893).
46 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Adult Male——Plumage mostly black; the wader tazl-coverts
pure white. Total length, 23'5 inches ; wing, 10°3 ; tail, 8°8;
tarsus, I°9.
Adult Female—Plumage mostly rufous and buff, barred with
black, the black bars on the breast being much coarser than
in the female of Z. mlokosiewiczt, and the tail shorter. Total
length, 17 inches; wing, 8°9 ; tail, 4°5 ; tarsus, 1°6.
Nestling—Covered with yellowish down, patterned with
chestnut-brown on the upper-parts.
Range-—The common Black Grouse is found in suitable
localities over the greater part of Europe and Northern and
Central Asia. To the west it extends to Great Britain, and
to the east to North-east Siberia, while southwards it ranges
to the Pyrenees, North Italy, North Ca‘acasus, the Tian Shan
Mountains, and Peking. It is found as high as 69° N. lat.
In some localities it is met with a little above the sea-level,
while in Central Asia it ranges to 10,000 feet.
Changes of Plumage.—During the heavy autumn moult, which
takes place in July and August, when the males are entirely
devoid of tails and generally incapable of flying more than
a few yards at most, a temporary protective plumage, like
that of the female, clothes the head and neck, and the throat
becomes more or less white. ‘The object of this change is
obvious, for the black head and neck of the male are con-
spicuous objects among the heather and rushes, but the rufous-
buff feathers, with their black bars and marks, harmonise per-
fectly with these surroundings and enable the defenceless
birds to escape the observation of their enemies. The barred
feathers of the head and neck are not cast and replaced by
black, till the rest of the plumage has been renewed, and the
bird is once more able to fly.
The young male, unlike the Caucasian Black Grouse, attains
the black adult plumage at the first autumn moult, and by
November resembles the old male, but some of the finely
THE BLACK GROUSE. 47
mottled shoulder-feathers and inner flight-feathers of the first
plumage are generally retained till the second season, and the
outer tail-feathers are shorter and less beautifully curved.
Females that have become barren from age or accident
commonly assume the male plumage to a greater or less ex-
tent, some examples having much black in the plumage and a
very well-developed forked black tail, each feather being
prettily edged with white. One peculiarity of these birds is
the colour of the throat, which in the most fully plumaged
examples is pure white.
The only time when the throat of the male is white, or
partially so, is during the short period when the temporary
hen-like plumage covers the head and neck. At that season
the throat becomes white or thickly spotted with that colour.
No doubt this is the source whence the pure white throat of
the barren female is derived.
Habits.—Pine- and birch-forests are the true home of this
bird, and though, when feeding, it may often be met with on
the open moors or in the stubble-fields at a considerable dis-
tance from any covert, it is truly a denizen of the woods, and
passes the greater part of its existence on the branches, where,
unlike the Red Grouse, it is perfectlyat home. Black Grouse,
like other Game-Birds, are extremely partial to grain, and
in some parts of Scotland, where they are still numerous, fre-
quent the stubble-fields in enormous flocks, generally in the
early morning and towards evening. ‘They are polygamous—
that is to say, one male pairs with many females, and generally
towards the end of March or beginning of April the pairing-
season commences, when the cocks are in the habit of re-
pairing at dawn and sunset to some particular spot to display
their charms to the females and give battle to their rivals.
The extraordinary pantomime gone through by each male as
he struts round the arena, generally an open patch of ground
worn nearly bare by constant traffic, is most entertaining to
48 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
observe. With drooping wings, outspread tail, and many
other curious antics, accompanied by an occasional spring into
the air, he attempts to secure the goodwill of the ladies, and
when two birds meet, a slight skirmish, in which a few feathers
are lost, takes place. Asa rule, no serious fights, such as one
sees between Red Grouse, occur, merely a ‘‘round with the
gloves,” to entertain the ladies of the harem ; but occasionally,
when two old rivals chance to meet, a furious “‘set-to”” may be
witnessed, the fight lasting till one or both birds are thoroughly
exhausted, bleeding and torn. ‘These s!range entertainments
last till the females—or “‘Grey-hens” as they are called—have
laid all their eggs and commenced to sit, when the males are
seen no more, the hatching of the eggs and rearing of the young
being exclusively the task of the females.
Hybrids between the Black-cock and female Capercailzie
(so called Ze¢rao medius) are not uncommon, and it occasion-
ally crosses with the Red Grouse, Willow Grouse, and more
rarely with the Pheasant and Hazel-Hen.
Nest.—A slight hollow in the ground, scratched out and
with little lining ; usually well concealed.
Eggs.—Generally six to ten in number. Buff spotted with
rich brown. Average measurements, 2 inches by 1°4.
Il. THE CAUCASIAN’ BLACK GROUSE. LYRURUS
MLOKOSIEWICZI.
Tetrao mlokostewiczi, Tacz. P. Z.S. 1875, p. 266, woodcuts;
Dresser, B. Europe, v. p. 219, pl. 488 (1876). é
Tetrao acatoptricus, Radde, Orn. Caucas. p. 358 (1884) ; id.
ya. ©. 1865, \p..79-
Lyrurus mlokosiewicz, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
58 (1893).
Adult Male-—Plumage eztirve/y black, including the under tail-
coverts. ‘Total length, 20 inches; wing, 8 ; tail, 8:2; tarsus, 2.
Adult Female—Plumage mostly rufous and buff, barred with
THE CAPERCAILZIES. 49
black, but the black bars and markings on the breast are much
finer than in the female of JZ. ¢efrix, and the tail is longer.
Total length, 16°6 inches; wing, 7°7; tail, 5°5 ; tarsus, 1°85.
Range.—This species is only found in the Caucasian Moun-
tains)
Changes of Plumage-—The young males are peculiar in retain-
ing a hen-like plumage throughout the first year, and probably
till the second moult, thus differing entirely from the young
males of Z. ¢e¢trix, which attain their black plumage at the
first autumn moult, and by December closely resemble their
male parent.
THE CAPERCAILZIES. GENUS TETRAO.
Leirao, Linite S.No 1) p:273 (£766):
Type, Z. urogallus, Linn.
The members of this genus are all birds of large size, and,
like the Black Grouse, have the tail composed of eighteen
feathers, but are distinguished by having the middle pair of
feathers much longer than the outer pair, which produces a
rounded or wedge-shaped appearance when the tail is spread.
There are no elongate tufts of feathers on each side of the
neck, nor inflatable air-sacs in the male, and the outer flight-
feathers are not attenuated or sickle-shaped.
I, THE CAPERCAILZIE. TETRAO UROGALLUS.
Tetrao urogallus, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 273 (1766); Meyer, Unser
Auer.-, Rackel- und Birkwild, &c. pp. 1-15, pls. 1-3 (1887) ;
Millais, Game-Birds, pp. 1-20, pls. and woodcuts (1892) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxil. p. 60 (1893).
Adult Male—Above dark grey, shading into reddish-brown
on the wings and finely mottled with black ; a raetallic green
band across the chest, and the throat glossed with the same
colour. Middle of the back not barred with black; the
shoulder-feathers not tipped with white; and the breast and
belly black, a few feathers in the middle being tipped with
0 E
50 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
white. Total length, 35 inches; wing, 14°6; tail, 12°3; tarsus,
B73: 7
Adult Female-—Middle of the back rufous and buff, strongly
barred with black; breast and belly buff or whitish-buff,
barred with black; general colour of the plumage darker
than in Z: wralensis, the white tips to the scapulars being
narrower. Total length, 25 inches;/ wing, 11°75; tailjigege
tarsus; 273%
Younger males resemble the adult, but are smaller, and the
white band across the tail is wanting.
Nestling—Very similar to that of ZL. fetrix.
Range.—The pine-forests of Europe and Northern and Cen-
tral Asia, extending in the west to Scotland, in the east as far
as Lake Baikal, and southwards to the Pyrenees, Alps, Carpa-
thians, North-east Turkestan, and the Altai Mountains.
Habits.—The Capercailzie is an inhabitant of the pine-forests,
and spends the greater part of its time among the branches,
feeding on the tender shoots of spruce and larch; but it is
also extremely fond of various ground-fruits, in search of which
it may not unfrequently be found in comparatively open
country at a considerable distance from the fir-woods. Like
other Game-Birds, it also shows a great partiality for grain,
visiting the stubble-fields in fine weather. On the ground, the
movements of Capercailzie are slow and dignified, and when
wounded, being incapable of running at any great pace, they
seldom move far from where they fall, usually seeking conceal-
ment by hiding, at which, in spite of their size, they are great
adepts. The weight of the old male averages from nine to
twelve pounds, but, notwithstanding his bulk, the flight is easy
and almost noiseless, though remarkably steady and rapid. It
is astonishing how closely one of these great birds can glide
past without its presence being detected, unless one happens
to catch sight of it. The habits are somewhat similar to those
of the Black Game, but the meeting-place of the males is
THE CAPERCAILZIES. 51
generally some particular pine-tree known as the “ laking-
place.” Here, in the month of April, the male may be seen at
dawn and sunset, where, with outstretched neck, drooping
wings, and tail erected and spread like a fan, he utters his
“spel,” or love-song. ‘This consists of three notes, each being
several times repeated, and towards the end of the song he
works himself up into such a state of blind excitement that,
careless of the surrounding objects, he heeds not the stealthy
approach of the “‘sportsman,” who takes advantage of these
moments of ecstacy, and gradually gets within shooting dis-
tance. Thus on the Continent many a fine old cock is done
to death, for only the older birds “spel,” the younger and
weaker cocks being driven from the field. ‘Tremendous fights
take place for the sovereignty of each harem, and both com-
batants may sometimes be captured, having fought till they are
so completely exhausted that they are unable to escape.
The flesh of old birds has a strong flavour of turpentine, and,
being extremely bitter, is unfit for the table, but young birds
are often palatable enough, if properly cooked.
Hybrids The female Capercailzie, as already mentioned, fre-
quently crosses with the Black-cock, and the male hybrid is a
remarkably handsome bird, with a fine purplish gloss on the
breast and a forked tail, but the latter is much less curved than
that of the male parent. The female hybrid is much more
difficult to distinguish, and may easily be mistaken for a large
Grey-hen or small female Capercailzie ; but there is an infal-
lible means of distinguishing the three to be found in the com-
parative length of the middle tail-feathers and under tail-coverts.
In the Grey-hen the tail is forked, the outer feathers being much
the longest, and the under tail-coverts extend considerably
beyond the middle pair. The female Capercailzie has the tail
rounded, the middle pair of feathers being much longer than
the outer, and the under tail-coverts do not extend nearly to
the end of the middle pair, while in the female hybrid the
tail is nearly square, the feathers being all of about the same
Hz
52 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
length, and the under tail-coverts are much shorter than the
middle pair. These hybrids have many names, such as
Tetrao hybridus, &c. The best work on the subject is
Dr. A. B. Meyer’s volume quoted above.
The Capercailzie has also been known to cross with the
Pheasant and Willow Grouse.
Nest and Eggs.—Very similar to those of the Black Grouse,
but the eggs are somewhat larger than those of the latter bird.
Average measurements, 2°2 by 1°6 inches.
SUB-SP. @& THE URAL CAPERCAILZIE. TETRAO URALENSIS.
Tetrao uralensts, Nazarov, Bull. Mosc. 1886, p. 365 ; Ogilvie
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 65 (1893).
(Plate V.)
Adult Male—Similar to Z. uwvogallus, but the mantle and
back grey, finely mottled with black; wings and shoulder-
feathers light reddish-brown, the latter not tipped with white ;
general colour of the upper-parts much paler than in Z,
urogallus ; breast and belly mostly white.
Adult Female-—Mantle pale rufous and buff, strongly barred
with black ; the breast and belly buff or whitish-buff, barred
with black; and the general colour of the plumage paler than
in Z. urvogallus, the white tips to the shoulder-feathers being
much wider.
Range-—The Ural Mountains.
Although at first sight this splendid Capercailzie, by far the
handsomest of the genus, appears to be remarkably distinct
from typical examples of Z. wrogallus from Norway and Swe-
den, I have examined numerous examples in intermediate
stages of plumage between the dark Scandinavian bird and
the light-coloured Ural form. ‘These intermediate birds come
into the London market in considerable numbers, and are
believed to be imported from some of the more southern
URAL CAPERCAILZIE.
THE CAPERCAILZIES. 53
provinces of Russia, but, so far, I have been unable to ascer-
tain the exact locality whence they are obtained. It must be
added that, though some of these intermediate birds have
much white on the breast and belly, and are altogether lighter
than Western European examples, the Ural birds are so very
much paler, and show notrace of variation among themselves,
that they may be fairly considered at present as representing a
well-marked geographical sub-species, though most probably
future investigations will show that they completely intergrade
with typical western and eastern forms.
II. THE SLENDER-BILLED CAPERCAILZIE. TETRAO
PARVIROSTRIS.
Tetrao urogalloides, Middend. (xec Nilss.*), Sibir. Reise, 11. pt.
il. p. 195, pl. xviii. (1851); Elliot, Mon. Tetraon. pl. vi.
(1865).
Tetrao parvirostris, Bonap. C. R. xlii. p. 880 (1856) ; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 66 (1893).
Adult Male—Mantle brownish-black, not barred, and the
shoulder-feathers less widely tipped with white, the white tips
forming an interrupted line of white spots. ‘Total length, 35
inches ; wing, 15; tail, 14°38; tarsus, 2°7.
Adult Female.— Mantle strongly barred with black ; the breast
and belly black, barred with buff and tipped with white; and
the white spots on the shoulder-feathers forming az interrupted
line of white spots. Total length, 25 inches ; wing, 11°6; tail,
We7> tarsus, 17.
Range.—This species takes the place of 7. wrogallus in the
pine-forests of the north east of Siberia to the east of Lake
Baikal, and is also found in the island of Saghalien, but not in
Kamtschatka.
* This name was previously used by Nilsson for the hybrid between the
Black Grouse and Capercailzie,
54 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY
Ill. THE KAMTSCHATKAN CAPERCAILZIE. TETRAO
KAMTSCHATICUS.
Letrao kamtschaticus, Kittl. Reise Kamtschatka, 11. p. 353,
woodcut (1858) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
Pp. 67 (1893).
Adult Male—Like 7. farvirostris, but smaller ; mantle not
barred with black ; shoulder-feathers broadly tipped with white,
forming a continuous while band down each side of the back.
Total length, 30 inches’; wing, 14:1; tail, 11°05 tarsus; 27
Adult Female-—Mantle strongly barred with black ; breast and
belly black, barred with buff and tipped with white ; the white
tips of the shoulder-feathers form a continuous white band, asin
the male. Total length, 22 inches ; wing, 11°1 ; tail, 6°4 ; tar-
Sus; 2;
Range-—This species is only known to occur in Kamts-
chatka, where it replaces 7. parvirosiris.
THE CANADIAN GROUSE. GENUS CANACHIZES
Canachites, Stejn. P. U.S. Nat. Mus. vill. p. 409 (1885).
Type, C. canadensis (Linn.).
Toes naked and pectinate on the sides; tail fairly long and
rounded, composed of sixteen feathers, the outer pair being
not much shorter than the middle pair; no elongate tufts of
feathers on each side of the neck, and the outer flight-feathers
not attenuated or sickle-shaped.
This genus includes only two small North American species
of about the size of the Common Partridge of Europe.
I. THE CANADA GROUSE. CANACHITES CANADENSIS.
Tetrao canadensis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 274 (1766) ; Audub. Orn.
Biogr. ii. p. 437, pl. clxxvi. (1834); v. p. 563 (1839).
Canace canadensis, Reichenb. Av. Syst. Nat. p. xxix. (1851);
Elliot, Monogr. Tetraon. pl. ix. (1865).
THE CANADIAN GROUSE. 55
Canachites canadensis, Stejn. P. U. S. Nat. Mus. viii. p. 409
(1885); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 69
(1893).
Dendragapus canadensis, Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 51,
pled. aes. 20-23 -(1892).
Adult Male —General colour above black, barred with brown-
ish-grey ; upper tail-coverts edged or tipped with g7vey; the
tail with a well-marked terminal rufous band ; chin, throat, and
most of under-parts black. ‘Total length, 15°5 inches; wing,
Go + tail, 4°38; tarsus, 1°4.
Adult Female. — May be distinguished from the male in having
the chin and throat rufous, spotted with black ; the neck and
chest black, barred with rust-colour, and the rest of the under-
parts the same, but tipped with white. ‘Total length, 14:2
inches; wing, 6°8; tail, 4; tarsus, 1°4.
Range-—This Grouse inhabits the northern parts of North
America, ranging westwards to the east side of the Rocky
Mountains, eastwards to New England and New York, north-
wards to Alaska, and south to Minnesota.
Habits——The favourite haunts of this handsome little species
are dense thickets and evergreen woods. Its food consists
largely of the tender spruce buds and needles, varied in
summer with berries of various kinds. The pairing-season
commences in the end of Aprii or early in May, the eggs
being laid in the latter part of May or beginning of June.
Unlike the Capercailzies and Black Grouse, these birds are
monogamous, and there is good reason to believe that some
retain their mates for more than one season, isolated pairs
being often found together in the middle of winter. During
the breeding-season the male has a peculiar habit of drumming,
which has been described as follows: “After strutting back
and forth for a few minutes, the male flew straight up as high
as the surrounding trees, about fourteen feet; here he remained
stationary an instant, and while on suspended wing did the
56 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISFORY.
drumming with the wings, resembling distant thunder, mean-
while dropping down slowly to the spot from whence he started,
to repeat the same thing over and over again.” Capt. Bendire
gives another description of the drumming: ‘The Canada
Grouse performs its ‘drumming’ upon the trunk of a standing
tree of rather small size, preferably one that is inclined from the
perpendicular, and in the following manner. Commencing near
the base of the tree selected, the bird flutters upward with
somewhat slow progress, but rapidly beating wings, which pro-
duce the drumming sound. Having thus ascended fifteen or
twenty feet, it glides quietly on wing to the ground and repeats
the manceuvre. Favourite places are resorted to habitually,
and these ‘drumming trees’ are well-known to observant woods-
men. I have seen one so well worn upon the bark as to lead
to the belief that it had been used for this purpose for many
years.”
Eggs.—Seven to thirteen, sometimes more. Similar to those
of LZ. ¢e¢rix, but smaller, and the ground-colour sometimes red-
dish-buff; the markings, also, are generally heavier, some of
the spots being confluent and forming blotches. Average
measurements, 1°75 inch by 1°25.
II. FRANKLIN’S GROUSE. CANACHITES FRANKLINI.
Tetrao frankiint, Dougl. Trans. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 139 (1829);
Swains. and Richards. Faun. Bor.-Amer. ii. p. 348, pl. 1xi.
(een):
Canace franklini, Elliot, Proc. Acad. Philad. 1864, p. 23; id.
Monogr. Tetraon. pl. x. (1865).
Dendragapus franklinit, Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 56
(1892).
Canachites franklinit, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
p- 71 (1893).
Adult Male—Like the male of C. crwadensis, but the upper
tail-coverts tipped with white ; no terminal rufous band to the
tail; chin and throat black,
THE SHARP-WINGED GROUSE. 57
Adult Female.— Distinguished by having the chin and throat
rufous, spotted with black.
Range——The west side of the northern Rocky Mountains,
extending westwards to the coast ranges.
Habits—The habits of this species are apparently very sim1-
lar to those of the Canada Grouse, which it replaces to the west
of the Rocky Mountains. It is found in the almost inpene-
trable and densely-timbered mountain ranges, generally, at an
altitude of from 5,000 to 9,000 feet, in the neighbourhood of
running water or swampy valleys. It is said to be a remark-
ably fearless and stupid bird, frequently allowing itself to be
knocked off the trees with sticks or stones, and it is often
caught by hand.
THE SHARP-WINGED GROUSE. GENUS FALCIPENNIS.
Falcipennis, Elliot, P. Ac. Philad. 1864, p. 23.
Type, & falcipennis (Hartl.).
Toes naked and pectinate along the sides. ‘Tail moderately
long and rounded, composed of sixteen feathers. Zhe outer
tight-feathers attenuated and sickle-shaped.
I. THE SHARP-WINGED GROUSE. FALCIPENNIS FALCIPENNIS.
Tetrao falcipennis, Hartl. J. f. O. 1855, p. 39.
Falcipennis hartlaubt, Eliot, Proc. Acad. Philad. 1864, p. 233
id. Monogr. Tetraon. pl. xi. (1865).
Falcipennis falcipennis, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
p. 72 (1893).
Adult Male.— Chest uniform smoky-black. ‘Total length, 16°3
menes; wing, 7°2; tail, 4°7; tarsus, 1-4.
Adult Female——Chest black, barred with buff. Total length,
maz inches; wing, 7-2; tail, 4°3 ; tarsus, 1°4.
Range.—North-eastern Siberia, Kamtschatka, and Saghalien
Island.
In general appearance and size this species resembles the
58 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Canada Grouse (C. canadensis), and may be regarded as the
representative form of that species in the Old World.
THE AMERICAN CAPERCAILZIES. GENUS
DENDRAGAPUS..
Dentragapus, Elliot, Proc. Acad. Philad. 1864, p. 23.
Type, D. obscurus (Say).
Toes naked and pectinate along the sides. ‘Tail long, com-
posed of twenty feathers sub-equal in length. The male is
provided with az znflatable air-sac on each side of the neck, but
there are no elongate tufts of feathers, nor are the outer flight-
feathers attenuated or sickie-shaped.
This genus includes three rather large forms, about the size
of a Black Grouse, but, unlike these birds and the True Caper-
cailzies, the American Capercailzie seems to pair with one
female only.
I. DUSKY CAPERCAILZIE. DENDRAGAPUS OBSCURUS.
Tetrao obscurus, Say, in Long’s Exped. Rocky Mts. ii. p. 14
(1823); Bonap. Amer. Orn. in. p. 27, pl. xvi (eee
Dendragapus obscurus, Elliot, Proc. Acad. Philad. 1864, p. 23,
and Monogr. Tetraon. pl. vil. (1865) ; Bendire, Life Hist.
N. Am. B. p. 41 (1892) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
esp. 7A (TeOs).
Adult Male.—General colour above smoky-black, mixed with
brownish-buff, below grey; chest and breast wot barred and
marked with buff ; tail somewhat rounded, with a wide terminal
grey band varying in width onthe mzdd/e feathers from 1 to 1°5
inch. Total length, 19°5 inches ; wing, 10; tail, 6°7 ; tarsus,
Rij.
Adult Female-—Chest and breast barred and marked with
buff ; tail with a wide grey terminal band, about o°8 inch in
width, on the owéermost feathers. Total length, 17 inches;
Wig eias tall. 5°O > tarsus, 1/6;
THE AMERICAN CAPERCAILZIES. 59
Range.—Southern Rocky Mountains, extending in the west
to Wahsatch, in the south to New Mexico and Arizona, and
north to the South Pass.
In South-eastern Idaho the Dusky Capercailzie is said to
intergrade with the darker and more northern form, JD.
fuliginosis.
Habits—This and the two allied forms are perhaps the
finest, and, with the exception of the Sage Cock, the largest of
the American Grouse. In the males of all three the general
colour of the plumage is smoky-black, and hence the present
species is often known as “ Blue Grouse” as well as “Pine
Grouse” and ‘Pine Hen.” From Mr. Gale’s interesting notes
published in Captain Bendire’s excellent work, “ Life Histories
of North American Birds,” so often alluded to in these pages,
the following account is taken: “ Here in Colorado the Dusky
Grouse ranges from an altitude of about 7,000 feet to the
timber-line. Having once selected a place to raise a brood
they do not stray far from the neighbourhood. Water at no
great distance is always kept in view. The lower gulches and
side hills are mostly chosen for their summer homes. During
the mating-season, if you are asywhere near the haunts of a
pair, you will surely hear the male and most likely see him.
He may interview you on foot, strutting along before you, in
short hurried tacks alternating from right to left, with wide-
spread tail tipped forward, head drawn in and back, and wings
dragging along the ground, much in the style of a Turkey-
gobbler. At other times you may hear his mimic thunder
overhead again and again, in his flight from tree to tree. As
you walk along, he leads, and this reconnoitring on his part, if
you are not familiar with it, may cause you to suppose that the
trees are alive with these Grouse. He then takes his stand
upon a rock, stump, or log, and, in the manner already de-
scribed, distends the lower part of his neck, opens his frill of
white, edged with the darker feather tips, showing in the centre
a pink narrow line describing somewhat the segment of a circle,
6o LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
then with very little apparent motion he performs his growling
or groaning, I don’t know which to call it, having the strange
peculiarity of seeming quite distant when quite near, and near
when distant, in fact appearing to come from every direction
but the true one. . . . As near as I can judge by meeting
with the young broods, these birds nest at the lowest points
about May 15, at the highest about the beginning of June.
The number of chicks seen by me in a brood ranged from
three to eight. . . . In a single instance only, with a
brood about ten days old, have I noticed the presence of
both parents. Perched upon a fallen tree, the male seemed to
be on the look-out, while the female and young were feeding
close by. ‘This seeming indifference of the male while the
brood is very young, allowing his mate to protect them, if he
really is always near at hand, looks very strange, and yet it
may be the case, since he is generally with the covey when the
young are well-grown.”
Egzs,—Pale cream-colour to creamy-buff, equally marked
all over with rather small rounded spots and dots of chestnut
brown. Average measurements, 1°9 by 1°4 inch.
SUB-SP. @. THE SOOTY CAPERCAILZIE. DENDRAGAPUS
FULIGINOSUS.
Canace obscurus, var. fuliginosus, Baird, Brewer and Ridgw.
N. Amer. B. iii. p. 425 (1874).
Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus, Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am.
Bop. 43) plat. igs. 16-19 (i802).
Dendragapus fuliginosus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
Sxl p75) (1593):
Adult Male.—Distinguished from D. odscurus by having the
grey band across the tip of the tail narrower, /ess than an tnch
wide on the middle feathers, and by the somewhat darker and
more uniform plumage, with much fewer buff markings on the
upper-parts, especially on the wing-coverts.
Adult Female-—Can only be recognised from the female of
THE PINNATED GROUSE. 61
D. obscurus by the narrower grey band across the end of the
tail.
This is mere!y a sub-species or race of the Dusky Capercailzie.
Range.— North-western Rocky Mountains near the Pacific
Coast, from California to Sitka and Alaska.
II. RICHARDSON’S CAPERCAILZIE. DENDRAGAPUS RICHARDSONI.
Tetrao richardsonit, Dougl. Trans. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 140
(1829); Wilson, Illustr. Zool. pls. xxx. xxxi. (1831).
Dendragapus richardsont, Elliot, Monogr. Tetraon. pl. viii.
(1865); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 76
(1893).
Dendragapus obscurus richardsonit, Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am.
Bap 50 (19892).
Adult Male—Easily recognised from the two forms pre-
viously mentioned by having the tail wxzform black, without a
grey band across the extremity. The tail is also squarer in
shape, the outer feathers being slightly longer than the middle
pair.
Adult Female—Resembles the females of the Dusky and
Sooty Capercailzie, but has no grey band across the tail, though
the feathers are usually margined with grey at the tip.
Range.—Eastern slopes of the northern Rocky Mountains,
from Montana northwards into British America.
In Northern Wyoming and the eastern parts of Central
Idaho this species is said to intergrade with D. obscurus, and
in North-eastern Idaho and Western Montana with D. fudz.
g£inosus.
THE PINNATED GROUSE. GENUS TYMPANUCHUS.
Tympanuchus, Glog. Hand. u. Hilfsb. p. 396 (1842).
Type, Z. cupido (Linn.).
Toes naked and pectinate along the sides. Tail rather
short and rounded and composed of eighteen feathers, the
outer pair about two-thirds the length of the middle pair.
62 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
The males have az elongated tuft of feathers and an inflatable
air-sac on each side of the neck.
I. THE PRAIRIE HEN. TYMPANUCHUS AMERICANUS.
Cupidonia americana, Reichenb. Av. Syst. Nat. p. xxix. (1852).
Tetrao cupido, Wils. (nec Linn.), Am. Orn. ili. p. 104, pl. 27,
fe -Ts( TOLT).
Cupidonia cupido, Baird (nec Linn.), B. N. Amer. p. 628
(1860) [part]; Elliot, Monogr. Tetraon. pl. xvi. (1865).
Tympanuchus americanus, Ridgw. Auk. iii. p. 132 (1886) ;
Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 83 (1892); Ogilvie
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 78 (1893).
Adult Male.—Above barred with rufous- or brownish-buff and
black ; below barred with brownish-black and white. Feathers
of the neck-tufts much produced, about 3 inches in length, the
longer ones being parallel-edged, with rounded or truncate ex-
tremities; chest-feathers white, with /wo brown bars as wide as
the white interspaces ; outer tail-feathers black, narrowly tipped
with white. Total length, 16°5 inches; wing, 9; tail, 3°93
tarsus, I°9.
Adult Female.—Differs in having the neck-tufts short; the
outer tail-feathers barred with rufous-buff. Measurements
usually a trifle less than those of the male.
Range.—This species inhabits the prairies of the Mississippi
Valley, extending northwards to southern Manitoba and Wis-
consin, south to Louisiania and Texas, east to Indiana, Ken-
tucky, and North-western Ohio, and west to Indian Territory,
Kansas, Nebraska, and Dakota.
Habits.—This species is a resident throughout the greater
part of its range, but it seems that in Iowa a regular though
local migration takes place.
As soon as severe weather sets in, large flocks of these birds
leave the northern prairies and go south to winter in Northern
Missouri and Southern Iowa, the migration varying in bulk with
THE PINNATED GROUSE. 63
the severity of the winter. The curious feature of this migra-
tion is, that only the females are believed to change their
quarters. Writing from Minnesota, Mr. Miller says: “The
females in this latitude migrate south in the fall and come
back in spring, about one or two days after the first Ducks,
and they keep coming in flocks of from ten to thirty for about
three days, all flying north. The Grouse that stay all the
winter are males.”
Captain Bendire publishes the following amusing and
interesting account of the love-making of this species: ‘‘ Early
in the morning you may see them assemble in parties, from a
dozen to fifty together, on some high dry knolls, where the
grass is short, and their goings on would make you laugh.
The cock birds have a loose patch of naked yellow skin on
each side of the neck just below the head, and above these on
either side, just where the head joins the neck, are a few long
black feathers, which ordinarily lay backward on the neck, but
which, when excited, they can pitch straight forward. Those
yellow naked patches on either side of the neck cover sacs
which they can blow up like a bladder whenever they choose.
These are their ornaments, which they display to the best
advantage before the gentler sex at these love-feasts. This they
do by blowing up these air-sacs till they look like two ripe
oranges, on cach side of the neck, projecting their long black
ears right forward, ruffling up all the feathers of the body till
they stand out straight, and dropping their wings on the ground
Mise a Turkey cock. . .
“Then it is that the proud cock, in order to complete his
triumph, will rush forward at its best speed for two or three
rods through the midst of the love-sick damsels, pouring out
as he goes a booming noise, almost a hoarse roar, only more
subdued, which may be heard for at least two miles in the still
morning air. This heavy booming sound is by no means
harsh or unpleasant, on the contrary it is soft and even har-
monious, When standing in the open prairie at early dawn
54 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
listening to hundreds of different voices, pitched on different
keys, coming from every direction and from various distances,
the listener is rather soothed than excited. If this sound is
heavier than the deep key-notes of a large organ, it is much
softer, though vastly more powerful, and may be heard at a
much greater distance. One who has heard such a concert
can never after mistake or forget it.
“Every few minutes this display is repeated. I have seen
not only one, but more than twenty cocks going through this
funny operation at once, but then they seem careful not to run
against each other, for they have not yet got to the fighting
point. After a little while the lady birds begin to show an
interest in the proceedings, by moving about quickly a few
yards at a time, and then standing still a short time. When
these actions are continued by a large number of birds at a
time, it presents a funny sight, and you can easily think they
are moving to the measure of music.
“The party breaks up whe’ the sun is half an hour high, to
be repeated the next morning and every morning for a week or
two before all make satisfactory matches. It is toward the
latter part of the love-season that the fighting takes place
among the cocks, probably by two who have fallen in love
with the same sweetheart, whose modesty prevents her from
selecting between them.” According to Bendire, immense
numbers of nests of this species ‘“‘are annually destroyed,
either by fire in dry seasons, or water during wet ones. :
On the prairies they generally select unburnt places to nest in,
where the old grass is thick ; others prefer the borders of large
marshes, where, during a wet season, they are almost certain
to be destroyed by water.” Many nests and eggs are also
yearly ploughed up, as cultivated fields and meadows are often
selected.
Nest.—A slight excavation in the ground, generally without
any lining, but sometimes lined when materials are available,
THE PINNATED GROUSE. 65
Eggs.—Eleven to fourteen in number, or even more. Ground-
colour pale buff, olive-buff, or vinaceous, with very small,
sometimes obsolete, dots of chestnut-browns
Il. THE HEATH HEN. TYMPANUCHUS CUPIDO.
Tetrao cupido, Linn. 5. N. i. p. 274 (1766).
Cupidonia cupido, Brewst. Auk. ii. p. 82 (1885).
Tympanuchus cupido, Ridgw. P. U.S. Nat. Mus. viii. p. 355
285) bendire, Lite-Hist.-N. Am. B. p..935(16ae))-
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 77 (1893).
Adult Male.— Similar to the foregoing species, but with fewer
feathers in the neck-tufts ; ‘he Zonger ones lanceolate and potnted.
Adult Female——Resembles the female of 7. americanus.
This species is a smaller form, very closely allied to the
Prairie Hen, but the male may apparently be distinguished by
the above-mentioned characters.
Range.—Island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. It was
formerly also found in Eastern Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Long Island, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, according to
American records, but is now extinct in these localities,
Habits.—The habits of this bird are somewhat different from
those of its western ally, for it is a woodland species, only met
with in the scrubby tracts of oak, and feeding largely on acorns,
though it may occasionally be seen in the open picking up
erain and clover-leaves. ‘The area inhabited by the remaining
colony of these birds covers about forty square miles, and over
this extremely limited range they are comparatively numerous,
being now strictly protected by law.
Ill. THE LESSER PRAIRIE HEN. TYMPANUCHUS
PALLIDICINCTUS.
Cupidonia cupido, var. pallidicinctus, Ridgw. in Baird, Brewer,
& Ridgw. N. Amer. B. iii. p. 446 (1874),
9 F
66 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Tympanuchis pallidicinctus, Ridgw. P. U.S. Nat. Mus. viii. |
Pp. 355 (1885); Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p; 96
(1892); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 80
(1893).
Adult Male.—Distinguished by the longer feathers of the
neck-tufts, these being paralleledged and square-tipped ; chest-
feathers white, with ‘ree brown bars, narrower than the white
interspaces. ‘Total length,.15 inches; wing, 8-3; tail, 379m
tarsus, 1°6.
Adult Female-—Differs from the ma/e in having the neck-
tufts much shorter, and, as in the female of Z. americanus, the
outer tail-feathers are barred with buff. Measurements a trifle
less than those of the male.
Range.—South-western Kansas, Western Indian Territory,
Western, and probably Southern, Texas.
The range of this smaller and paler-coloured species is still
imperfectly known, but its nesting habits appear to be very
similar to those of 7. americanus.
THE SAGE GROUSE. GENUS CENTROCEREGUS:
Centrocercus, Swains. Faun. Bor.-Amer. ii. PP. 342, 496 (1831).
Type, C. urophasianus (Bonap.).
Toes naked and pectinate along the sides; tail long and
Pheasant-like, composed of twenty wedge-shaped pointed fea-
thers, the outer pair being less than two-thirds the length of
the middle pair. ‘The males havean inflatable air-sac on each
side of the neck. Only on> species is known.
I. THE SAGE GROUSE. CENTROCERCUS UROPHASIANUS.
Tetrao urophasianus, Bonap. Zool. Journ. ui. p. 213 (1828);
id. Amer. Orn. 1i.p..%5, plo. figs 1 (1828):
Tetrao (Centrocercus) urophastanus, Swains. & Richards. Faun.
Bor.-Amér. ii. p. 358, pl. 58 (1831).
TA
aLVTd
vcaae
THE SAGE GROUSE. 67
Centrocercus urophasianus, Jard. Nat. Libr. Orn. iv. p. 140
pl. xvii. (1834) ; Elliot, Monogr. Tetraon. pl. xiii. (1865).
ipendire, Lite Gust. N..Am. B. p.-106, pl. iii. figs. 11-12
(1892); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B.. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 8:
(1893).
(Plate VI.)
Adult Male——General colour above blackish, marked and mot
tled with buff; breast and belly mostly black; the chin and
throat white, spotted with black ; otherwise very similar to the
female, though much larger, attaining a weight of eight pounds.
‘otal length, 28 inches ; wing, 12°5; tail, 12 ; tarsus, 2°2.
Adult Female.—Has the chin and throat white, and is much
smaller, rarely weighing more than five pounds. ‘Total length,
Benches ; wing, 10°8 ; tail, 6°5; tarsus, 1°o.
Range-—The sage-brush plains of the Rocky Mountain
plateau, extending northwards to British America and south
to New Mexico, South California, Utah, and Nevada.
The Sage Grouse is the largest species of its kind found
in the New World, and is generally resident in those States
where it occurs, but, like the Prairie Hen, it is also partially
migratory in some parts of its range. As its name implies,
this bird is seldom found far from the tracts of sage-brush
(Artemisia), the leaves of which form its principal food, at
least during the winter. As Captain Bendire explains, though
the Grouse breed abundantly on the higher altitudes of about
6,<oo feet, the bushes at that elevation become covered with
snow in winter, and the birds are then driven down to the
valleys in search of food, and thus a partial migration takes
place in the beginning of winter and spring. In summer the
food is varied with wild peas, seeds, grain, and insects, and the
flesh is then excellent, provided that the birds are drawn as soon
as they are shot, though in winter, when sage-leaves form the
principal or only diet, they are unfit for the table. In the
beginning of March the males pay their court to the females,
F 2
68 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
and with distended air-sacs almost hiding the head, outspread
tail, and trailing wings, they strut slowly about before the
females, uttering meanwhile low gutteral sounds. The males
do not take any part in the incubation, and remain apart till
the young are grown. In autumn the birds pack, and may
then be seen in large numbers.
The stomach of the Sage Grouse differs from that of all
other Game Birds in being soft, very different from the mus-
cular gizzard found in all the allied forms.
Nest—A slight hole scratched in the ground, with little or
no lining ; generally placed under the shelter of a small sage-
bush.
Eggs——Seven to nine in number, sometimes more, as many
as seventeen having been found in a nest. Colour varying
from olive-buff to greenish-brown, rather heavily dotted all over
with well-defined chocolate-brown spots. Average measure-
ments, 2°2 inches by 1°5.
THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. ENUS PEDICECETES.
Pediocetes, Baird, Rep. Expl. & Surv. ix. pt. 2, Zool. p. 625
(1858).
Type, P. phasianellus (Linn.).
Toes naked and pectinate along the sides. Tail rather long
and wedge-shaped, composed of eighteen feathers, the middle
pair being more than twice as long as the outer pair.
The males are provided with an inflatable air-sac on each
side of the neck, but have no elongate neck-tufts.
I. THE NORTHERN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.. PEDIC@ECETES
PHASIANELLUS.
Tetrao phasianelius, Linn. S. N.i. p. 273 (1766).
Pediocates kennicotti, Suck!. P. Ac. Philad. 1861, pp. 334, 361.
Pediocetes phasianellus, Elliot, P. Ac. Philad. 1862, p. 403;
Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 97, pl. iii. figs. 3-5 (1892) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 82 (1893).
aASNOUD AATIVI-duvHS NaFHLYON
sie Mey, yer
SERRE RSS
TIA aLlv'id
—
THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 09
Lediaceles phasianellus, Blakiston, Ibis, 1862, p. 8.
Pediacates phastanellus, Elliot, Monogr. Tetraon. pl. xv. (1865).
(Plate VIT.)
Adolt Male and Female.—Distinguished from the smaller and
more southern form, P. columbianus, by having the general
colour above dark, the black on the upper-parts predominating
over the rufous, buff, and white markings; the feathers of the
chest black, with a white heart-shaped patch in the middle
and awhite fringe round the margin. Male measures: Total
length, 16°8 inches ; wing, 8°4; tail, 4°6; tarsus, 1°5. Female
somewhat smaller.
Range. —Interior of British America, extending north to Fort
Simpson, south to Lake Winnipeg and the north shore of
Lake Superior, cast to Hudson Bay, and west to the Rocky
Mountains.
Habits—The habits of this form appear to be very similar to
“Those of its more southern representative. It inhabits the
wooded districts and borders of the tundras near the lakes.
Eggs.—Seven to fourteen in number. Fawn brown, choco-
late, or tawny, covered with small well-marked reddish-brown
Spots and dots. Average measurements, 1°8 by 1°3 inch.
Il, THE COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. PEDICECETES
COLUMBIANUS.
Phasianus columbianius, Ord, Guthr-e’s Geogr. (2nd Amer. eds);
Mp. 37 (1S1s).
Pedtocetes columbianus, EMiot, P. Ac. Philad. 1862, p. 403;
Bename,. life Mist. N. Am) B. p, 98, pl: iit figs. 6-8
(1892); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 83 (1893).
Pediacetes columbianus, Elliot, Monogr. Tetraon. pl. xiv. (1865).
Pediacetes columbianus, Cooper, Orn. Calif. i. p. 532 (1870).
Pediacetes phastanellus campestris, Ridgw. P. Biol. Soc. Wash.
i, p. 93 (1884); Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 98, pl.
ii, figs. 6-8 (1892).
70 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Adult Male and Female.—Distinguished from the northern form,
P. phastanellus, by their smaller size, and by having the general
colour above lighter, the rufous-buff and white markings pre-
dominating over the black; the feathers on the breast white,
each with a concentric sub-marginal black band. Male mea-
sures: Total length, 15 inches ; wing, 8:1 ; tail, 5 ; tarsus, 1°7.
Female somewhat smaller.
Range.—Plains of the United States; extending north to
Manitoba, east to Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, south to
New Mexico, and west from Northern California west of the
Rocky Mountains to Fort Yukon, Alaska.
Capt. Bendire publishes some interesting notes by Mr.
Thompson on the habits of the Prairie Chicken, as it is com-
monly called, from which the following extract is taken: “‘ After
the disappearance of the snow, and the coming of warmer
weather, the Chickens meet every morning at grey dawn in com-
panies of from six to twenty, on some selected hillock or knoll,
and indulge in what is called ‘the dance.’ ‘This performance I
have often watched, and it presents the most amusing spectacle I
have yet witnessed in bird-life. At first the birds may be seen |
standing about in ordinary attitudes, when suddenly one of
them lowers its head, spreads out its wings nearly horizontally |
and its tail perpendicularly, distends its air-sacs and erects its —
feathers, then rushes across the $ floor,’ taking the shortest of
steps, but stamping its feet so hard and rapidly, that the sound
is like that of a kettledrum ; at the same time it utters a sort
of bubbling crow, which seems to come from the air-sacs, beats _
the air with its wings and vibrates its tail, so that it produces |
a loud, rustling noise, and thus contrives at once to make as
extraordinary a spectacle of itself as possible. As soon as one |
commences, all join in, rattling, stamping, drumming, crowing,
and dancing together furiously ; louder and louder the noise,
faster and faster the dance becomes, until at last, as they madly
whirl about, the birds leap over each other in their excitement.
After a brief spell the energy of the dancers begins to abate,
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THE RUFFED GROUSE. 71
and shortly afterward they cease, and stand or move about very
quietly, until they are again sta:ted by one of their number
leading off.”
Nest.—A hollow in the ground, generally lined with grass and
well-concealed.
Eggs.— Less richly coloured than those of the northern form.
Lie RUPEFED GROUSE. GENUS’ BONASA.
Bonasa, Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. xi. p. 298 (18109).
Type, B. wmbellus (Linn.).
Tarsi only partially feathered, the lower part being entirely
naked. Toes naked and pectinate along the sides. Tail com-
posed of eighteen feathers, rather long and bluntly wedge-
shaped, the outermost pair being nearly as long as the middle
pair. Sexes similar in plumage. A frilled ruffle of fan-shaped
feathers on each side of the neck. Only one North American
species is known.
I, THE RUFFED GROUSE. BONASA UMBELLUS.
| Letrao umbellus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 275 (1766).
Leirao togatus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 275 (1766).
Benasa umbellus, Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. xi. p. 300 (1819) ;
Bendre, Lite Hust. N. Am. B.py 59,-pl. u.fig. 1 (soa)
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. pp. 85, 558 (1893).
Tetrao umbelloides, Dougl. Tr. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 148 (1829).
Letrao sabinit, Dougl. Tr. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 137 (1829).
Bonasa umbellus togata, Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 64,
plo. fig. 2-(1892).
Bonasa umbellus umbelloides, Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p.
67, pl. ii. fig. 3 (1892).
Bonasa umbellus sabint, Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. B. p. 68,
pl. ii. fig. 4 (1892).
(Plate VIII.)
Characters and Range.—The plumage of ma/e and female alike
is subject to great climatic variation, some individuals having
?
72 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
the general colour of the upper-parts rufous, and others mostly
grey, while in a large percentage of examples every intermediate
shade can be found. ‘The dark barring on the feathers of the
under-parts also varies greatly in intensity, being sometimes
extremely faint, at others strongly marked and edged with lines
of a deeper colour.
The various varieties have been classed by American orni-
thologists under four different names, and are regarded as
distinct sub-species ; but as the differences in colour are by no
means entirely dependent on locality, and grade imperceptibly
into one another, it seems useless to employ names which only
apply to the more extreme forms of each type, while a large
majority of specimens, representing every intermediate phase
of colour and markings, may have either two or more names
applied to them with equal correctness. According to the
American ornithologists, the darker rufous variety (Bozasa
sabinii) is mostly met with in the wooded countries between
the western slopes of the Coast Range and the Pacific Ocean,
where the rainfall is very heavy ; and it occurs as far north as
Sitka. In Alaska, the Central Rocky Mountains eastwards
through British North America, and southwards to Utah and
Colorado, a lighter-coloured grey form (LB. umbelloides) is found
on the high ground. . A somewhat darker form, with the dusky
breast-bars more defined, inhabits British Columbia, Washing-
ton, and Oregon, and extends eastwards through Canada to
the mountains of New England. Lastly, in the Eastern United
States, as far south as the mountains of North Alabama, the
lighter rufous form (2. wmbel/es) is met with. In a series ol
skins from the State of New York alone, however, all these
varieties are more or less perfectly represented, though perhaps
not in their most typical forms, and I therefore consider it
needless to employ more than one name for all the various
phases of this polymorphic species. JZa/es measure: Total
length, 17 inches ; wing, 7°3 ; tail, 6°5 ; tarsus, 1°6. The femade
is rather smaller.
THE RUFFED GROUS2. ie:
Habits.—Capt. Bendire writes: “The Ruffed Grouse is partial
to an undulating and hilly country, one well-wooded and covered
with cons:derable undergrowth, interspersed here and there
with cultivated fields and meadow lands. In the southern
portions of its range, this bird is confined to the more moun-
tainous and Alpine regions, being seldom found far away from
such places, excepting in the late fall.
**As winter approaches, the coveys leave their feeding-
grounds in the mountains, and repair to more congenial haunts
along the edges of the neighbouring valleys.”
Mr. Ernest E. Thompson, writing from Canada, says:
“ Every fieldman must be acquainted with the simulation of
lameness, by which many birds decoy, or try to decoy, in-
truders from their nests. ‘This is an invariable device of the
Ruffed Grouse, and I have no doubt that it is quite suc-
cessful with the natural foes of the bird; indeed, it is often
so with man. A dog, as I have often seen, is certain to be
misled and duped, and there is little doubt that a Mink,
Skunk, Raccoon, Fox, Coyote, or Wolf, would fare no better.
Imagine the effect of the bird’s tactics on a prowling Fox.
He has scented her as she sits, he is almost upon her, but she
has been watching him, and suddenly with a loud ‘whir’ she
springs up and tumbles a few yards before him. The sudden-
ness and noise with which the bird appears, causes the Tox to
be totally carried away; he forgets all his former experience,
he never thinks of the eggs, his mind is filled with the thought
of the wounded bird almost within his reach; a few more
bounds and his meal will be secured. So he springs and
springs, and very nearly catches her, and in his excitement he
is led on and away, till finally th> bird flies off, leaving him a
quarter of a mile or more from the nest.
“Tf, instead of eggs, the Partridge has chicks, she does not
await the coming of the enemy, but runs to meet and mislead
him ere yet he is in the neighbourhood of the brood; she
then leads him far away, and, returning by a circuitous route,
74 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
gathers her young together again by her clucking. When sur-
prised, she utters a well-known danger-signal—a peculiar whine
—whereupon the young ones hide under logs and among grass.
‘The males never congregate during the breeding-season or
after, and I never but once saw two adult males within one-
fourth of a mile of each other between April and September.
I consider that the drumming is not a call to the female, as
they drum nearly or quite as much in the fall as in the spring,
and I have heard them drumming every month in the year. I
have never seen the least evidence that the Ruffed Grouse is
polygamous.”
Eggs.—Eight to fourteen is the general number laid; some-
times considerably more are found in anest. Milky-white and
pale buff to pinkish-buff; more or less spotted, but not heavily,
with rounded spots and dots of paler reddish-brown.
THE HAZEL-HENS. GENUS TETRASTES.
Tetrastes, Keys. und Blas. Wirbelth. Eur. pp. lxiv. 109, 200
(1840.)
Type, Z. donasia (Linn.).
Feet only partially feathered, the lower part being entirely
naked ; toes naked and pectinate along the sides; tail com-
posed of sixteen feathers, fairly long and bluntly wedge-shaped, |
the outer feathers being very little shorter than the middle
pair. Sexes different. No ruffled frill of fan-shaped feathers
on the sides of the neck.
I. THE HAZEL-HEN. TETRASTES BONASIA.
Hazel-Hen, Willoughby, Orn. p. 126, pl. 31 (1676); Lloyd,
Game B. Swed. and Norw. p. 112, pl. (1867).
Tetrao bonasta, Linn. S. N. i. p. 275 (1766) ; Sundey. Svensk
Fogl. pl. xxxiil. figs. 4-5 (1856).
Tetrao betulinus, Scop. Ann. i. p. 119, No. 172 (1769).
Lonasta sylvestris, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 514 (1831);
Elliot, Monogr. Tetraon. pl. iv. (1865).
THE HAZEL-HENS. 75
Tetrastes bonasia, Keys. und Blas. Wirbelth. p. 200 (1840) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. go (1893).
Bonasa betulina, Dresser, B. Europe, v. p. 193, pl. 486 (1871).
Adult Male-—General colour above greyish or rufous, barred
on the head and back with black ; feathers of the breast black,
margined with white, and sometimes with a white spot in the
middle ; chin and throat black. Total length, 14 inches ; wing,
m5; tail, 4:9; tarsus, 1°3:
Adult Female.—Differs from the male in having the chin and
throat mostly white, and in being rather smaller.
Range.— Europe and North and Central Asia; extending in
the west to Scandinavia, in the east to Kamtschatka, Saghalien
and Yezo, Japan, and southwards to N. Spain, N. Italy, Tran-
sylvania, the Altai Mountains, and N. China.
Habits.—This remarkably handsome Grouse, also known as
the ‘‘ Hazel Grouse” or ‘“Gelinotte” (Hjerpe, Sw. and Norw.),
is scarcely larger than the Common Partridge. It inhabits the
lower pine-forests, birch-woods, and hazel-copses, being every-
where a local bird and generally confined to the wilder
mountainous districts. As an article of food it is very highly
esteemed, its white flesh, even after it has been frozen, being
most delicious. Von Wright says that ‘the Finns entertain the
very singular notion that, at the creation, this bird was the
largest of the feathered tribe ; but that year by year it has de-
creased in size, and will continue to do so until at last it will
become so very diminutive as to be able to fly through the eye
of a needle ; and when that happens the world will come to an
end.”
Mr. Lloyd, in his ‘Game Birds and Wild Fowl of Sweden
and Norway,” gives the following account :—“ The flight of the
Hazel-Hen is very noisy, but short withal, seldom extending
beyond a couple of hundred yards. During both summer and
winter it is mostly on the ground, but, when flushed, invariably
takes refuge in a tree, rarely on its top, however, as some tell
76 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
us, but generally about half way up, and amongst the most
leatyroithe branches. . ... ee
“The favourite haunts of the Hazel-Hen are hilly and
wooded districts. In the open country it is never found, but
somewhat varies its ground according to the season of the year.
During summer and autumn one often observes these birds in
young woods consisting chiefly of deciduous trees; but when
the leaves begin to fall, they retire to the great pine-forests, for
the reason, as some suppose, that they may be less exposed to
pee-ariacks of birds of prey. <. a. +.) stage
‘The pairing-season usually commences at the end of March
or beginning of April, though the time is somewhat dependent
on the state of the weather. ‘The sexes attract each other by a
peculiar and almost melancholy cry ; that of the male consisting
of along-drawn whistle, followed by a chirp: @ hih tititi-ti ;
whilst that of the female 1s more simple, being often only a
single sustained #2, vibrating or quivering towards its termi-
C0000 ei
“The chicks are hatched about midsummer, and in the
course of a very few days, and when they are only feathered on
the wings and tail, begin to fly.”
After describing the various methods employed in Scan-
dinavia for shooting these birds he says :—‘‘ The usual way,
however, of shooting the Hazel-Hen is without any dog, and
solely with the aid of the so-called Hjerp-pipa, or pipe. ‘This
implement, which is much less in size that one’s finger, and
constructed of wood or metal, or it may be the wing-bone of
a Black-cock, emits a soft whistling sound, that can be varied
according to the call-note of the bird. Such a pipe is readily
manufactured. Often, indeed, when we have accidently met
with a Hazel-Hen, has my man with his knife alone made one
out of a sapling of some pithy tree, and that in the course of
averyiewmunutes. . . . :
“The nuinber of Hazel-Hens annually taken in Scandinavia
is something enormous. Brunius, in his ‘‘ Hand Lexicon,” pub-
THE HAZEL-HENS. i
lished in 1798, calculated that 60,000 were yearly consumed in
Stockholm, and 40,000 more in other parts of the country. At
the present day that number is, beyond doubt, very greatly ex-
ceeded.”
- Nest.—A small cavity scratched in the ground.
Eggs.— Eight to twelve in number. Pale buff, spotted with
brown.
II, THE GREY-BELLIED HAZEL-HEN, TETRASTES
GRISFIVENTRIS.
Tetrastes grisetventris, Menzb. Bull. Mosc. lv. pt. i. p. 105, pl.
iv. (1880) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 93
(1893).
Adult Male.—FTeathers of the breast sandy-grey, with narrow
black bars; chin white; the throat black, tipped with dark
rufous ; the chest reddish-black, barred and tipped with grey.
Total length, 14 inches; wing, 6°5 ; tail, 4°7 ; tarsus, 1°3.
Adult Female— Differs in having the chin white; the throat
black, tipped with buff; the chest black, irregularly barred with
rufous and tipped with grey. Slightly smaller than the male.
Range.— Eastern Russia ; Government of Perm.
Nothing is known of the habits of this perfectly distinct spectes,
considered by some Russian ornithologists to be merely a
variety of the Common Hazel-Hen.
WII. SEVERTZOV’S HAZEL-HEN. TETRASTES SEVERTZOVIL
Tetrastes severtzovt, Prjev. Mongolia, 11. p. 130, pl. xvili. (1876);
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 93 (1893).
Adult Male.—Teathers of the breast black, barred and tipped
with white ; outer tail-feathers black, barred with white; chin
and throat black. Total length, 13°5 inches ; wing, 6°7 ; tail,
Bog, tarsus, 175.
Adult Female-—Differs chiefly in having the chin and throat
buff, tipped with black.
Range.—North-eastern Central Asia ; Kansu, Koko-nor, and
the Hoangho River,
78 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
The habits of this species appear to be very similar to those
of the Common Hazel-Hen.
THE PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, AND PHEASANTS:
FAMILY PHASIANID:.
Distinguished by having the hind-toe raised above the level
of the other toes. The nostrils are never hidden by feathers. |
The feet (metatarsi) are partially or wholly naked and often
armed with spurs. The toes are always naked and never
pectinate along the sides, the horny appendages so character-
istic of the Bare-toed Grouse being invariably absent.
For convenience’ sake this great Family may be divided into
the Sub-families Perdicine, Phasianine, and Odontophorine, the
first containing the Old World Partridge-like genera, the second
the Pheasants and their allies, the Turkeys and Guinea Fowls,
and the third the American Partridges and Quails. There
appears, however, to be no real line of demarcation between the
first two groups, which merge gradually into one another through
such forms as the Bamboo Partridges (Bambusicola) and the
African and Indian Spur-Fowl (Piz/opachys and Gadlloperdix).
The shape of the wing is perhaps the most important dis-
tinguishing mark between the Old World Partridges and
Pheasants, and, when taken in connection with the length
of the tail, is a useful, if somewhat artificial character. In
all the Perdicine, with but very few exceptions, the first flight-
feather is equal to or longer than the tenth, while all the
Phasianine, with the exception of one genus, have the first
flight-feather much shorter than the tenth. Unfortunately,
the exception among the latt.r is the important genus
Phasianus, which has the first flight-feather like that of most
Old World Partridges, much longer than the tenth, and, were it
not for the long tail, which at once shows it to be a Pheasant,
one would certainly feel inclined to place it among the
Perdicing.
THE SNOW PARTRIDGES. 79
By using the combined characters of the shape o. the wing
and length of the tail, one can artificially separate the two
groups, and when a large number of genera have to be dealt
with, such divisions, though of no real scientific importance,
are at least extremely useful in facilitating the identification of
individuals.
The Perdicine may be characterised as follows :—
OLED-WORLD PARTRIDGES AND QUAILS.
SUB-FAMILY PERDICINA.
The cutting-edge of the lower mandible is not serrated. The
first flight-feather is equal to or longer than the tenth,* and the
tail is shorter, usually much shorter, than the wing. The sides
of the head are feathered, with or without a naked space sur-
rounding the eye. The most extreme form of the “ Partridge”
wing is found in the Snow Partridge (Zerwa) and the Quails
(Coturnix and Synecus), where the first flight-feather is very
little shorter than, or sometimes equal to, the second and third,
which form the point of the wing.
The extreme form of “ Pheasant” wing obtains in the Argus
Pheasants (Argustanus), where the first flight-feather is the
shortest and the tenth the longest.
fie SNOW -PARTRIDGES.” GENUS LERWA:
Lerwa, Hodgs. Madr. Journ. v. p. 300 (1837); id. Journ. As.
BOeMBeEng. XXiv. p. 580 (1855).
Type, Z. deriva (Hodgs.).
The upper half of the feet (metatarsi) covered with feathers
as in the Hazel Grouse. ‘Tail about four-sevenths of the length
of the wing, rounded, and composed of fourteen feathers. The
first flightfeather equal to the third, and only slightly shorter
* In one or two of the Francolins it is slightly shorter ; but the short tail
at once distinguishes them as Perdicina,
80 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
than the second and longest. Sexes similar in plumage, but
the male is armed with a stout spur on each leg.
Only one species is known.
I. THE SNOW PARTRIDGE. LERWA LERWA.
Perdix lerwa, Hodgs. P. Z. S. 1833, p. 107.
Lerwa nivicola, Hodgs. Madr. Journ. v. p. 301 (1837) ; Hume
and Marshall, Game Birds of India, il. p. 1, pl. (1879).
Lerwa l/erwa, Uartert, Kat. Mus. Senckenb. p. 195 (1891) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 100 (1893).
Adult Male and Female—Upper-parts black, narrowly barred
with whitish ; under-parts mostly rich chestnut. Bull and feet
red. Total length, 14 inches ; wing, 7°5 ; tail, 4°5; tarsus, 1°7.
Range.—The higher ranges of the Himalayas, and extending
northwards to Moupin and Western Sze-chuen, China.
Habits—This handsome Alpine Partridge is about the size of
a Red Grouse, which species it resembles in its strong rapid
flight, and in the excellence of its flesh for the table. Mr.
Wilson says: “In general haunts and habits, this bird much
resembles the Snow Pheasant (Ze¢raogadlus), frequenting the
same high regions near the snow in summer, and migrating to
the same bare hills and rocks in winter. The Pheasant, how-
ever, prefers the grassy slopes and softer parts of the hills, the
- Partridge the more abrupt and rocky portions, where the vege-
tation is scantier, and more of a mossy than a grassy character.
They are also more local, and confined to particular spots, and
do not, like the Pheasant, ramble indiscriminately over almost
every part of the hill.
“They are generally remarkably tame. When approached,
they utter a harsh whistle, and if they keep still, it is often
several moments before they can be distinguished, their plu-
mage much resembling and blending with the general colour
of much of the ground they frequent. If approached from
above, they fly off at once; if from below, they walk away in
the opposite direction, calling the whole time, and often cluster
THE PHEASANT-GROUSE. 81
together on the top of some large stone in their way ace
They seldom fly far, and if followed and put up again, often fly
back to the spot where first found. At times they seem un-
willing to get up at all, and several shots may be fired at them
before they take wing.”
The Snow Partridge feeds on moss and tender shoots of
small plants. It is seldom shot, as those sportsmen who tra-
verse its lonely haunts, which range from 10,000 to 15,000 feet
(for it is only met with on lower ground after severe snowstorms),
are generally in search of large game such as Tahr and Burrel.
Nest.—‘‘It breeds on the high ridges jutting from the snow
at elevations of from 12,000 to 15,000 feet.” ( Wilson.)
Eggs.—“ Very large, intermediate in sizes between those of
the Chukor (Caccabis chukor) and Koklass (Pucrasia macro-
lopha); dull white, freckled ai over with reddish-brown, like
the Koklass, but without blotches of colour.” ( Wilson.)
THE PHEASANT-GROUSE. GENUS TETRAOPHASIS,
Letraophasis, Elliot, Monogr. Phas. i. pl. xxi. (1871).
Type, Z. obscurus (Verr.).
The feathers on the feet scarcely extend below the joint ; tail
wedge-shaped, and rather long, about three-quarters of the
length of the wing, and composed of eighteen feathers ; first
flight-feather about equal to the eighth or ninth, the fourth
slightly the longest.
The sexes are similar in plumage, but the male is armed
with a stout spur on each leg.
Only two species of these large Grouse-like Pheasants, or
cather Partridges, are known from the mountains of Tibet
and Western China. Few collections contain examples of
these rare birds, and very little is known about their habits.
I. THE DUSKY PHEASANT-GROUSE. TETRAOPHASIS OBSCURUS.
Lophophorus obscurus, Verr. N. Arch. Mus. Bull. v. p. 33, pl. vi.
(1869).
9 G
82 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Tetraophasis obscurus, Elliot, Monogr. Phas. i. pl. xxi. (1871) ;
Prjev. in Rowley’s Orn. Misc. i. p. 429 (1877); Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 102 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Above mostly dull olive-brown, barred
with buff on the wings; below grey spotted with black, shad-
ing into buff on the belly. Distinguished by having the chin,
throat, and fore-part of neck dark chestnut. The male measures:
Total length, 18°6 inches; wing, 8°3; tail, 6°3; tarsus, 22. The
female is rather smaller.
Range—LEastern Tibet, ranging from Moupin to Koko-nor
and the mountains of Kansu.
Habits.—Prjevalsky gives the following account of the Dusky
Pheasant-Grouse: ‘‘ We found 7° odscurus in the same locali-
ties in Kansu as the preceding species (the Tibetan Snow
Cock), only at a comparatively lower altitude. It was first dis-
covered by Abbé David in Si-chuani (Sze-chuen), and belongs to
the middle mountain-ranges, where it principally keeps to the
wooded and bush-covered rocks and ravines. Early in spring
(about March) they commence pairing, and from that time their
voice can be heard daily. It is similar to that of Crossoptilon
auritum (the Eared Pheasant), being, however, more varied
and longer-lasting.’ The male and female call at the same
time, running side by side, with the tail erected and wings
dropped. ‘The spreading of the tail is very characteristic ; it
is like a fan when erected. And this is done also when the
bird is surprised or runs in order to avoid danger. When
open, the tail is brownish-black, with a distinctly marked white
band.
“ Like Crossoptilon auritum, the present species does not call
much, and its voice can be heard only four or five times at
certain intervals, but always (or, rather, usually) in the morn-
ing at sunrise; and as soon as one pair commences calling,
others answer.
“When flushed, Z\ odscurus utters a loud cry, but does not fly
THE SNOW-COCKS. 83
far ; and when disturbed in bushes, it always attempts to escape
by running. Shooting these birds is extremely difficult.”
Nest.—According to the statements of natives, the nest is
constructed of grass, on the ground, under thick bushes
Eggs.—Number unknown ; but one lot of four incubated, and
another of three fresh, eggs were obtained by a native sports-
man for Prjevalsky. The eggs are yellowish-grey or dirty grey,
matked with brown spots, which are thickest on the smaller
end.
II, SZECHENYI’S PHEASANT-GROUSE. TETRAOPHASIS
SZECHENVII.
Tetraophasts széchenyit, Madarasz, Zeitschr. ges. Orn. 11 p. 50,
pl. i. (1885) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
103 (1893).
Tetraophasis desgodinst, Oustalet, Le Nat. 1886, p. 276
Adult Male and Female——Distinguished by having the chin,
throat, and fore-part of the neck pale fawn-colour. The male
measures: Total length, 17°6 inches; wing, 8'9; tail, 6:1;
tarsus, 2'2. The female is slightly smaller.
Range——Mountains of Central Tibet, extending north to the
Sok Pass, east to Ta-tsién-lod, and south to Yer-ka-lo, Mekong
River.
THE SNOW-COCKS. GENUS TETRAOGALLUS.
Letraogallus, J. H. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. ii. pl. 46 (1833).
Type, Z. Aimatayensis, J. E. Gray.
Feathers on the feet scarcely extending below the tarsal
joint ; tail composed of twenty or twenty-two feathers, rather
long, five-eighths of the length of the wing, rounded, the outer
pair of feathers being about two inches shorter than the middle
pair ; first flight-feather about equal to the fifth; an elongate
naked patch behind the eye. The feet of the male are pro-
vided with a pair of stout spurs.
The six species included in the genus are all large Alpine
G 2
84 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
birds, the larger forms approaching the Capercailzies (Zefrao-
gallus) in size, some males attaining a weight of six and a half
pounds.
I. THE TIBETAN SNOW-COCK. TETRAOGALLUS
TIBETANUS,
Tetraogallus tibetanus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1853, p. 47; id. B.
Asia, vii. pl. 32 (1853); Prjev. in Rowley’s Orn. Mise. ii.
p. 427 (1877) ; Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India,
i. p. 275, pl. (1878) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
xxii. p. 104 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—General colour above dark grey and
buff; below white, striped with black. Distinguished by having
no white on the basal half of the outer quills ; chest white, divided
from the breast bya grey band. Bill orange-red ; feet coral-red
Total length, 20 inches; wing, 10°8 ; tail, 6°2 ; tarsus, 2°5.
Range.—Tibet, ranging east to the Sauju Pass, Eastern
Turkestan ; west to Moupin, north to Kansu and Koko-nor,
and south to the Himalayas.
Habits.—In the Himalayas the Tibetan Snow-Cock (known
among the Kirghiz as ‘‘Utar”’) appears to be found at elevations
of from 15,000 to 19,000 feet, though in the more northern
parts of its range, such as Koko-nor, it is met with lower down.
The best account of this species is given by Prjevalsky: “Like
C. chukar, this species is a quick and lively bird ; and its voice
can almost daily be heard (in north Tibet), at least in spring
and summer, in the midst of the wildest and most desolate
parts of the mountains. In the middle of the day, how-
ever, from about eleven to three o’clock, they do not call,
but usually rest ; in the morning they begin long before sun-
6 eee
“In winter they keep in small flocks up to fifteen indivi-
duals ; and in April, or even earlier, they commence pairing.
“The number of young belonging to a nest varies from
five to ten; and we found young ones early in August. They
THE SNOW-COCKS. : 85
were very small, about the size of a Quail, whilst others were
quite as large as their parents. :
“Both parent birds accompany fie. brood. Whilst the
young are small, they crouch on the approach of danger, or
try to hide themselves between the loose stones, whilst the
old ones keep on running within about twenty paces from the
sportsman; but when they are full grown, they try to escape by
running, and follow the cock and hen which are leading the
whole flock. When much pressed, however, they fly, and do
not alight on the ground again until they have crossed a ravine
or valley.
“These birds are very wild, and, when alone, the old birds
do not allow themselves to be approached within a hundred
paces. They hide themselves between stones, and usually
spring up and take to flight, or else try to run, which they do
so fast that a man cannot catch them.
“We noticed that when they are approached from the
bottom of a hill they commence running, but if from the top
they at once get up.
‘When settling on the ground they shake their tails several
times, just as our Willow Grouse do.”
Nest and Eggs.—Little or nothing is known. Prjevalsky found
a nest containing broken shells, which he believed were evidently
of this species. He describes them as “larger than those of
the common hen, of a dirty white, shaded with green, and
marked on the smaller end with blackish-brown spots.”
II, PRINCE HENRY’S SNOW-COCK. TETRAOGALLUS
HENRICI,
Tetraogallus henrict, Oustalet, Ann. Sci. Nat (7), xii. pp. 295,
313 (1891); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 106
(1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Said to differ from Z. /rbetanus
in having the colour of the throat and chest grey, with only a
S6 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
narrow white band down the middle of the chin and upp:r |
half of the throat, and the upper tail-coverts yellowish-grey, not
rufous Totallength, 26°4 inches; wing,11; tail, 7°2; tarsus, 2°2.
I have not examined the typical examples of this species,
but I think it very probable that they will prove to be merely
younger examples of Z: ¢idefanus, which agree closely with the
above description. The difference in size is probably due to
individual differences in the mode of measuring and to the
“make” of the skins, which have perhaps been unnaturally
stretched.
Ill. THE ALTAI SNOW-COCK. TETRAOGALLUS ALTAICUS.
Perdix altaicus, Gebler, Bull. Sci. Acad. St. Pétersb. 1. p. 31
(1837); iv. p. 30 (1840).
Tetraogallus altaicus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1842, p. 105 ; Gould, B
Asia, vii. pl. 31 (1853) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
xxii. p. 110 (1893).
(Plate IX.)
Adult Male and Female.—Easily recognised from Z. tbefanus
by having the sides of the neck grey, and the basal part of the
outer (primary) flight-feathers white, but there is no white at
the base of the secondaries ; from the other species it may be
distinguished by its white under-parts and the feathers of the
sides being uniform white. Bill blackish horn-colour ; feet
orange-red.
Male : Votal length, 23 inches ; wing, 10'9 ; tail, 6°8; tarsus
24 The female is slightly smaller.
Ringe.— Higher chains of the Altai Mountains.
IV. THE HIMALAYAN SNOW-COCK. TETRAOGALLUS
HIMALAYENSIS.
Tetraogallus himalayensis, Gray, P. Z. S. 1842, p. 105 ; Gould,
B. Asia, vii. pl. 30 (1853); Hume and Marshall, Game
Birds of India, i. p. 267, pl. (1878); Oates, ed. Hume’s
Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iii. p. 46 (1890); Ogilvie-Grant,
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 106 (1893).
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THE SNOW-COCKS. 87
Adult Male and Female—General colour above grey and buff ;
throat white, divided by a dark chestnut band from the upper
breast, which is white, barred with black ; rest of under-parts
dark grey ; a large chestnut patch on each side of the nape.
Basal two-thirds of the outer (primary) flight-feathers white, but
the inner (secondary) flight-feathers with only traces of white
at the base of the shaft.
Male: Total length, 25°5 inches ; wing, 12°6; tail, 7°8; tar-
sus, 2°8.
Female: Total length, 22°5 inches; wing, 10°8; tail, 6°8 ;
tATSUS, 2°5.
Range.— Higher ranges of the Himalayas, extending west to
the Hindu Kush and northwards through the Altai Mountains.
Habits.— The following is extracted from Mr. Wilson’s account
of the Himalayan Snow-Cock, or Snow Pheasant, known as the
“‘Jer-moonal” in the Hills north of Masuri. ‘It is confined
exclusively to the snowy ranges, or the large spurs jutting from
them which are elevated above the limits of forest, but is
driven by the snows of winter to perform one, and in some
places two, annual migrations to the middle regions; in
summer they are only seen near the limits of vegetation. In
Kunawar they are common at all seasons from Cheenee
upwards, but on the Gangetic hills, from June till August,
however much a person wanders about on the highest access-
ible places, but few are met with, and I have no doubt what-
ever but that nearly all those, which at other seasons frequent
this part, retire across the snow into Chinese Tibet to breed.
About the beginning of September they are first seen near
the tops of the higher grassy ridges, jutting from the snow and
the green slopes above, and about the limits of forest. After
the first general and severe fall of snow they come down in
numbers on to some of the bare exposed hills in the forest
regions, and remain there till the end of March. This partial
migration is probably made in the night after the fall of snow,
S8 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
as I have invariably found them in their winter quarters early
the next morning. It requires a deep fall to drive them down,
and in some mild winters, except a few odd birds, they do not
come at all. The birds on each respective hill seem to have
a particular spot for their winter resort, which they return to,
every year the migration is made.
“The Snow Pheasant is gregarious, congregating in packs,
sometimes to the number of twenty or thirty, but in general not
more.than from five to ten ; several packs inhabiting the same
hill. In summer the few which remain on our side are found
in single pairs generally, but across the snow, where the great
body migrate, I almost always, even then, found several to-
gether. ‘They seldom leave the hill on which they are located,
but fly backwards and forwards when disturbed. . . .
“The Jer-moonal never enters forests or jungle, and avoids
spots where the grass is long, or where there is underwood of
any kind. It is needless to add that it never perches. During
the day, if the weather be fine and warm, they sit on the rocks
or rugged parts of the hill without moving much about, except
in the morning and evening. When cold and cloudy, and in
rainy weather, they are very brisk, and are moving about and
feeding all day long. When feeding, they walk slowly uphill,
picking up the tender blades of grass and young shoots of
plants, occasionally stopping to scratch up a certain bulbous
root, of which they seem very fond. If they reach the summit
of the hill, after remaining stationary some time, they fly off
to another quarter, alighting some distance down, and again
picking their way upwards. When walking, they erect their
tails, have a rather ungainly gait, and at a little distance have
something the appearance of a large Grey Goose. ;
‘“The Jer-moonal is not remarkably wild or shy. When
approached from below, on a person getting within eighty or
a hundred yards, they move slowly uphill or slanting across,
often turning to look back, and do not go very far unless fol-
lowed. If app-oached from above, they fly off at once, with-
THE SNOW-COCKS. 39
out walking many yards from the spot. They seldom, in any
situation, walk far downhill, and never run except for a few
yards when about to take wing.”
Nest.—A hole scratched in the ground, under the shelter of a
stone, rock, or bush, at elevations of from 12,000 to 17,500
feet.
Eggs.—Five in number generally, but said to be as many as
nine and even twelve. In shape a long perfect oval; shell
minutely pitted with pores; olive or brownish stone-colour,
with numerous spots and dots, and sometimes small blotches
of reddish- or purplish-brown. Average measurements, 2°72
by 1°85 inches.
V. THE CASPIAN SNOW-COCK. TETRAOGALLUS CASPIUS.
Tetrao caspius, Gmel. Reise, iv. p. 67, pl. 10 (1784).
Tetraogallus caspius, Gould, B. Asia, vil. pl. 29 (1853) ; Sclat.
in Wolf’s Zool. Sketches (1), pl. 40 (1861) ; Ogilvie-Grant,
Car, 5. but. Mus. xxi. p. 108 (1893).
Megaloperdix raddet, Bolle and Brehm, J. f. O. 1873, p. 4.
Tetraogallus challayet, Oustal. Bull. Soc. Philom. 1875, p. 54.
Letraogallus tauricus, Dresser, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 675.
Adult Male—Like Z. Azma/ayensis, but paler in its general
colour, and easily distinguished by the grey chest, the absence
of chestnut on the sides of the nape and head, and by having
the basal part of the inner (secondary) flight-feathers white.
Total length, 24 inches; wing, 11°5; tail, 7-5; tarsus, 2-6.
Adult Female.—Differs in having the grey feathers of the chest
mottled with buff. Total length, 23 inches; wing, 11 ; tail,
Gro; tarsus, 2°3.
Range.—Mountains of Asia Minor, ranging west of the Gok
Mountains, east to Transcaspia, north to the Caucasus, and
south to the higher ranges near Shiraz, S. Persia.*
* Possibly the bird from S. Persia may be different. Mr. Hume thinks it
may prove to be 7. hzmalayensis.
90 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
VI. THE CAUCASIAN SNOW-COCK. TETRAOGALLUS CAUCASICUS.
Tetrao caucasica, Pall. Zoogr. Ross.-As. 11. pp. 76, 87 (note),
pl. (1811).
Chourtka alpina, Motschoulski, Bull. Soc. Mosc. No. 1. p. 95,
pls. viii. viii. d7s and ix. (1839.)
Tetraogallus caucasicus, March, Rev. Zool. 1877, p. 354, pl. 133 ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 109 (1893). ?
Megaloperdix caucasica, Radde, Orn. Caucas. p. 335, pl. xxi.
figs. 1 and 2 (1884).
Adult Male and Female-——Resemble 7. caspzus in general plum-
age, but the back of the head and nape are rust-red, and there
is a dull chocolate band down each side of the throat ; the
whole upper back is barred and mottled with black and buff,
and the chest is blackish-grey, irregularly barred and mottled
with buff. Total length, 21 inches ; wing, 10°8; tail, 6°8 ; tar-
suS, 2°4.
Range.— Higher ranges of the Caucasus Mountains.
THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGES. GENUS CACCABIS.
Caccabis, Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 183 (1829).
Type, C. saxatilis (Wolf and Meyer).
The feathers on the feet scarcely extending below the tarsal
joint ; tail composed of fourteen feathers, somewhat rounded,
and five-eighths of the length of the wing; first flight-feather
about equal to the sixth, third slightly the longest ; throat
covered with feathers ; sub-terminal part of the outer webs of
the outer (primary) flight-feathers buff ; sides and flanks f¢rams-
versely barred, in marked contrast to the rest of the plumage
of the under-parts. Sexes similar. Male provided with a pair,
or sometimes more, of stout blunt spurs.
I, THE ROCK RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. CACCABIS SAXATILIS.
Perdix saxatilis, Wolf and Meyer, Hist. Nat. Ois. Allem. p.
87, pl. 48 (1805) ; Gould, B. Europe, iv. pl. 261, fig. 2
(1837); Gigl. Iconogr. Av. Ital. pl. 252 (1881).
THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGES. j QI
Caccabis saxatilis, Dresser, B. Europe, vii. p. 93, p!. 470 (1875) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 111. (1893).
Adult Male and Female-——Above greyish olive: brown; breast
grey ; belly pale rufous-buff; outer tail-feathers dark chestnut ;
top of the head dull vinaceous-grey ; white throat and fore-
neck surrounded by a black band ; feathers of the chest uni-
form, not margined with black on the sides; /orves black; ear-
coverts black, mixed with buff.
Male: ‘Total length, 15 inches ; wing, 6°6; tail, 3°6; tarsus,
ro.
Female; Total length, 13°6; wing, 6°2; tail, 3°43 tarsus,
7.
Range.— Mountains of Southern Europe. Eastern Pyrenees,
Alps, Carpathians, Apennines, and Balkans; also Sicily. It still
remains uncertain whether it is this species or the closely allied
form, C. chukar, which is found in the mainland of Greece ; it
is certainly the latter which is met with in the Grecian Archi-
pelago, but so far I have been unable to obtain examples of
the mainland bird.
Hybrids.—Crosses have been described between this species
and the Barbary Red-legged Partridge (C. fefrosa) ; and also
with the Common Red-legged Partridge (C. rufa).
Habits.—This species inhabits the desolate stony hillsides,
and its mode of life and habits are very similar to those of its
eastern ally, the Chukar, which are fully described below.
Professor Victor Fatio records a curious variety of this
species, with a black head. for this bird, of which he has
seen three examples from Switzerland, he proposes the name
of C. saxatilis, var. melanocephalus (nec Riipp.).
SUBSP. @. THE CHUKAR RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. CACCABIS
CHUKAR.
Perdix chucar, J. E. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. 1. pl. 54 (1830-32);
Gould, Cent. B. Himal. pl. 71 (1832).
92 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Caccabis chukar, G. R. Gray, List of B. pt. ii. Gall. p. 36
(1844); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 113
(1893).
Caccabis chukor, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India,
ii. p. 34, pl. (1879); Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests! and Eggs
Ind. B. iii. p. 431 (1890).
Adult Male and Female.—Closely resemble the western form, C.
saxatilis, but always differ in having the lores, or space im-
mediately behind and below the nostril scale, white or whitish-
buff instead of black,* and the ear-coverts chestnut.
Male: Total length, 14°6 inches ; wing, 6°7 ; tail, 3°9; tar-
sus, I'9.
Female: Total length, 13°4 inches; wing, 6°5; tail, 3°38;
tarsus, 1°8.
Range.—Asia, extending in the west to the Ionian Islands
[and possibly the mainland of Greece], in the east to China,
in the north to Mongolia and Turkestan, and in the south to
the Persian Gulf and possibly to Arabia. Island of St. Helena
[introduced ].
This bird varies immensely in size and colour in different
localities, but all the various forms pass imperceptibly into one
another and must be regarded as mere climatic varieties of
the same sub-species. ‘The lightest coloured birds in all the
large series I have examined come from the arid neighbour-
hood of Bushire at the head of the Persian Gulf. Somewhat
darker forms occur at Bagdad and Shiraz, in Afghanistan, Sind,
Ladak, and other localities where the physical surroundings are
somewhat similar in character, while the darkest and most
richly-coloured examples are those from the Ionian Islands,
Cyprus, Asia Minor, and the outer Himalayas, where vegetation
ismore plentiful. In birds from North China, the upper-parts of
the body have a more reddish tint, but specimens from northern
* It must however be noted that some specimens of C. chukar havea
very small spot of black feathers below the nasal opening, thus approach-
ing C. saxatilis.
pres
ca
THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGES. 93
Afghanistan and several other localities approach them closely
in colour.
Mr. Hume says: ‘‘ The Chukor may be found in different
localities from sea-level, as in Southern Sind and Beluchi-
stan, to an elevation of at least 16,000 feet, as in Ladak and
Tibet.
“Tt will be found in comparatively well wooded, watered,
and cultivated hills, as throughout the lower, southern, or outer
ranges of the Himalayas; in absolute deserts, like those of
-Ladak and the Karakoram plateaux; or in utterly barren
rocky ranges, like those of the Mekran and Arabian coasts,
where the abomination of desolation seems to reign enshrined.
Tn one place it faces a noon-day temperature of 150° Fahr.;
in another, braves a cold, about daybreak, little above zero ;
here it thrives where the annual rainfall exceeds roo inches,
and there flourishes where it is practically zz7. But all these
differences in physical environment affect appreciably the size
and colour of the species; and hence the numerous races
which, under a variety of names {rvuficola, altaica, sinaica,
pallescens, pubescens, arenarius, pallidus, &c.), have been at one
time or another elevated to the rank of species.
“The Chukor is a very noisy bird, repeating Sonsini in a
sharp, clear tone, that may be heard for a mile or more
through the pure mountain air, his own well-applied trivial
name. Like other Game-Birds, they call most in the mornings
and evenings ; but even when undisturbed, they may be heard
calling to each other at all hours of the day ; and very soon
after a covey has been dispersed, each individual member may
be heard proclaiming his own, and anxiously enquiring after
all his fellows’ whereabouts. The tone varies. First he says,
‘I’m here, I’m here’; then he asks, ‘ Who’s dead? Who’s dead?’;
and when he is informed of the untimely decease of his pet
brother and favourite sister, or perhaps his eldest son and
heir, he responds, ‘Oh lor! Oh lor!’ in quite a mournful
tone,”
94 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
The following account of its habits are given by Mr.
Wilson.
“In our part of the hills the Chukor is most numerous
in the higher inhabited districts, but is found scattered over
all the lower and middle ranges. In summer they spread
themselves over the grassy hills to breed, and about the middle
of September begin to assemble in and around the cultivated
fields near the villages, gleaning at first in the grain-fields-
which have been reaped, and afterwards, during winter, in
those which have been sown with wheat and barley for the en-
suing season, preferring the wheat. <A few straggling parties
remain on the hillsides, where they breed, as also in summer
many remain to perform the business of incubation in the
fields. In autumn and winter they keep in loose scattered
flocks, where numerous, sometimes to the number of forty or
fifty, or even a hundred. In summer, though not entirely
separated, they are seldom in large flocks, and a single pair is
often met with. They are partial to dry, stony spots, never go
into forest, and in the lower hills seem to prefer the grassy
hillsides to the cultivated fields. This may probably be
owing to their comparatively fewer numbers, as I have ob-
served that many others of the feathered race are much shyer
and more suspicious of Man when rare, than those of the same
species in places where more numerous.
“The Chukor feeds on grain, roots, seeds, “and berries ;
when caught young it soon becomes tame, and will associate
readily with domestic poultry.
“From the beginning of October, Chukor-shooting, from
the frequency and variety of the shots, and the small amount
of fatigue attending it, is, to one partial to such sport, perhaps
the most pleasant of anything of the kind in the hills. About
some of the higher villages, ten or a dozen brace may be
bagged in a few hours. Dogs may be used or not, at the dis-
cretion of the sportsman ; they are not necessary, and if at all
wild, are more in the way than otherwise.”
POs
THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGES. gs
Nest.—Composed of leaves and fibres, placed in a depression
in the ground, and generally sheltered by a tuft of grass or low
bush; may be met with in different localities from the sea-level
up to an elevation of 16,000 feet.
Eggs.—Generally seven to twelve in number, sometimes more;
somewhat sharply pointed. The ground-colour varies from
yellowish-white to brownish-cream, thickly speckled and spotted
with purplish or reddish-brown. Average measurements, 1°68
by 1°25 inch,
II, PRJEVALSKY’S RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. CACCABIS MAGNA.
Caccabis magna, Prjev. in Rowley’s Orn. Misc. ii. p. 426 (1877);
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 120 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Differ from C. saxafi/’s in their paler
colour and larger size, and in having the collar round the base
of the neck double, znside blackish or biack, on the outside red-
dish-brown. Total length, 15 inches; wing, 7°6; tail, 4°1; tar-
Sas) 1°7.
Range.— Mountains of South Koko-nor, Northern Tibet, and
the Tsaidam Plains.
Habits.—This remarkable and perfectly distinct “ Red-leg ”
was first obtained by the great Russian traveller, Prjevalsky,
who makes the following remarks on its habits. He says :—“*We
first obtained this bird in the most desolate parts of South
Koko-nor Mountains; and later on we met with it also in
Northern Tibet and the Tsaidam Plains. In its habits it does
not differ from C. chukar, and keeps usually in small companies
(probably families) on the rocky mountains and in the neigh-
bourkood.
“When taking wing it utters a peculiar hollow note, some-
thing like ‘cw¢a-cuta,’ which we never noticed in C. chukar,
and the present species seems to be more silent than the pre-
ceding one.”
96 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY,
lil. THE COMMON RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. CACCABIS RUFA.
Letrao rufus, Linn. §. N. 1. p. 276 (1766).
Perdix rubra, Gould, B. Europe, iv. pl. 260 (1837).
Caccabis rufa, Dresser, B. Europe, vii. p. 103, pl. 471, fig. 1
(1875); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.-xxu. poeoee
(1893).
(Plate X.)
Adult Male and Female.—Resemble C. saxati/is in general
appearance, but are darker and more richly coloured. In addi-
tion to the black band which circumscribes the throat, the
feathers of the chest are zezdely margined on the sides with black,
those of the sides and back of the neck more narrowly ; the
belly is bright rufous-buff and the outer tail-feathers are dark
chestnut.
Male: ‘Total length, 13°6inches ; wing, 6:2; tail, 3°75 tar-
Sus. 17.
Female: Total length, 13 inches; wing, 6; tail, 2;qaiam
sus, 1°6.
Range.—South-western Europe ; ranging in the north to
Belgium and Switzerland ; in the south to Madeira, the Azores,
and Gran Canary ; .in the west to North and Central Italy. It
is also found in Elba, Corsica, the Balearic Islands, and in
Great Britain [introduced].
In Spain a somewhat darker and more richly coloured
climatic variety of C. ~w/fa is met with, which has been named
Caccabts rufa hispanica by Prof. Seoane. ‘This form is figured
in the accompanying plate.
Habits.—This remarkably handsome species was first intro-
duced into the south-eastern counties of Great Britain about a
century ago Like the rest of its allies, it is an inveterate
runner, and generally prefers to escape from approaching
danger on foot, which it does with great rapidity, seldom taking
to flight unless hard pressed or suddenly disturbed. When
once on the wing, however, the flight is rapid and straight, and
PLATE” (xX:
SPANISH RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE.
ri:
THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGES. 97
for this reason these birds afford capital sport when driven ;
but if shot over dogs or walked up in cover their cursorial
habits are alike detestable to Man and Dog, for the Red-legs
not only seldom rise themselves till they are at the other end
of the field and probably far out of shot, but disturb and put up
any coveys of Grey Partridges they may chance to pass on their
course. ‘They are very partial to hedgerows or the edges of
plantations and long grass or rushes, and when flushed, occa-
sionally perch on a neighbouring tree, which the Grey Partridge,
so far as we are aware, never does. In the pairing-season the
Red-legs are very pugnacious, fighting fiercely not only with
the males of their own kind, but also with those of the Grey
Partridge, which, being much smaller birds, are in most cases
driven from the field. Eggs of the latter species, as well as
-those of the Common Pheasant, are sometimes found in the
nests of C. rufa, and are doubtless laid there by the females
instead of in their own nest, an irregular habit by no means
rare among Game-Birds.
Nest.—A hollow scratched in the ground under the shelter
of a hedge, tall grass, or growing crops.
Eggs.—Ten to eighteen in number, and sometimes more.
Like those of C. saxatilis and C. chukar, pale stone-colour
or buff, more or less thickly dotted and spotted, and sometimes
lotched with dark reddish-brown. Average measurements,
m55 by £°2 inch.
IV. BARBARY RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. CACCABIS PETROSA.
Tetrao petrosus, Gm. 5. N. i. pt. il. p. 758 (1788).
Perdix petrosa, Lath. Ind. Orn. 1, p. 648 (1790) ; Gould, B.
Hurope, iv. pl. 261, fig. (1837).
Perdix barbara, Bonn. Tabl. Encycl. Méth. i. p. 208, pl. 94,
Hiss 2 (179M):
Caccabis petrusa, Dresser, B. Europe, vii. p. 111, pl. 471, fig. 2
(1875); Ogilvie-Granf, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. :p. 120
(1893).
9 Hi
98 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY.
Adult Male and Female.—Easily recognised from the species
already mentioned by having the top of the head dark chest-
nut, a wide chestnut collar spotted with white bordering the
sides and front of the neck ; and the outer scapulars bordered
with rufous-chestnut instead of vinaceous or grey.
Male: Total length, 12°5 inches; wing, 65; tail, 4°1 ; tar-
sus, 1°8.
Female: Smaller ; wing, 6:1.
Range.— his extremely handsome species has a comparatively
limited range, being found in North-west Africa, Sardinia, near
Gibraltar, and in some of the islands of the Canary group, In
both the last-named localities it has doubtless been introduced.
Specimens have been obtained in Malta, but whether such ex-
amples are escaped cage-birds or accidental migrants is uncer-
tain.
Eggs.—Similar to those of C. ~wfa, but the ground-colour is
usually more rufous.
vy. THE BLACK-HEADED RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. CACCABIS
MELANOCEPHALA.
Perdix melanocephala, Rupp. Neue Wirb. Vog. p. 11, pl. v.
(1835). |
Caccabis melanocephala, Gray, Gen. B. ill. p. 508 (1846) ; Yer-
bury, Ibis, 1886, p. 19; Barnes, Ibis, 1893, p. 166 ; Ogil-
vie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 122 (1893).
Adult Male and Female—-General colour slaty-grey, shading
into buff on the under-parts. Top of the head d/ack, a wide
black band surrounding the throat and continued down the
middle of the neck ; ovter tatlfeathers grey.
Male: Total length, 16°6 inches ; wing, 7°7 ; tail, 5°7; tar-
Sus,22°5;
The female is somewhat smaller ; wing, 72.
Range.—South-west Arabia, Jeddah, and Mecca, to Aden.
Habits.— Very little is known about the habits of this fine
THE SEESEE PARTRIDGES. 99
Red-leg, considerably the largest species of the group. Lieut.
Barnes, writing from Aden, says that it ‘Sis common in the
ravines at the base of the hills, some distance inland. They
also frequent the clayey cliffs along the river banks, especially
near pools of water, the river-bed being generally dry.”
THE SEESEE PARTRIDGES. GENUS AMMOPERDIX.
Ammoperdix, Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 1 (part ii. ; 1851).
Type, A. donhami (Fraser).
The feathers on the feet scarcely extending below the tarsal
joint ; tail composed of twelve feathers, somewhat rounded, but
the feathers sub-equal, and about half the length of the wing ;
first flight-feather about equal to the sixth, and not much shorter
than the third and longest; bill yellowish; no space behind the
eye or on the cheeks; throat covered with feathers ; flanks of
the male Jongttudinally barred, in marked contrast to the rest
of the plumage of the under-parts. Sexes different. No trace
of spurs in either sex.
Only two rather small species are known.
I. BONHAM’S SEESEE PARTRIDGE. AMMOPERDIX BONHAMI.
Perdix bonhami, Fraser, P. Z. S. 1843, p. 70.
Caccabis bonhamt, Fraser, Zool. Typ. pt. 3, pl. 61 (1849).
Ferdix griseogularis, Brandt, Bull. Ac. St. Pétersb. i. p. 365
(1843).
Ammoperdix bonhamt, Gould, B. Asia, vil. pl. 1 (1851) ; Hume
and Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii. p. 45, pl. (1879) ;
Dresser, B. Europe, vil. p. 117, pl. 472 (1880) ; Oates, ed.
Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iii. p. 433 (1890) ; Ogilvie-
rant, Cat. 8. Brit, Mus. xxi, p. £23\(1893).
Adult Male—-General colour isabelline ; a black band across
the forehead, continued backwards in eyebrow stripes; chin
whitish ; cheeks, throat, and front of neck grey ; flank-feathers
vinaceous and chestnut, margined on either side with black.
Motal lensth; 975 inches ; wing, 5°2 ; tail 2°4 ; tarsus, 1°2.
H 2
100 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Adult Female.—-Differs chiefly from the male in having the
black and white markings on the head and the barring on the
flanks absent. Total length, 9°5 inches ; wing, 4’9 ; tail, 2°3 ;
tarsus, I'I5.
Range.—South-western Asia, extending westwards to the
Euphrates Valley, eastwards to North-west India, in the north
to Transcaspia, and south to Aden.
Habits. —This handsome little Partridge is met with at eleva-
tions ranging from sea-level to 6,000 or 7,000 feet. ‘They are
particularly common in the Salt Range, and Mr. Hume gives us
the following account of their habits: “‘They are eminently birds
of bare broken ground; on grassy slopes they may indeed be
found, for they feed much on grass-seeds, but they eschew
utterly forests or thickly-wooded tracts, and even where there
is much scrub about they are less common—the barer and more
desolate the ravines and gorges, the more thoroughly do they
seem at home.
“They are active, bustling little birds, scratching about a
great deal in the earth, dusting themselves freely in the sand,
basking in the sun, resting in little hollows they have worked
out for themselves, and generally reproducing in many ways
the manners of the Domestic Fowl.
‘Their call, continually heard in the spring, is a clear double
note, ‘‘Soo-see, soo-see,” and they have also, whilst feeding
and when surprised, a whistled chirp, uttered very softly when
at their ease, but sounding more harshly .when they are
alarmed.
“Their food is, I think, chiefly, if not exclusively, grain, seeds,
and herbage of different kinds. I have examined many, but
have lost my notes in regard to them, and I cannot now re-
member whether they are or are not also insectivorous. My
impression is that they are not.
“ Although they are pretty shooting, they never afford much
sport ; they run a great deal, and over ground across which it
THE FRANCOLINS. IOI
is difficult to follow them; it is often difficult to flush them,
and when flushed they constantly rise so little, and dart so
directly downhill, that they are lost sight of before it is possi-
ble to fire.”
Nest.—Very slight ; a few blades of dry grass laid ina depres-
sion in the ground under a bush or a ledge of rock or among
stones.
Eggs.—Vary in number from eight to fourteen, and sometimes
more are laid; lengthened ovals, generally somewhat pointed
towards one end. The colour varies from nearly white to stone-
cream ; shell somewhat glossed and minutely pitted. Average
measurements, 1°42 by 1°02 inch.
II. HEY’S SEESEE PARTRIDGE. AMMOPERDIX HEYI.
mers hey7, Lemm. Pl. Col. v. pls. 37,.38 [Nos. 328, 320]
(1825).
Caccabts heyit, Gray, List Gall. Brit. Mus. p. 37 (1844) ; Wyatt,
Mamm. and Avif. Sinai, pl. xix. (1873).
Ammoperdix heyt, Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 2 (1851); Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 125 (1893).
Adult Mate—Differs chiefly from the male of 4. donhami in
having the general colour of the upper-parts much paler; no
black band across the forehead or above the eyes; the chin
and middle of throat chestnut. Total length, 9°5 inches;
mass > tail, 2°5 ; tarsus, 1°25.
Adult Female—Resembles the female of 4. boxhamz.
Range.—Both sides of the Red Sea, extending north to the
Dead Sea, westwards to Egypt and Nubia, about as far south
as 20 N. latitude, and eastwards to Muscat, Persian Gulf.
THE FRANCOLINS. GENUS FRANCOLINUS.
Lrancolinus, Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. xi. pt. ii. p. 316
(1819).
Type, & francolinus (Linn.).
The feathers of the feet scarcely extend below the tarsal
102 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
joint ; tail composed of fourteen feathers, half the length of
the wing, or rather more; first flight-feather varying in length
between the seventh and tenth*; the fourth to the sixth forming
the angle of the wing; throat covered with feathers ; plumage
of the flanks not barred, or, if barred, not contrasting with the
rest of the under-parts. Sexes usually similar, or nearly similar,
in plumage, but in a few species extremely different. Feet with-
out spurs, or with one or more pairs.t
Although certain of the large number of species forming
the various groups of this genus differ considerably from one
another in several important points, and have in consequence
received a variety of generic or sub-generic names, I have
so far found it impossible to divide. the genus Francolinus into
minor sections, the less highly characterised species forming
intermediate links which prevent any of the proposed divisions
from being satisfactorily characterised.
To assist in the identification of the forty-four species com-
prising this great genus, the various groups of allied forms have
been divided under several headings, characterised by promi-
nent differences in the marking of the plumage.
A. A well-defined row of rufous or buff spots on doth webs
of the primary flight-feathers (species 1 to 3, pp. 103-107).
B. No well-defined row of rufous or buff spots on both
webs of the primary flizht-feathers ; feathers of the back and
scapulars with white or buff shaft-stripes down the middle.
a. Breast and flanks whitish buff, with wsform transverse
bars of black (species 5 to 8, pp. 108-112).
b. Breast and flanks zof whitish buff, barred with black
(species 9 to 26, pp. 112-122).
* In Francolinus squamatus and F. schuetté the first flight-feather is
slightly shorter than the tenth, so that the shape of the wing is somewhat
Pheasant-like, but the shortness of the tail at once distinguishes these birds
as Perdicine.
+ In many of the species, the females have no spurs, but it is not un-
common to find a blunt pair developed in old birds.
PLATE XI.
COMMON FRANCOLIN.
THE FRANCOLINS. 103
C. Vo well-defined row of rufous or buff spots on both
webs of the primary flight-feathers ; feathers of the back and
scapulars devoid of white or buff shaft-stripes down the middle
(p. 124).
c. Inner webs of the primary flight-feathers either mostly
pale buff or brown, largely barred and mottled with
chestnut or buff (species 28 to 34, pp. 125-128).
ad. Inner webs of the primary flight-feathers uniform dark
brown, sometimes slightly dotted with buff towards the
marginal extremity (species 35 to 44, pp. 129-135).
The Francolins or Spur-legged Partridges vary much in size,
some being not much larger than Quails, others rather larger
than the Red-legged Partridges.
A. The three following Asiatic species are characterised by
having @ well-defined row of rufous or buff spots on both
webs of the primary flightfeathers.
I. THE COMMON FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS FRANCOLINUS.
Tetrao francolinus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 275 (1766).
Perdix francolinus, Vieill. Faun. Frang. p. 254, pl. 110, fig. 2,
and pl. iii. fig. 1 (1828).
Francolinus vulgaris, Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. xi. p. 319
(1819); Gould, B. Europe, iv. p. 259, pl. (1837); Dresser,
B. Europe, vil. p. 123, pl. 473 (1876); Hume and Marshall,
Game Birds of India, 11. p. 9, pl. (1879); Oates, ed. Hume’s
Nests and Eggs Ind. B. i. p. 428 (1890) ; Ogilvie Grant,
Cat, Ba Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 132 (1893).
francolinus tristriatus, F. henrici, and F. asia, Bonap. C. R.
xii p. 682 (1856).
(Plate XI.)
Adult Male.—General colour of the under-parts black, spotted
with white on the sides ; upper-back black, spotted with white ;
lower-back barred with white; a wide dark chestnut nuchal
collar ; a white patch on the hinder-part of the cheek; ves¢
Of head and throat black. A pair of small wart-shaped spurs.
TO4 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Total length, 13 inches; wing, 6; tail, 3°5; tarsus, 1°7 (Indian
specimens). Examples from Cyprus, Asia Minor, Persia, &c.,
have larger dimensions; wing, 6°9.
Adult Female.—Differs chiefly from the male in having the
colour of the upper-parts browner ; the sides of the face buff,
dotted with black ; the throat white; the chestnut collar con-
fined to the nape, and the under-parts whitish-buff, more or
less strongly-marked with V-shaped black bars. ‘Total length,
12°6 inches; wing, 5°9; tail, 3°5; tarsus, 1°6 (Indian specimens).
Examples from Cyprus, &c., larger; wing, 6°6.
Range-—From Cyprus, Palestine, and Asia Minor, through
Persia eastwards to Northern and Central India, to Assam
and southward to Manipur. Formerly found in Sicily, but
now apparently extinct. It also, no doubt, occurred in
Sardinia, Spain, and on the north-west coast of Africa, but
has long since been exterminated.
Habits—This handsome species, also known as the Black
Partridge, or Kala titur among Indian sportsmen, is still
numerous in many parts of Upper India, and affords most
excellent shooting, being either bagged from elephants with
a close line of beaters, or shot over dogs.
Mr. Hume publishes the following notes on this species, sent
to him by Mr. O. Greig: ‘The Francolin is not a_ prolific
breeder. I hardly ever remember to have seen more than
three young ones in a brood. Probably, being a ground bird,
the young are killed by stoats, jackals, and other vermin, and
the mother is not of sufficient size to defend them. It seems
to have a second brood sometimes.
“Tt remains entirely cn the ground, as a rule, except the
cock when calling, when he will at times get on to a stump or
ant-hill; but up the Touse Valley, and in the Rama Serai, in
Native Garhwal, I have seen them high up in chir-trees
(Pinus longifolia).
“From its breeding so slowly it is easily shot off, and I have
known a place almost cleared in one season. ‘The Western
THE FRANCOLINS. 105
Dtin has been served in that way. Formerly twenty-five
brace could be bagged there, but now, if a man flushes five
brace in a day, he has done well.”
‘All sportsmen who like Black Partridge shooting should
kill all vermin they see about its haunts.
“This bird gets tame readily, and, even when caught full
grown, will feed on the day it is caught. It affords some of the
finest sport of all small game, and with steady dogs one may
have grand shooting. It may be found in all crops, but
especially in cotton-fields freshly sown, wheat, rice, and mus-
tard, and in wild hemp. It runs a good deal at times, but
will lay like a stone if headed; it is never found far from grass-
jungles.
“Some hens have spurs of the same size and shape as the
cocks.
“Tt is kept tame by the natives, and used for the capture of
wild ones in the breeding-season. ‘The mode of using it is to
put it in a cage out near wild ones in the pairing-season, and to
set snares round the cage. The tame ones then call up the
wild ones; but only cocks are caught in this way, and the
tame one must bea young one reared by hand, as, if caught
when old, it will not call.
“Netting is largely used to capture this bird, and on one
occasion I wanted some birds to stock a bit of forest, and a
man caught two score of birds in a very short time.
“T never heard of this bird being used for fighting; it is
merely kept as a call-bird or as a pet.”
Nest..—Always well hidden; often slight, sometimes more
substantial, and composed of grass, roots, and dry bamboo,
&c.; placed in a hollow in the ground, at elevations varying
from nearly sea-level to 6,000 feet.
Eggs.—Six to ten in number, bluntly pointed at the smaller
end, and varying in colour from uniform greenish stone-colour
to rich brownish-buff. Average measurements, 1°56 by 1°28
inch,
106 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
II. THE PAINTED FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS PICTUS.
Perdix picta, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn. pl. 50.
Perdix hepourni, J. %. Gray, Ul. Ind. Zool: 1. pe s5-iiees
(1830-32).
Francolinus pictus, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii.
p. 19, pl. (1879); Legge, B. Ceylon, iii. p. 744 (1880);
Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iii. p. 430
(1890) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 138
(1893).
Adult Male.—Differs from the male of / francolinus in having
no trace of a chestnut collar; the forehead and sides of the
head rust-red ; the throat paler rufous, spotted with black ; the
scapulars black, edged with buff , the under-parts black, covered
with round white spots. Spurs entirely wanting.
Adult Female—Very similar to the male, but the throat is
whitish and not spotted with black.
Total length, 11°6 inches; wing, 5°3; tail 2°5 ; tarsus, 1°7.
Range.— Western and Central India, extending in the west to
North Guzerat, northwards to Hamirpur, and south as far as .
Coimbatore on the east and Masulipatam on the west. It is
also found in Ceylon.
Habits—This Painted Francolin is very locally distributed
over its range, and is far more arboreal in its habits than /
Jrancolinus, which rarely perches. It may often be met with
roosting on bushes and trees. Its favourite haunts are dry
fields studded with trees, the higher uplands covered with
scrub-jungle, or broken hilly ground, and it avoids the damper
lower-lying country where the Common Francolin is ordinarily
met with.
Hybrid.—This species is known to cross with & francolinus,
and Colonel E. A. Butler shot six or seven such hybrids near
Deesa, a locality where the ranges of the two species meet.
For a figure of one of these hybrids see Hume and Marshall,
Game B. India, ii. p. 27, pl. fig. 2 (1879).
THE FRANCOLINS. 107
Nest and Eggs.—Very similar to those of / francolinus, but
larger and generally less like a peg-top in shape. Average
measurements, 1°4 by 1°18 inch.
III, THE CHINESE FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS CHINENSIS.
Letrao chinensis, Osbeck, Voy. en Chine, ii. p. 326 (1771).
Letrao madagascariensis and T. pintadeanus, Scop. Del. Flor.
et Paun: Insubr. pt. 11. p. 93 (1786).
Letrao perlatus, Gmel. S. N. i. pt. il. pp. 756, 758 (1788).
Perdix (Lrancolinus) maculatus, Gray, Fasc. B. China, pl. 7
(1871).
Lrancolinus phayret, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xii. p. rorr
(1843).
Francolinus chinensis, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of
India, ii. p. 27, pl. (1879); Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and
Eggs Ind. B. ii. p. 431 (1890); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B.
rite MUS, Xxil.p. £37 (1893). =
Adult Male—Like / fictus, this species has xo chestnut
collar, but differs in having the scapulars chestnut, or chest-
nut and black, with rounded spots of white or buff. A black
band crosses the forehead and is continued behind the eye,
and a second, starting from the angle of the gape, crosses the
cheek ; rest of the sides of the head and throat white. Feet
armed with a pair of sharp spurs.
Adult Female——Differs from the male in having the sides of
the head washed with rufous, the scapulars d/ack, margined
with brownish, and spotted and barred with buff, and the
under-parts buff, barred with black.
Total length, 12°6 inches; wing, 5°5; tail, 3; tarsus, 1°6.
Range.—Indo-Chinese countries, Burma, Siam, Cochin China,
Hainan, and Southern China. It is not found in Tenasserim.
It was introduced more than a century ago into Réunion and
Mauritius. ? Madagascar.
Habits—Very similar to those of / pictus, but it seldom
108 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
visits the open country, preferring near Thayetmyo, where it
is specially numerous, the “gravel hills with bamboo-jungle,
intermingled with abandoned clearings, in the dense vegeta-
tion of which it loves to conceal itself” (Oazes).
£B. All the following species (Nos. 4 to 25 inclusive) are char-
acterised by having xo well-defined row of buff spots on
the inner and outer webs of the primary flightfeathers,
but the feathers of the back and scapulars have white
or buff shaft-stripes down the middle. The following
species only has the throat black ; 7” all the rest it ts
differently coloured.
IV. LATHAM’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS LATHAMI.
francolinus lathami, Hartl. J. f. O. 1854, p. 210; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 139 (1893).
Francolinus pelt, ‘Temm. Bijdr. tot de Dierk. I. p. 50, pl.
(1854).
Adult Male——General colour above olive-brown; throat and
Jore-neckh black ; breast black, each feather with a white heart-
shaped spot. Total length, 10 inches; wing, 5°6; tail, 27;
tarsus, 1°7.
Adult Female—Distinguished from the male by being some-
what smaller, and by having the upper-parts faintly and irregu-
larly barred with rufous-buff and black, and the chest-feathers
margined externally with brown.
Range.— West Africa, from the Loango Coast northwards to
Senegambia.
a. The three following species have the é7veast and flanks
whitish-buff, uniformly barred with black.
V. THE GREY FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS PONDICERIANUS.
Tetrao pondicerianus, Gmel. S. N. i. pt. il. p. 760 (1788).
Francolinus pondicertanus, Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. xi.
p. 321 (1819); Ogilvie-Grant, ‘Cat. B. Brit. Mus> am
p. 141 (1893).
THE FRANCOLINS. 10g
erin orientalis, J. EK. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. pl. 56, fig. 2
(1830-32). |
Ortygornis pondicerianus, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of
India, ii. p. 51, pl. (1879); Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and
Eggs Ind. B. ili. p. 435 (1890).
Adult Male and Female-—General colour above a mixture of
chestnut and brown, barred with buff; below- whitish-buff,
closely barred with narrow wavy black bars. The male has a
pair of sharp spurs. Total length, 12°5 inches; wing, 5°8 ;
fail 3°45; tarsus, 1°6.
Range,—South-western Asia, from Eastern Arabia and South
Persia to India and Ceylon. Amirante and Mascarene Islands
[introduced].
Habits—From Mr. Hume’s excellent account of the Grey
Partridge, as it is called in India, the following notes on its
habits are extracted :-—
‘Dry warm tracts, interspersed with scrub or low grass
jungle, in the neighbourhood of cultivation, are what it
specially affects, and the stunted acacia or wild date thickets
or prickly pear hedges, that so often encircle our villages, are
favourite haunts. So, too, are the hedges in some parts of the
country enclosing every field, the bush-clad banks of nallcs
and broken ground, and ravines running down to rivers, more
or less thinly or thickly studded with low catechu, acacia, or
other scrub.
“Morning and evening they will be found in the fields or
pecking about on the highways and byeways, but their homes
are in the scrub, or in low thorny trees, in which many of
them, in such localities, roost, and on which they may be
found perching, at times, at almost any hour of the day.
‘But provided the locality be dry and warm and the ground
broken, no want of scrub or cultivation, no lack of trees and
hedges, seems to banish them. I have shot them in the most
desolate spots near the bases of the hills in Sind and on the
IIo LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Mekran Coast, where there were no ¢races of vegetation at
the time, and where, in the best of seasons only, a few straggling
tufts of grass and desert plants are to be seen.
‘The most noteworthy point about this species is its clear
ringing, inspiriting call ké, ké kateetur, kateetur, which sylla-
blize it as you will (and everyone has his own rendering), once
heard, is never to be forgotten. Morning and evening the
fields and groves re-echo with their cheery cry, and, during
the spring and summer especially, it may be heard occasionally
at all hours.
“They feed on grain of all kinds, grass seeds, and insects,
especially white ants and their eggs, and on the young leaves
of mustard, peas, and other herbs. Dig open an ant’s nest in
some scrub frequented by these birds, retire for ten minutes,
and the chances are that on your return you find half a dozen
Greys busy at the nest.
“They run very swiftly and gracefully ; they seem to glide
rather than run, and the native lover can pay no higher com-
pliment to his mistress than to liken her gait to that of the Part-
ridge.
“Tt is often difficult to flush them, but when they rise it
is with a true Partridge ‘whir’; and their flight is swifter and
stronger, and they will carry off more shot than our English
bird.
‘In many places they are to be found in pairs, but where
they are really numerous, they often keep in regular coveys, a
dozen rising within a small space if they are in ground in which
they cannot run well.”
Nest.—A slight hollow scratched out by the birds, generally
in the shelter of scrub-jungle.
Eggs.—Six to nine in number; pointed ovals in shape; white,
tinged with brownish-buff. Average measurements. 7°3 by 1°03
inch.
THE FRANCOLINS. EO 0
VI. THE COQUI FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS COQUI.
Perdix cogui, Smith, Rep. Exp. Centr. Afr. p. 55 (1836).
Lrancolinus subtorquatus, Smith, Il. Zool. S. Afr. Birds, pl. 15
(1838) ; Sharpe, ed. Layard’s B. S. Afr. p. 600 (1884).
Lrancolinus cogut, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 143
(1893).
Francolinus stuhimanni, Reicken. J. f. O. 1889, p. 270.
Adult Male——Head chestnut-brown, shading into pale rufous
or whitish on the throat ; general colour of upper-parts a mix-
ture of chestnut and buff, barred with blackish or dark grey ;
back of the neck and under-parts white, shading into buff on the
belly, al? with wide regular black bars. A pair of sharp spurs.
Total length, 11 inches ; wing, 5°5; tail, 3; tarsus, 1's.
Adult Female.— Distinguished from the male by having black
eyebrow stripes ; the throat margined by a black band; and
the dack of the neck and breast vinaccous-grey and dull chestnut,
with while shaft-streaks. No spurs.
Range.—This species has a wide range, being found over
East, South, and South-west Africa.
Habits—The habits of the Coqui Francolin are apparently
much the same in all parts of its wide range.
Mr. T. Ayres writes : ‘‘ These birds live in the open country,
and are generally dispersed all over the Colony of Natal ; they
are to be found in coveys, like the Partridge in England; they
roost on the ground in any convenient tuft of grass, and nestle
all together. These.birds would be numerous were it not for
the burning of the grass, together with the hawks, wild cats, and
snakes, which abound here and are their mortal enemies.” This
Francolin is extremely difficult to flush, and without the assist-
ance of dogs is consequently seldom seen. Its call-note is
shrill, but not unpleasant, and is mostly heard in the early
morning and towards evening. Like the rest of its kind, its
food consists of small bulbous roots, seeds, berries, and insects,
and its flesh is excellent.
112 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
VII. HUBBARD’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS HUBBARDI.
Francolinus hubbardi, Grant, Bull. B.O.Club, iv. p. xxvil. (1895).
(Plate Xa.)
Adult Male and Female.—Similar to / cogut, but having the
entire breast uniform buff, zzthout any black bars. ‘otal
length, 10 inches ; wing, 5°6.
Range.—Nassa district, Victoria Nyanza.
VIII. SCHLEGEL’S FRANCOLIN, FRANCOLINUS SCHLEGELI.
Francolinus schlegelit, Heugl. J. f. O. 1863, p. 275; id. Orn.
N. O.-Afr. ii. p. 898, pl. xxx. (1873) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat.
B. Brit. Mus. -xxil. p. 145 (1893).
? Lrancolinus buckleyi, Shelley MS.; Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1892,
Duda.
Adult Male.— Differs from the male of / cogui chiefly in having |
the shoulders, wing-coverts, and outer webs of the secondary
flight-feathers uniform light red.
Two female specimens (/% duckley?) from Accra, now in the
British Museum, which originally formed part of the Shelley
collection, may prove to be the females of this species. They
differ from the female of / cogut in having the black stripes
over the eye and round the throat nearly obsolete, the basal part
of the inner primary and secondary flight-feathers chestnut, and
the upper-parts greyer.
Range.— Bongo, Equatorial Africa, and perhaps extending to
Accra on the West Coast.
’. In the following species the breast and flanks are zo¢ whitish:
buff, uniformly barred with black.
IX. THE RING-NECKED FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS
STREPTOPHORUS.
Francolinus streptophorus, Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1891, p. 126,
id. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xs %p..145, pl asaaee):
Adult Male——General colour above brown, below buff; the
sides of the head mostly bright chestnut ; eyebrow stripe,
ae
Pe AGeE xa Se
HUBBARD S FRANCOLIN.
-
THE FRANCOLINS., 1
and another stripe across the hinder part of the cheek, and
the throat white; from all the following species of this section
it differs in having a wide band of feathers barred alternately
with black and white round the neck. ‘Total length, 11 inches;
mane, 6-2; tail, 2°7; tarsus, 1°55. O spurs.
Adult Female.— Differs from the male in being rather smaller
and in having the upper-parts barred with buff and the wing-
coverts spotted with the same colour.
Range.—Central Hast Africa; southern foot of Mount Elgon
and Masai-land. ‘This fine species, recently obtained for the
first time by Mr. F. J. Jackson, was met with in the scrubby
plains in the localities mentioned above.
X. SMITH’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS SEPHAENA.
Perdix sephena, Smith, Rep. Exped. Cent. Afr. p. 55 (1836).
francolinus pileatus, Smith, Ill. Zool. S. Afr. Birds, pl. 14
(7838); Sharpe, ed. Layard’s B. S: Afr. p. 593 (1884);
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 146 (1893).
Adult Male—Not unlike / streftophorus, but the feathers
surrounding the neck are dark chestnut, edged on either side with
white or buff. ‘The breast and under-parts are z//iout chestnut
spots. Total length, 12 inches; wing, 6°5; tail, 3°8; tarsus,
1°7.. A pair of sharp spurs.
Adult Female-—Differs from the ma/e in having the upper-
parts covered with narrow wavy bars of buff and lines of black.
No spurs.
Range.—South Africa, extending in the east from the Maricc
River and the Transvaal to the Zambesi, and westwards to
northern Damara-land.
Habits This species inhabits the forest-clad hillsides and
bush country, and is chiefly met with in the open glades.
When flushed it generally perches on one of the higher
branches, and with elevated crest inspects the movements
of its pursuers. It is a somewhat rare bird, occurring in
coveys, and appears to be very similar to & cogu@ in its
Y H
114 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
general habits, so far as one can gather from the scanty
notes on the subject.
XI. GRANT’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS GRANTI.
Francolinus granti, Hartl. P. Z. S. 1865, p. 665, pl. 39, fig. 1;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 148 (1893).
Francolinus schoanus, Heugl. Orn. N. O.-Afr. ii. p. 891, pl. xxix.
fig. 2:(1873).
Francolinus ochrogaster, Harti. J. f. O. 1882, p. 327.
This species is a smaller representative of / sephena in
East Africa, and both sexes differ only from those of the latter
bird in being less in size.
Male.—Total length, 11 inches ; wing, 5°5 ; tail, 3°5 ; tarsus,
17;
Female.-—Somewhat smaller, and devoid of spurs.
Range.—East Africa, extending from about 5° S.to 10° N.
lat. and inland to about 31° E. long.
XII. KIRK’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS KIRKI.
Francolinus kirki, Hartl. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 8273; Finsch and
Hartl. Vog. Ost-Afr. p. 588, pl. x. fig. 1 (1870); Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxil. p. 149 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Closely resemble in plumage the
male and female respectively of both / sephena and F.
grant, and in size agree with the latter species; but they are
easily distinguished from both by having ax oblong chestnut
spot at the end of the shaft of most of the feathers of the breast
and belly.
Range—East Africa, from the Rovuma River to Dar-es-
Salaam and Zanzibar Island.
XIII. THE SPOTTED FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS SPILOGASTER.
Francolinus spilogaster, Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. vi.
p. 541 (1888); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus, xxii.
p. 149 (1893).
ges
THE FRANCOLINS. r15
Adult Male-—Exactly like the male of / kirhz, but larger.
Wing, 6°5 instead of 5°7 inches.
Range.—North-east Africa; Harar. So far as we are aware,
only one male specimen (the type) of this species is known,
and it bears the same relationship to /: irkz that / sephena
bears to F. grantt.
XIV. THE WHITE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS
ALBIGULARIS.
francolinus albogularis, Gray, List Gall. B. iii. p. 35 (1844) ;
Ovilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxit. p. 140; pl. mu:
(1893).
Adult Male-—General colour above chestnut, blotched and
barred with black on the back; greyer on the rump; throat
white; under-parts uniform buff. Total length, 9 inches;
mine, 5°25 tail, 2°25 tarsus, 1-4. A pair of sharp spurs,
Range.—W. Africa ; Gambia, Casamanze.
This little Francolin is at present only known from a few
specimens, and nothing whatever is known regarding its habits
or nidification.
XV. HARRIS’ FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS SPILOLAMUS.
Francolinus psilolemus (sic), Gray, List Galline Brit. Mus.
Dp: 50: (1867).
Francolinus spilolemus, Finsch and Hartl. Vog. Ost-Afr. p.
586 (1870); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 150,
pl. iii. (1893).
Adult Male and Female-—General colour above umber-brown,
blotched with black and barred with buff; below buff, with a
V-shaped black mark near the extremity of each feather, and a
blotch of chestnut on the outer web ; flight-feathers mostly
bright chestnut ; chin and throat white, with a round black spot
near the tip of each feather. Male witha moderate pair of spurs.
Male: Total length, 12°3 inches ; wing, 6°4; tail, 2°9 ; tar-
Suse 17.
116 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Female: A little smaller.
Range.—North-east Africa ; Shoa.
XVI. RUPPELL’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS GUTTURALIS.
Perdix guituralis, Riippell, Neue Wirb. p. 13 (1835).
Francolinus gutturalis, Ruppell, Syst. Uebers, p. 103, pl. 40;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. p. 151 (1893).
Adult Male and Female—Like / sfzJolemus, but only the
feathers at the edges of the throat are spotted with black;
feathers of the chest chestnut, mottled with grey and buff
along the shaft ; the breast and under-parts buff, striped with
black along the shafts ; and the sides and flanks are heavily
blotched with chestnut, and barred with blackish-brown.
Male: ‘Total length, 12°5 inches ; wing, 6°5 ; tail, 2°33 )tam
sus, I°4.
Female: Rather smaller.
Range.—North-east Africa ; Abyssinia, Bogos, and the Moun-
tains of Somali-land.
Habits—According to Mr. W. T. Blanford, who had many
opportunities of observing the species in Abyssinia, they
were generally met with in small coveys during the months
of December, January, and February, and subsequently seen _
in pairs, generally amongst bushes in valleys, and not keeping
to the rocky hillsides where Sharpe’s Francolin (7. sharpit)
was to be found. They were not seen in the pass, but were
common around Senafé, and moderately so throughout the
highlands. In July and August the flesh was sometimes so
rank as to be scarcely eatable, doubtless from their having
fed largely on Coleoptera, which then abounded ; but in thé
winter months they were excellent. The call, he says, is very
similar to that of the common English Partridge, to which the
plumage also presents some resemblance, so that sportsmen
often take them to be the same bird.
THE FRANCOLINS. bia |
XVII. THE ULU FRANCOLIN, FRANCOLINUS ULUENSIS.
francolinus uluensis, Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1892, p. 443; id. Cat.
B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 151 (1893).
Adult Male—Intermediate between the last species, / gudtu-
valis, and the next one, / africanus. It differs from ¢he
Jormer and resembles the latter in having a triangular patch of
white feathers, tip/ed with black, on each side of the neck, and
the black marking on the breast and belly arch-shaped, giving
these parts a spotted appearance. From J. africanus it differs
in having the inner webs of the primary flight-feathers mostly
chestnut. Total length, 12 inches ; wing, 6°5; tail, 2°9 ; tarsus,
1°6. <A pair of sharp spurs.
Range.—East Africa ; Ulu country.
The only known examples of this species, both males, were
recently e@btained by Mr. F. J. Jackson at a place called
Machako’s in the above-mentioned country. They are par-
ticularly interesting, since they supply the intermediate link
between the two very distinct forms, / gu¢turalis from Abys-
sinia and & africanus from South Africa, and inhabit an inter-
mediate geographical area.
XVIII. THE PEARL-BREASTED FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS
AFRICANUS.
Francolinus africanus, Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. x1. p. 32
(1819) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 15
(1893).
Francolinus afer (Latham, zec Miill.), Sharpe, ed. Layard’s
Ema tt. 505 (1354).
Adult Male and Female.x—General colour of upper-parts, throat
and chest very similar to that of the two last species ; breast
and under-parts pale buff or whitish, with eregwlar arch-shaped,
black bars, producing a pearled or oceliated appearance; a@
large patch of black and white larred feathers on each side of
the neck; zzner webs of the primary flightfeathers brown,
more or less mottled with rufous. Total length, 13 inches ;
N oO
118 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
wing, 6°4; tail, 3; tarsus, 1°5: Male with a pair of rather
blunt spurs.
Range.—E astern South Africa ; Transvaal to Cape Colony.
Habits—This species is chiefly found in stony elevations
and on the sides of mountains, and is decidedly a high-ground
bird. Though the flight is strong, it is rarely sustained for
any great distance, but the birds are said to run so swiftly that —
a winged one is almost certain to escape, unless followed by a
good dog. The strong, curved bill of this Francolin enables
it to dig up with great ease the small bulbous roots and insects
which form its chief food.
Eggs.—Six to eight in number, varying in colour from light-
green, almost white, to greenish-brown, and minutely dotted
with brown. Measurements, 1°6 by 1°2 inch.
XIX. FINSCH’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS FINSCHI.
francolinus finschit, Bocage, Orn. Angola, p. 406 (1881).
Adult Male and Female-—General colour of the upper-parts as
in the preceding species, but easily distinguished by its larger
size and by having the entire sides of the head, as well as the
sides and base of the throat, wsform reddish-buff ; chin and
middle of throat pure white ; rest of under-parts dusky-grey,
shading into golden-buff on the belly, and spotted with chest-
nut. Bill very strong. JZ/a/e with spurs. Total length, 14°5
inches; wing, 6°5; tail, 3:2; tarsus, 1°65.
Range.—South-western Africa ; Benguela.
Nothing is known of this rare Francolin, of which only a few
examples, now in the Lisbon Museum, have been obtained at
Caconda in the above-named country.
XX. THE CHESTNUT-NAPED FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS
CASTANEICOLLIS.
Francolinus castaneicollis, Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov.
XXVi. p. 542 (1888) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1890, p. 350, pl.
xi.; id. Cat. B. Brit. Mus, xxii. p. 153 (1893).
THE FRANCOLINS. © ae)
Only a single adult femade of this rare species has so far been
obtained and is preserved in the Turin Museum. It is a very
distinct form, most nearly allied, perhaps, to “2 fizschz, which it
resembles in having the throat pure white, neither spotted with
black, nor margined by a black line. It is easily distinguished
from /. finschi by having the forehead black, clothed with
sharp rigid feathers; the nape chestnut; the feathers of the
upper back chestnut, variegated with black and margined with
grey. Total length, 12 inches ; wing, 6°6 ; tarsus, 1°7.
Range.—North-east Africa ; Lake Ciar-Ciar, Shoa.
Although this species is said to be common at the above
locality, no additional specimens have so far been obtained and
the male is still unknown.
XXI. LEVAILLANT’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS LEVAILLANTI.
Perdix levaillantit, Valeng. Dict. Sci. Nat. xxxviii. p. 441
(1825).
Perdix vaillanti, Temm. Pl. Col. v. pl. 33 [No. 447] (1829).
francolinus levattlant:, Smith, Il. Zool. 5. Afr. pl. 85 (1843) ;
Sharpe, ed. Layard’s B.S. Afr. p. 596 (1884) ; Ogilvie-
(Grant, Cat. B: Brit. Mus. xx. p. 154 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—-General colour above brown, blotched
with black and barred with buff; breast bright chestnut ; belly
buff, blotched with chestnut. Easily distinguished from all the
preceding species by having the rufous-buff throat arcumscribed
by a well-marked black and white line. From the following species
it differs conspicuously in the disposition of the black and
white stripes which ornament the sides of the head. The upper
ones commence behind the nostril, pass above the eyes and
ear-coverts, surround the crown, and, uniting on the nape, are
continued down the middle of the back of the neck, and
end ina patch of black and white feathers. The lower pair
margin the chin and throat and form a crescent-shaped patch
on the middle of the chest. Flight-feathers chestnut. Bill very
strong. Total length, 13 inches; wing, 6°5; tail, 2°6; tarsus, 1'5.
120 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Range.—South Africa; Transvaal, Orange Free State, Natal,
Cape Colony.
Habits——This remarkably handsome species, generally called
the ‘‘ Red-wing”’ in South Africa, is met with chiefly in the more
secluded valleys forming the beds of the streams which flow
between the high mountain ranges. ‘Tufts of coarse grass and
rushes are its favourite cover, from which it is extremely diffi-
cult to flush it, and birds of this species lie so close that Mr.
Layard tells us he has on several occasions actually parted the
grass under the pointer’s nose to allow them to rise! If flushed
a second time and well marked down, they may often be
caught by the hand, as they will hardly rise again. In dry
weather they keep so close to the dense palmiet that it is im-
possible to get them out. In the eastern districts they affect the
damper parts of the hillsides and do not frequent the morasses.
Mr. T. Ayres says that their call is harsh and loud, and gener-
ally uttered morning and evening. The flight is rapid and strong,
and they generally manage to settle out of sight behind some
hillock or bush, where they are not easily found a second time.
Eggs—Rather larger and redder in colour than those of £;
africanus, described above.
XXII. THE GARIEP FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS GARIEPENSIS,
Francolinus gariepensis, Smith, Ill. Zool. S. Afr. pls. 83 [male]
and 84 [female] (1849) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
AK. . 155 (1993):
Adult Male and Female.—Like / Zevac//antiin general colouring,
but, among other differences, may be noted the position of the
upper black and white stripes, which do zo¢ meet on the nape,
but, passing along the sides of the neck, wmzte with the lower line
which borders the throat ; the chest and under-parts are rich
buff, heavily blotched on one or both webs with dark chestnut.
Bill strong. Total length, 13°5 inches; wing, 6°8 ; tail, 3°1;
tarsus, 1°6. The female is generally devoid of spurs, but some
examples have a blunt knob on one or both legs.
THE FRANCOLINS. eg 8p |
Range.—-Eastern portion of South Africa, west of the Drakens-
berg Mountains.
Nest.—Placed ina depression in the ground among rough
grass in some dry spot not far from water (4y7¢es).
Eggs.—Rather short and peg-top-shaped ; tawny, spotted all
over with dark brown. Measurements, 1°5 by 1°05 inch.
XXII. BUTTIKOFER’S FRANCOLIN, FRANCOLINUS JUGULARIS.
lrancolinus gariepensts, Strickland and Sclater (zee Smith),
Con Orn. 1852), p..457:
francolinus jugularis, Buttikofer, Notes Leyd. Mus. xi. pp. 76,
77, pl. iv. (1889); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
p. 156 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—A paler western form of / gariepensis,
with the general colour of the plumage paler, especially on the
lower breast and belly, which are pale buff, with only a few
chestnut and blackish spots. ‘The black and white bands en-
circling the throat generally form a well-marked patch of black
and white feathers on the front of the neck.
Range.—Western South Africa, from Great Namaqua-land
northwards to Angola.
Habits.—Andersson only met with this Francolin on the high
table-lands, and always on grassy slopes sprinkled with dwarf
bush. Though often very abundant and generally found in
coveys of six to eight birds, it lies so very close, after having been
once or twice flushed, that it is almost impossible to find again
even with the assistance of dogs.
XXIV. SHELLEY’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS SHELLEYI.
Lrancolinus gariepensis, Finsch and Hartl. Vog. Ost-Afr. p. 582
(1870; mec Smith).
Lrancolinus shelleyt, Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1890, p. 348; id. Cat.
BabGit Mus, xxi. p. 157, pl: vi. (1903).
Adult Male and Female—Differ from both / cariepensis and
£. jugularis in having the breast and belly white, with V-shaped
122 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
black bars ; it resembles the latter species in having a patch of
black and white feathers at the base of the throat. Total
length, 13 inches: ‘wing,i5°S:; tail, 3:45 tarsus 1-5.
Range. — Eastern South Africa; Natal, Swaziland, to
Mashona-land and Nyasa-land, and probably north to Zan-
zibar.
Habits—-Mr. Ayres writes: “This is the commonest of the
Francolins on the Umvuli River, where it frequents the grassy
and rocky slopes of the adjacent ranges. On the 7th of
September a nest was found with three eggs ; it was placed in
a slight excavation in the ground, amongst high dry grass, and
was lined with soft, half-decayed grass bents, mixed with a few
feathers. ‘The eggs were slightly incubated.”
XXV. THE ELGON FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS ELGONENSIS.
francolinus elgonensis, Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1891, p. 126; id.
Cat. Brit. Wis: xxii.p..157, pl. vi (aSo3)-
Adult Female——Allied to the last three species, but most nearly
to the last-mentioned / shelleyz. From all it is easily distin-
guished by having the zape and upper back rufous-chestnut, with
rounded spots of black, and the sides of the face and neck be-
tween the black and white stripes clear buff; the ground-
colour of the upper-parts mostly rich black ; belly and under-
parts black, tipped and barred with buff mixed with rufous.
Total length, 12 inches, wing, 6:9; tail, 3:2 ; tarsus, 1°8.
Range.—Central East Africa; Mount Elgon.
Mr. F. J. Jackson, the discoverer of this fine species of Red-
winged Francolin, obtained the only example known at an
elevation of 11,000 feet. It was shot out of a flock of four,
and he believes it to be the same species that he saw on the
Mau escarpment at a height of 9,000 feet.
XXVI. THE INDIAN SWAMP FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS
GULARIS.
Perdix gularis, Temm. Pig. et Gall. ili. pp. 401, 731 (1815) ;
J. E.Gray, tl. Ind. Zool. 1.-pl.56, fig. e {a830-32)5
THE FRANCOLINS. 123
fFrrancolinus gularis, G. R. Gray, List Gall. Brit. Mus. ui. p. 34
(1844) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 158
(1893).
Ortygornis gularis, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India,
ii. p. 59, pl. (1879) ; Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs
ind. 1. p. 437 (1390).
Adult Male and Female.—Upper-parts narrowly barred with
brown, black, and buff alternately ; throat and fore-neck deep
rust-colour; feathers of remainder of under-parts whitish or pale
buff, margined on either web with a brown and black band ;
primary flight-feathers chestnut. Male with a pair of sharp spurs.
Male: Total length, 13 inches; wing, 7'2; tail, 4'1 ; tarsus,
Ora.
Female: Rather smaller.
Range.—Northern India; Terai region, skirting the southern
bases of the Himalayas, from Pilibhit in the west to Sadiya in
Eastern Assam, Cachar, and Tipperah.
The Kyah, or Grass Chukor, as it isalso commonly called, is
very locally distributed, occurring here and there throughout
the Terai region mentioned above. Tickell gives the follow-
ing account of its habits :—‘‘It frequents wild places—a sandy
soil with thickets of the jungle-rose, babool, and other thorns,
alternating with beds of reeds and elephant-grass, and always
near water. It resorts also to such cultivation as lies within
half a mile or so of the river, such as ‘surson’ (mustard),
‘urhur’ (dal), and ‘chunna’ (gram), but shuns paddy-fields,
grass-meadows, or tree-jungle. Very early of a morning, or in
the evening, it may be stalked on foot and potted; but the
proper way of shooting this bird is to penetrate the thickets and
‘nul bun,’ or reed-jungle, on elephants, and with a large force
of beaters, when the ‘Khyr’ affords as good a day’s sport as
may be had in a Pheasant covert in England. When first
beaten up, it rises freely, but well within shot, with a loud
flurry and often a shrill cackle, and its size makes it an easy
124 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY,
shot when the young sportsman becomes used to its sudden
flush, and his elephant ceases to start atthe sound. If missed,
it does not fly far, but it is almost impossible to force it to take
wing again; anda winged bird runs at such a rate, doubling
and skulking in the covert, that without good dogs it is hope-
less to search for it.”
Like the Grey Partridge, the “‘ Kyah” is a very pugnacious
bird. A writer in the “ Bengal Sporting Magazine” says that
almost every one examined will be found scarred and marked
with wounds from fighting.
Nest.—Well constructed, of grass, placed in a depression on
the ground.
Eggs.—Said to be ten to fifteen in number; broad ovals,
pointed at the smaller end; brownish-buff, finely speckled with
purplish-brown at the larger end. Average measurements, 1°45
bya°2° inch.
C. All the remaining species of the genus are characterised
by having no rows of buff spots on the primary flight-
feathers and the feathers of the upper-parts devord of
white or buff shaft-streaks. In / ervckeli only, the last
species of this group, a few of the outer scapulars have
buff shafts.
XXVII. THE CLOSE-BARRED FRANCOLIN, FRANCOLINUS
ADSPERSUS.
Francolinus adspersus, Waterhouse, in Alexander’s Exp. ii. p.
267, pl. [immature bird] (1838) ; Bocage, Orn. Angola, p.
A41o (1881) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 159
pl. vii. (1893).
Scleroptera adspersa, Gurney, ed. Andersson’s B. Damaral. p.
247 (1872).
Adult Male and Female-—Above umber-brown, finely mottled
with dirty white and black ; mantle and wnder-parts narrowly
barred with black and white. Easily distinguished by this
THE FRANCOLINS. 125
character from a// the following species. Total length, 12°6
inches ; wing, 6°6 ; tail, 3°5; tarsus, 1°7. The ma/e is provided
with a pair of long sharp spurs.
Range.—Western South Africa, extending from the Orange
River to the Cunene River and inland to Lake Ngami.
Habits.—The Close-barred Francolin is, according to Anders-
son, one of the commonest species in Damara and Great
Namaqua Land, where in favourable seasons the coveys often
contain ten to fourteen birds. It generally frequents the banks
of streams and perches much in trees, roosting among the
branches at night, and retiring there during the heat of the day
or on the approach of danger. ‘This bird is always loath to fly
unless very hard pressed, when it dives at once into the nearest
thick tree and remains motionless; it generally prefers to
escape by running with extraordinary swiftness. Its cry is
extremely loud and harsh, and resembles ‘‘a succession of
hysterical laughs, at first slow, but increasing in rapidity and
strength, till they suddenly cease.”
Eggs.—Cream-coloured. Measurements, 1°7 by r'r inch.
c. The following species have the zwner weds of the primary
flight-feathers either mostly pale buff, or brown, largely
barred and mottled with chestnut or buff.
XXVIII. THE GREY-STRIPED FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS
GRISEOSTRIATUS.
Francolinus griseostriatus, Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1890, p. 3409,
Dies; id. Cat. Bo Brits Mus. cai. p..160 (1893).
Adult Male—Feathers of the upper-parts mostly dark chestnut,
margined on either side by a black and pearl-grey band ; fore-
neck and chest very similarly marked ; rest of under-parts buff,
with wide dull rufous shaft-stripes ; quills and tail chestnut,
marked with black. A pair of sharp spurs.
Range.—West Africa; River Coanza.
126 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
A single male specimen of this fine Francolin is all that has
so far been obtained.
XXIX. THE DOUBLE-SPURRED FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS
BICALCARATUS.
Tetrao bicalcaratus, Linn. S. N.1. p. 277 (1766).
Perdix senegalensis, Bonn. Tabl. Encyl. Méth. i. p. 212, pl- 93,
fig. 2 (1791).
Perdix adansonti, Temm. Pig. et. Gall. ill. pp. 305, 717
(1815).
Francolinus bicalcaratus, Gray, List Gall. Brit. Mus. p. 33 (1844);
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 160 (1893).
Adult Male and Female——Plumage above brown, mottled with
black, the feathers of the back and wings with a sub-marginal
whitish band ; throat white; c#es¢ and rest of under-parts pale
buff, most of the feathers margined on each web with chestnut
and with a vacket-shaped black mark down the middle. Male
with ¢zwo pairs of spurs on each foot, the second (upper) pair
being shorter and less pointed. Total length, 12°5 inches;
wine, 6°3-; tail, 1275 5 tarsus, 2°2.
Range.— West Africa, from the River Niger to the Mogador
Coast and Cape Blanco, Marocco.
Eggs.—Uniform greenish stone-colour. Average measure-
ment, 1°75 by 3°4 inch.
XXX. CLAPPERTON’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS CLAPPERTONI.
Francolinus clappertont, Children, in Denham and Clapperton’s
Trav. App. xxi. p. 198 (1826) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus. xxii. p. 162 (1893).
Perdix clappertoni, Cretzschm. in Riipp. Atl. p. 13, pl. 9 (1826).
Adult Male and Female——Top of the head and ground-colour
of the back and wings rufous or olive-brown, each feather of
the mantle widely margined a// round with whitish buff, and
irregularly barred with buff; throat white; chest and rest of
under-parts creamy-buff, with wide blgceete brown shaft-
THE FRANCOLINS. 127
stripes down the middle of the feathers; some of the flank-
feathers blotched with deep chestnut ; greater part of the inner
webs of the primary flight-feathers wazform buff. Male with
two pairs of spurs. Total length, 14 inches; wing, 7°4; tail,
3:1; tarsus, 2°3.
Range.—The Soudan ; Kordofan, Darfur, Bornu.
Habits——Very few examples of this rare species have been
obtained, and the only notes on its habits are those given by
the discoverers, who say that it frequented sand-hills covered
with low shrubs, and was very difficult to procure, owing to the
speed with which it ran.
XXXI. GEDGE’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS GEDGII.
Francolinus gedgit, Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1891, p. 124; id. Cat.
B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 163 (1893); Sharpe, Ibis, 1892, p.
552; pl. xiv:
Adult Male—Like /: clafpertonz, but has the top of the head
and ground-colour of the rest of the upper-parts very dark
brown ; the white margins to the feathers are very narrow
and confined to the sides of the webs. A pair of blunt spurs.
motallencsth, 12 inches; wing, 7°5; tail, 2°38; tarsus, 2°4:
Range.—Central East Africa; Elgon Plains.
The only specimen as yet obtained was a male shot by Mr.
Ernest Gedge, who accompanied Mr. F. J. Jackson on his
journey to Uganda, and after whom it has been named. It is
reported to be fairly common on the Elgon Plains, but is
apparently very local, as it was not met with anywhere else.
XXXII. HARTLAUB’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS HARTLAUBI.
francolinus hartlaubi, Bocage, J. Sci. Lisb. ii. p. 350 (1869) ;
id. Orn. Angola, p. 408 (1881); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B.
Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 163 (1893).
We have never seen an example of this species, which appears
to be nearly allied to J clappertonz, but, according to Professor
128 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY.
Barboza du Bocage, it differs in having the upper-parts brown,
spotted with fulvous and black ; the inner webs of the primary
flight-feathers pale brown, mottled with buff on the edges; the
tail-feathers blackish, barred and edged with white ; the breast
white, strongly striped with brownish-b!ack. ‘The types are an
immature male and female, in the Lisbon Museum.
Range.— Western South Africa ; Mossamedes.
XXXII]. HEUGLIN’S DOUBLE-SPURRED FRANCOLIN.
FRANCOLINUS ICTERORHYNCHUS.
Francolinus icterorhynchus, Heugl. J. f. O. 1863, p. 275; id.
1864, p. 273 id. Orn. N. O.-Afr. 11. p. 304, plea; tee
(1873) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. -p:-163
(1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Allied to /: clappertonz, but the upper-
parts are brown, finely mottled with black and buff, apparently
much the same as in J fartlaubi; the inner webs of the
primary flight-feathers brown, barred with rufous-buff ; feathers
of the under-parts buff, strongly striped down the middle with
brownish-black, and offez with a detached oval, or round black
spot at the end; tail blackish-brown with irregular rufous-buff
bars. Zale with two pairs of spurs on the feet ; femade with
one or two pairs of blunt knobs. ‘Total length, 13°5 inches ;
wing, 6°8; tail, 3°2; tarsus, 2°2.
Range.—North Central Africa; Bongo, Djur, Kosanga, and
the country to the west of the Albert Nyanza.
XXXIV. SHARPE’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS SHARPII.
Francolinus clappertont, Des Murs (nec Children), in Lefebvre’s
Voy. en Abyss. p. 146, pl. xii. (1845-50).
Francolinus rueppellii, Gray, et auct.; Blanf. Geol. and Zool.
Abyss. p. 425 (1870).
Francolinus sharpit, Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1892, p. 47 ; id. Cat.
B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 164 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Allied to #. clapfertont and F. gedgit,
THE FRANCOLINS. 129
but the inner webs of the primary flight-feathers are brown, with
longitudinal or transverse bars of rufous and buff ; and (this is
the chief difference) the feathers of the breast are dark brow,
narrowly margined all round with white. Male with two pairs
of long sharp spurs. Total length, 13°5 inches; wing, 7°3;
tal, 373 tarsus, 2°3.
This species has been constantly confounded with its more
western ally, 7. clappertont, from which it is really very distinct.
Range.—North-east Africa; Bogosland, Abyssinia, and Shoa.
This Francolin is met with at lower elevations than some of
the other Abyssinian species, and, according to Mr. Blanford, is
commonest in some of the valleys at from 4,000 to 5,000 feet.
d. In the remaining species of the genus, the inner webs of the
primary flight-feathers are uziform dark brown, some-
times slightly dotted with buff towards the marginal
extremity.
XXXV. THE CAPE FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS CAPENSIS.
Tetrao capensis, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. pt. ii. p. 759 (1788).
Francolinus capensis, Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. x1. p. 333
(1819) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 165
(1893).
Francolinus clamator, Temm.; Sharpe, ed. Layard’s B.S. Afr.
p. 591 (1884).
Adult Male and Female-—General colour above black, each
feather with two or three concentric white lines running parallel
with the margin; under-parts very similar to the upper, but
with well-defined white shaft-stripes down the middle of the
feathers ; throat spotted with black.
Male with one or two pairs of rather blunt spurs. Total
zength, 16 inches ; wing, 8°8 ; tail, 4°4; tarsus, 2°7.
Female.—Considerably smaller ; wing, 8 inches.
Range-—South Africa ; Cape Colony, extending to the Orange
River ; Robben Island [introduced].
9 xX
130 LLOYD S NATURAL HISTORY.
This fine Francolin, commonly known in the colony as the
Cape Pheasant, is easily recognised by its large size, and occurs
throughout the maritime districts, ‘‘ delighting,” according to
Mr. Layard, ‘fin bushy kloofs and watercourses, from which it is
driven with difficulty, owing to its habit of perching on branches,
just out of the reach of dogs. It at all times prefers to escape
by running, instead of flying ; and on Robben Island, where it
abounds, having been placed there some years ago, whole
flocks may be chased for a mile or more in full view, without
once taking wing. They usually, on these occasions, make for
the rocks on the beach, and will run out to the farthest ex-
tremity, regardless of the surf breaking over them.”
Eggs.—Eight to fourteen in number ; olive-brown, occasion-
ally spotted. Measurements, 1°9 by 1°5 inch.
XXXVI. THE NATAL FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS NATALENSIS.
francolinus natalensis, Smith, 5. Afr. Journ. (2), p. 48 (1833) ;
id: Tll.° Zool. S. Afr. Birds, pl. 13 (1838) ;"*Sharpemea:
Layard’s B.S. Afr. p. 592 (1884); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B.
Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 167 (1893).
Adult Male and Female——Above brown, finely mottled with
black and buff, and very similar to / tcterorhynchus ; under-
parts zw/ztish, with a more or less V-shaped or concentric black
bar on each feather ; throat spotted with black.
Male with one or two pairs of spurs; the upper one, when
present, blunt. Total length, 13°5 inches ; wing, 7:2 ; tail, 3°83
tarsus, 1°9.
Female.—Considerably smaller than tne male; wing, 6° 3:
Sometimes with a pair of blunt spurs.
Range.— Eastern South Africa; Matabele-land, Transvaal,
Swaziland, Natal.
Habits.—These birds inhabit wooded situations in the proxi-
mity of water, and are specially common in the dense under-
wood that abounds along the coast. Their habits are very
HE FRANCOLINS. i3t
similar to those of the last species, and their cry is said by
Smith to resemble that of the Guinea Fowl.
XXXVII. HILDEBRANDT’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS
HILDEBRANDTI.
Lrancolinus hildebrandtt, Cabanis, J. f. O. 1878, pp. 206, 243,
pl. iv. fig. 2[ femaze] ; Ogilvie-Grant, Ann. and Mag. N. H.
(6), iv. p. 145 (1889) ; Hunter, in Willoughby’s East Africa
and its Big Game, App. i. p. 292 (1889) ; Ogilvie-Grant,
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 168 (1893).
francolinus altumt, Fischer and Reichenow, J. f. O. 1884, p.
1710 elles be ie
Adult Male-—Upper-parts very similar to those of / xafalen-
sis, but wzthout black shaft-streaks; under-parts white, with
a large heart-shaped black spot near the extremity of each
feather ; throat white, spotted with black. Two pairs of spurs,
the upper one blunt. Total length, 13°5 inches; wing, 7°5;
fails 3°O 5 taTSUS, 2°2,
Aduit Female.—Upper-parts as in the male; but the under-
parts are dull brick-colour; throat pale rufous-buff; outer
webs of flight-feathers bepuin mottled with rufous- buff. One
or two pairs of sharp spurs.
Range,—East Africa ; Pangani River to the Kikuyu Country
and Lake Naivasha.
This is one of the most interesting species of the group, and
it can be easily understood that the two sexes being so different
in plumage, they were at first described under different names.
It has now, however, been conclusively proved that they are
the male and female of one and the same bird (see Hunter,
Z, s. ¢.), yet, notwithstanding this, we observe, with some as-
tonishment, that in Dr. Reichenow’s latest work on the Birds
of East Africa, the sexes are still regarded as distinct species !
If any further evidence were required, we need only refer
to the parallel case of different sexes, found in the next species,
K 2
132 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
EF. johnstoni, which is very nearly allied to & hildebrandti, the
females of the two species being almost indistinguishable.
XXXVIII. JOHNSTON’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS JOHNSTONI.
fFvancolinus johnstoni, Shelley, Ibis, 1894, p. 24; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat.,B. Brit. Mus. p. 559 (1893).
Adult Male-—Very like the male of / Aildebrandti, but the
general colour of the upper-parts is darker, and the feathers of
the under-parts have uninterrupted black shaft-stripes, instead
of heart-shaped marks.
Adult Female-—Scarcely to be distinguished from the female
of F. hildebrandti, but rather darker in colour.
Range-—South-east Africa ; Nyasa-land.
This species was recently obtained at Zomba and on the
Milanji Hills by Mr. A. Whyte, one of Mr. H. H. Johnston’s
collectors.
XXXIX. FISCHER’S FRANCOLIN, FRANCOLINUS FISCHERI.
Francolinus fischert, Reichenow, J. f. O. 1887, p. 51; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus: xxi. p. 169 (1899):
We have never had an opportunity of examining this species,
of which only a single fema/e example is known. It appears to
be much like the females of LF. hildebrandti and F. johustont,
but is said to differ in having the upper-parts pale brown, with
rust-coloured shaft-stripes ; the under-parts clear ochre, some of
the breast-feathers being spotted with black at the tips, and a
clear spot at the extremity of the flight-feathers, which have the
outer webs vust-red, barred with dark brown. Total length,
12°8 inches ; wing, 6°4; tail, 4 ; tarsus, 2.
Range.— Eastern Central Africa ; Ussere, Wembaere Steppes.
XL. THE SCALED FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS SQUAMATUS.
Francolinus squamatus, Cassin, P. Ac. Philad. viii. p. 321
(1857) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 169
(1893).
THE FRANCOLINS. 133
Francolinus petiti, Bocage, J. Sc. Lisb. vii. p. 68 (1879).
Francolinus modestus, Cabanis, J. f. O. 1889, p. 89.
Adult Male and Female.—Feathers of back of neck and mantle
reddish-brown, blotched with black and edged with white; rest of
the upper-parts brown, with darker centres, and finely mottled
with black ; under-parts brownish-buff, with the shaft of the
feathers ony dark.
Male with one or two pairs of spurs, the lower one long and
sharp. Total length, 13°5 inches; wing, 73; tail, 3°5; tarsus, 2°r.
Female.—Somewhat smaller ; wing, 6°6 inches. No spurs.
Range.—West Africa ; Loango Coast and Gaboon.
XLI, SCHUETT’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS SCHUETTI.
francolinus schuettt, Cabanis, J. f. O. 1880, p. 351, 1881, pl.
li. ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 170 (1893).
Adult Male—Very similar to / sguwamatus, but the feathers
of the neck and mantle are more widely margined, and with
grey ; the feathers of the middle of the breast and belly are
dull grey round the margins, shading into brown towards the
Siiait. Total length, 13 inches; wing, 6°9; tail, 3°4 ; tarsus,
oT.
Adult Female.—Differs slightly from the ma/e in having the
feathers of the middle of the breast and belly margined with
pale buff. Somewhat smaller ; wing, 6°6 inches.
Range.—West Africa, from Lunda, Angola; East Africa,
Lake Naivasha, Kilimanjaro district, 5,0co to 6,000 feet,
Chaga district, and Pangani River.
XLII. THE AHANTA FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS AHANTENSIS.
francolinus ahantensis, Temm. Bijdr. tot de Dierk. 1. p. 49,
pl. 14 (1854); Buttikofer, Notes Leyd. Mus. vii. p. 231
(1885) ; xi. p. 126 (1889); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus. xxii. p. 171 (1893)
13 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
francolinus ashantensis, Gray, List Gall. Brit. Mus. p. 51
(1867).
Adult Male and Female.—Upper-parts as in / sguamatus, but
the feathers of the back of the neck are blackish, and margined
with white on the sides only; under-parts brown, with a wide
sub-marginal white band, edged on either side with blackish-
brown.
Male: Total length, 14 inches ; wing, 7°3 ; tail, 3°4 ; tarsus, 2.
Female: Smaller; wing, 6°7 inches.
Range.—West Africa ; Gold Coast and Liberia.
Eggs.—Supposed to belong to this species are ‘‘reddish-
brown, sprinkled with violet, and much paler towards the
poles ” (Luittihofer). .
XLIII. JACKSON’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS JACKSONI.
francolinus gacksoni, Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1891, p. 123, 1892,
P51, pl. 1; id. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxitp. 1714 roo
Adult Male——Top of the head, nape, and upper back dark
brownish-chestnut, with white and mottled grey, and with black
margins to the feathers ; rest of upper-parts brown, washed with
rufous on the outer wing-coverts and tail ; under-parts dright¢
chestnut, the feathers widely margined on both webs with white.
A pair of strong spurs, and a supplementary blunt knob on the
left foot. £J7/ and feet coral-red. ‘Total length, 15°5 inches;
wins, 91 > tail, 5°25 tarsus, 2°8.
Range.—Fiast Africa ; Mianzini, Masai-land.
This is another of the new Francolins, by far the largest
and finest, discovered by Mr. F. J. Jackson during his journey
to Uganda. It is the largest bird of the genus, as well as one
of the handsomest, and the discoverer of this fine novelty may
well feel proud of it. Though common where it occurred, un-
fortunately only two specimens were preserved, both males ;
and the female is still unknown.
THE BARE-THROATED FRANCOLINS. 135
XLIV. ERCKEL’S FRANCOLIN. . FRANCOLINUS ERCKELI.
Perdix erckelit, Ruppell, Neue Wirbelth. p. 12 (1835).
Lfrancolinus erckelit, Des Murs, in Lefebvre’s Voy. en Abyss.
p- 144, pl. 11 (1845); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
Mit 172°"( TOO):
Francolinus erkelit, Auct. passim ; Blanford, Geol. and Zool.
Abyss. p. 423 (1870).
Adult Male—General colour above greyish-brown, each
feather of the back and wing-coverts margined with dark chest-
nut; scapulars with whitish shaft-stripes ; under-parts grey,
shading into whitish, with an oblong dark chestnut, sometimes
blackish, spot at the extremity of the shaft; bill black ; feet
yellowish. ‘Two pairs of equally developed, stout, sharp, spurs.
Motasicneth, 17 mches ; wing, 8°5 ; tail, 4°8; tarsus, 2°44.
Adult Female.—- Differs from the male in having the scapulars,
tail-coverts, and tail-feathers more barred with wavy black and
buff bars, and the feet without spurs.
Range.—North-east Africa; Bogosland and Eastern Abys-
sinia to Shoa, and westwards to Wogara, 2,500 to 11,000 feet.
THE BARE-THROATED FRANCOLINS. GENUS
PTERNISTES.
Piernistes, Wagler, Isis, 1832, p. 1229.
Type, P. nudicollis (Bodd.).
The characters which distinguish this genus are the same as
those of Francolinus, but the throat ts naked, and the naked
patch round the eye is large and conspicuous.
The nine species comprising this genus may be divided into
two sections :—
A. Feathers of the back and scapulars with dark-brown or
black shaft-stripes (species 1 to 7, pp. 136-140).
B. Feathers of the back and scapulars with w/z/e shaft-
stripes (species 8 and 9, pp. 140-141).
136 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
A. Feathers of the back and scapulars with dark-brown or
black shaft-stripes.
I. THE CAPE BARE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. PTERNISTES
NUDICOLLIS.
Tetrao nudicollis, Bodd. Tabl. Pl. Enl. p. 11, No. 180 (1783).
Pternistes nudicollis, Sharpe, ed. Layard’s B. S. Afr. p. 589
(1884); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 174
(1893).
Francolinus nudicollis, Auctorum, passim.
Adult Male.—General colour above brown; feathers of xeck
black, margined on the sides with greyish-white ; mantle grey,
with very wide black shaft-stripes ; breast and under-parts d/ack,
with white shaft-stripes ; feathers from the gape to the cheek
black (freckled with zAz¢e in females and young) ; naked skin
round eye and on throat crimson; feet similarly coloured and
with a pair of sharp spurs. ‘Total length, 15°5 inches; wing,
FiO cecalle2-7 5 tarsus; 2°4.
Adult Female.—Differs chiefly from the male in having the
sides of the feathers of the lower breast and belly 7/fous-brown
instead of black. Smaller; wing, 7°3 inches. No spurs.
Range.—South Africa; Transvaal and Cape Colony.
This species is met with in the wooded districts, and is
common in many of the maritime parts of its range.
Eggs.— Rather round in shape; pinkish crearn-colour, finely
speckled all over with chalky-white. Measurements, 1°75 by
£75 Inch,
II. HUMBOLDT’S BARE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. PTERNISTES
HUMBOLDTI.
Francolinus humboldti, Peters, MB. Akad. Berl. 1854, p. 134.
Pternistes humboldti, Sharpe, ed. Layard’s B. S. Afr. p. 589
(1884); Ogilvie-Grant, Ann. Mag. N. H. (6), vil. p. 145
(1891); id. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 176 (1893).
THE BARE-THROATED FRANCOLINS. 137
Francolinus (Pternistes) leucopareus, Fischer and Reichenow,
iia@: 1884, p. 263.
Adult Male.—Like P. nzdicollis, but the feathers from the
gape to the cheek are z&z/e,; the black shaft-stripes on the
feathers of the mantle arrow, scarcely extending beyond the
shaft; and the breast and under-parts black (with a w4Ai‘e
stripe on either side of the shaft in younger males). Sides of
the neck d/ack. Bill, feet, and naked skin round the eye and
on the throat blood-red. ‘Total length, 14 inches; wing, 7-4 ;
tail 4:5; tarsus, -2°4.
Adult Female.— Differs chiefly in having the feathers from the
gape to the cheek black and white; the sides of the neck
white, with a wide black band down the middle ; and the under-
parts with traces here and there of white shaft-stripes. Smaller;
wing, 7 inches. No spurs.
Range.—East Africa, from the Tana River to the Zambesi.
III. SCLATER’S BARE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. PTERNISIES AFER.
Tetrao afer, Mull. 5. N. Suppl. p. 129 (1766).
Tetrao rubricollis, Gmel. S. N. 1. pt. it. p. 758 (1788).
Plernistes sclatert, Bocage, J. Sc. Lisb, i. p. 327, pl. vi. (1868).
Pternistes rubricollis, Auctorum, passim.
LPternistes afer, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 177
(1893).
Adult Male.—-Like P. xudicollis, but the eyebrow-stripes and
feathers between the gape and cheek are pure white, breast
and under-parts z/zte, with a wide black band down the middle
of each feather. Feathers of upper-chest grey, finely dotted
towards the extremity with black. Total length, 14 inches ;
mineewin ; tail, 9°1 ; tarsus, 2°2.
Adult Female.—Differs chiefly in having the feathers of the
chest brownish-grey, with black shaft-stripes. Smaller; wing,
6°5 inches. No spurs.
Range-—South-western Africa; Mossamedes, Benguela, An-
gola.
138 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY.
IV. CRANCH’S BARE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. PTERNISTES
CRANCHI.
Perdix cranchit, Leach, in Tuckey’s Narrat. Explor. River
Zaire, App. p. 408 (1818).
Piernistes cranchii, Wagler ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
Ree P-L 70 ( LOO?):
Perdix punciulata, J. %. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. ii. pl. 43, fig. 3
(1833-4).
Pternistes lucant, Bocage, J. Sc. Lisb. vii. p. 68 (1879).
Adult Male.—General colour above umber-brown, finely
mottled with black ; eck, mantle, chest, and under-parts finely
mottled with black and white, the feathers of the breast and
belly being widely margined on both webs with chestnut. A pair
of sharp spurs. Naked skin of throat, bill, and feet crimson-
red. Total length, 14 inches; wimg, 7:3; tail, 3°1; tarsus,2-3
Adult Female.—Differs somewhat from the male, having the
feathers of the back of the neck drown, edged with white, and
the mantle brown like the back. Nospurs. Smaller; wing, 6°8
inches.
Range.—West Africa; Congo and Loango Coast, and ex-
tending to the Marungu Country, south-west of Lake Tan-
ganyika.
V. BOEHM’S BARE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. PTERNISTES
BOEHMI.
fFrancolinus cranchit, Finsch & Hartl. (mec Leach), Vog. Ost-
Pt RO, pl. axe (187):
Piernistes bohmt, Reich. J. f. O. 1885, p. 465 ; Ogilvie-Grant,
Gat. 5. Brit. Musisxxii..p.179 (2693):
Adult Male and Female.—Like P. cranchi, but the feathers of the
breast and belly have black shaft-stripes.
Range.—Central East Africa, east of Lake Tanganyika; Usui,
Victoria Nyanza, Unyamuesi, Unyanyembe, and Ugogo.
This species, which represents 2. cranchi in East Africa, was
THE BARE-THROATED FRANCOLINS. 139
at first confounded with that species, but is really perfectly dis-
tinct.
VI. SWAINSON’S BARE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. PTERNISTES
. SWAINSONI.
Perdix swainsont, Smith, Rep. Exp. Centr. Afr. p. 54 (1836).
francolinus swainsont, Smith, Il. Zool. S. Afr. Birds, pl. 12
(1838).
Plernistes swainsont, Sharpe, ed. Layard’s B. S. Afr. p. 587
(18384) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 179
(1893).
Adult Male-—General colour of plumage umber-brown, finely
dotted with black ; most of the feathers of the breast and belly
margined on the sides with chestnut; naked skin round eye
and on throat rose-red ; upper mandible black, lower red ; feet
and toes blackish, with a ruddy tinge. A pair of long sharp
gpurs. Totallength, 14 inches; wing, 8; tail; 3:1 ; tarsus, 2:4.
Adult Female.— Differs in having most of the feathers of the
breast and belly devoid of chestnut margins. No spurs. Smaller;
wing, 6°9 inches.
Range.—South Africa; Matabele, Transvaal, and Damaraland.
Habits.x—The habits of this species appear to be very similar
to those of /rancolinus capensis. In Matabele-land Mr. Buck-
ley tells us that this bird is called ‘‘ Pheasant ” by the colonists,
and is generally found in coveys which, like those of the other
species of this genus, are extremely difficult to flush, and always
prefer, if possible, to escape by running. ‘They are generally
met with in the neighbourhood of small streams, coming out
into the open in daytime, and passing the night in the brush-
wood, where they roost in the trees. ‘Their food, like that of
the rest of their kind, consists chiefly of bulbs, seeds, berries,
and insects. .
Eggs.—Six and probably rnore in number; rather round;
pinkish cream-colour, finely speckled all over with chalky-white.
Measurements, 1°7 by 1°5 inch.
140 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
VII. REICHENOWS BARE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. PTERNISTES
RUFOPICTUS.
Pternistes rufopictus, Reichenow, J. f. O. 1887, p. 52; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 180 (1893).
(Plate XJ.)
Adult Male.—Feathers of the neck whzte, with black and rufous-
brown margins. General colour above grey, with dark cross-
bars ; below white, with black shaft-streaks and broad rufous-
brown margins ; naked skin on the throat orange-yellow; bill
reddish-brown ; feet and toes dark brown ‘Total length, 15°6
inches ; wing, 8°4 ; tail, 3:2; tarsus, 2°8.
Range.—Equatorial Africa ; Wembaere Steppes, Ussambiro,
and Unyoro, Nassa district, tars Nyanza.
Very few examples of this remarkably fine Bare- chen
Francolin have as yet been obtained, and I have only recently
been able to examine perfect specimens, though I had seen the
heads and necks of two which were brought from Unyoro.
The British Museum, however, has recently acquired three
specimens from Nassa, presented by the Rev. G. Hubbard.
B.. Feathers of the back and scapulars with white shaft-
SU1G CS
VIII. GRAY’S BARE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. PTERNISTES
LEUCOSCEPUS.
Perdix rubricollis, Cretzschm. (zec Gmel.), Riipp. Atl. p. 44, pl.
30 (1826).
Francolinus leucoscepus, Gray, List Gallinze Brit. Mus. p. 48
(1867).
Prernistes rubricollis, Blanf. Geol. and Zool. Abyss. p. 426
(1870).
Pternistes leucoscepus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxil. p.
181, pl. villi. fig. 1 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—General colour above brown ; feathers
of the chest and breast wie, with dull brown margins ; those
PLATE XI=.
REICHENOW S BARE-THROATED FRaNColWw
THE LONG-BILLED FRANCOLINS. I4I
of the belly, sides, and flanks similar, but with dull chestnut
margins ; bill dusky ; naked skin round eye and on throat
orange-red, shading into yellow ; feet dusky-red.
Male.—With a pair of sharp spurs, sometimes supplemented
by a second blunt pair. Total length, 15 inches; wing, 8°1 ;
fail.3°0°; tarsus, 2°5.
Female.—Somewhat smaller and devoid of spurs.
Range.—North-east Africa; Bogosland, Abyssinia, Shoa, and
North Somali-land.
IX. CABANIS’ BARE-THROATED FRANCOLIN. PTERNISTES
INFUSCATUS.
Pternistes infuscatus, Cabanis, J. f. O. 1868, p. 413, and in
V. d. Decken’s Reis. ili. p. 44, pl. 14 (1869); Ogilvie-
Grants Cat. b. Brit. Mus: xxi. p. 182, pl. vill. ‘fig. 2
(1893).
Adult Male and Female—Like P. eucoscepus, but distinguished
by having the feathers of the chest voz, shading into chest-
nut towards the base, and each with zarrow white shaft-stripes
forming a triangular white patch at the extremity, so that the
predominating colour is dvowz instead of white.
Range—This is a more southern representative of P.
Jeucoscepus, and it is probable that the two forms intergrade in
Somali-land. The typical form is found in East Africa from
Mamboio northwards to Kilimanjaro, the Teita district, and
Southern Somali-land.
THE -LONG-BILLED FRANCOLINS. GENUS RHIZOTHERA.
Rhizothera, G. R. Gray, List Gen. B. 2nd ed. p. 79 (1841).
Type, 2. dongirostris (Temm.).
Differs chiefly from /vancolinus in having only twelve tail-
feathers, The tail is rather more than half the length of the
wing ; the first primary flight-feather is about equal to the
tenth, the sixth slightly the longest. Bill very stout, long, and
142 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
curved. Feet in both sexes provided with a pair of stout spurs
Sexes quite different.
Only two species are known.
I. THE LONG-BILLED FRANCOLIN. RHIZOTHERA LONGIROSTRIS.
Perdix longirostris, Temm. Pig. et Gall. iii. pp. 323, 721 (1815)
[male]. |
Tetrao curvirostris, Raffl. Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 323 (1822) |
[female]. |
Francolinus longtrostris, J. ¥. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. ii. pl. 45, fig.
2 (1833-4).
Rhizothera longirostris, G.R. Gray ; Kelham, Ibis, 1882, p. 4;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 183 (1893).
Adult Male—Top of the head rich brown; general colour
above chestnut, blotched with black, shading into grey, mixed
with buff on the lower back and upper tail-coverts ; sides of
head and throat reddish-chestnut; neck, chest, and upper
mantle grey; rest of under-parts rufous-buff. Total length,
14°6 inches ; wing, 77 ; tail3°5 > tarsus:s2.2:
Adult Female.— Differs from the male in having the neck and
chest rufous-chestnut, and the lower back and upper tail-coverts
mostly buff. Slightly smaller than the male.
Range.—Southern part of the Malay Peninsula, and extend-
ing to Sumatra and Borneo.
Il. HOSE’S LONG-BILLED FRANCOLIN RHIZOTHERA
DULITENSIS.
Rhizothera dulitensis, Ogilvie-Grant, Buil. Brit. Orn. Club, iv.
p. xxvii. (1895).
(Plate XT¢.)
Adult Male.—Easily distinguished from the male of R. longt-
vostris by having the whole chest and dveas¢ grey, and the rest
of the under-parts white.
Adult Female-—Differs from the female of A. Jongirostris in
its generally richer colouring and in having the general colour
of the outer wing-coverts dark brown, with comparatively few
buff markings.
PLAPE XTC.
HOSE'S LONG-BILLED FRANCOLIN.
THE TRUE PARTRIDGES. 143
Range-—Mount Dulit, Sarawak, Borneo, at an elevation of
4,000 feet.
A pair of this fine Francolin were obtained by Mr. C. Hose.
Gite TRUE PARTRIDGES. GENUS’ PERDIX,
Perdix, Briss. ‘Orn. 1. p. 219 (1760).
Vype, L. perarx (1..).
Differs from the preceding genera in having the tail com-
posed of either sixteen or eighteen feathers, nearly equal in
length, the outer pair being only slightly shorter than the
middle pair, which are more than half the length of the wing.
The first primary flight-feather is intermediate in length between
the seventh and eighth, and the fourth is slightly the longest.
The feet are without spurs in either sex, and the plumage of
both is alike or slightly different.
The four species may conveniently be divided into two
groups, each containing two species.
A. ‘Tail with eighteen feathers ; chest and breast not barred
with black (species 1 and 2, pp. 143-149).
B. Tail with sixteen feathers; chest and breast barred
with black (species 3 and 4, pp. 150-151).
A. Tail with eighteen feathers ; chest and breast not barred
with black.
I. THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. PERDIX PERDIX.
Letrao perdix, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 276 (1766).
Lerdix cinerea, Latham, et auctorum plurimorum; Dresser, B.
Europe, vil. p. 131, pls. 474 and 475 (1878).
Perdix robusta, Homeyer and Tancré, Mitth. Orn. Ver. Wien.
Wilep, 92 (1883) ; ix. pk figs: 3-5 (1885).
Perdix perdix, Ogilvie-Grant, “ Field,” 21st Nov. 1891, and
oth April, 1892; id. Ann. and Mag. N. H. (6), xii. p. 62
(1893); id. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 187 (1893).
Adult Male.—General colour above brownish-buff (washed
with grey in birds from Northern Europe), with narrow, close-
set, wavy cross-bars and lines of black ; lesser and median wing-
144 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
coverts and scapulars blotched on the inner web with chestnut,
and with on/y buff shaft-stripes (fig. 1). Top of the head
brown, rest of the head, throat, and neck chestnut; breast
grey, finely mottled with black, below which is a large horse-
shoe-shaped chestnut patch; rest of under-parts whitish ; first
flight-feather with extremity rounded ; feet horn-grey. Total
length, 12°6 inches ; wing, 6:2; tail, 3°5 ; tarsus, 1°7.
Adult Female——Easily distinguished from the ma/e by having
the ground-colour of the lesser and median wing-coverts and
scapulars mostly black, with wide-set buff cross-bars, in addition
to the longitudinal buff shaft-stripe down the middle of each
feather (figs. 2 and 3); and the chestnut patch on the breast
small, or sometimes absent.
Immature examples of both sexes exhibit the characteristics of
the adults, but may be recognised by having the first primary
flight-feather porzted at the extremity instead of being rounded,
and the feet yellowish horn-colour.
The zmmature female has generally a well-developed chestnut
horse-shoe mark on the breast.
Range.—Europe and Western and Central Asia, extending
in the west to Scandinavia and the British Isles, in the east
to the Barabinska ‘Steppes and Altai Mountains, and in the
south to Northern Spain and Portugal, Naples, the Caucasus,
Asia Minor, and North Persia.
As considerable interest attaches to the sexual differences in
plumage in the Common Partridge, it may be worth while to
republish here the substance of my articles on this subject
which appeared in the ‘‘ Field” quoted above.
In every text-book on ornithology which gives a description
of the plumage in the male and female of the Common
Partridge we find that the chief difference mentioned as dis-
tinguishing the two sexes is, that the ma/e has a large chestnut
horse-shoe-shaped mark on the lower breast, while in the
Jemale this marking is reduced toa few chestnut spots, or some-
times entirely absent. This character, as we first pointed out
Fic, 3. Fy e
rr ciate acne
1an
Fics. 2 & 3.—Med
-coverts of female Partridge.
“covert of male Partridge.
fox
>
wing
lan win
Fic. 1.—Med
146 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
in the “ Field, ’ is not to be depended on, for the great majority
of young females—by which we mean birds of the year—have
a well-developed chestnut horse-shoe, and in some, for instance
birds from Leicestershire, it is quite as large and perfectly de-
veloped as in the majority of adult male birds. Young females
from Norfolk and Suffolk are, however, geverad/y exceptions to
this rule, and, like the majority of old females, have merely a
few chestnut spots on the middle of the lower breast, and in
this part of England it is rare to meet with anything like a
perfect horse-shoe in young birds of this sex, while examples
may be found without a trace of chestnut, and are commonly
known as birds with a white horse-shoe. As remarked above,
the birds of the year, whether male or female, are easily distin-
guished from old birds by having the first flight-feather pointed
instead of rounded at the extremity. The colour of the feet
and toes is also, of course, a good character for distinguishing
young birds from old ones in the earlier part of the season, but
at the commencement of hard weather the yellowish-brown feet,
denoting youth, having generally changed to bluish-grey, are
perfectly similar to those of the adult, while the pointed first
flight-feather is retained till the following autumn moult. The
only reliable character for distinguishing the sexes at all ages,
except in very young birds in their first plumage, is in the mark-
ings of the lesser and median wing-coverts and scapulars, the buff
cross-bars in the female being an unmistakable mark, and quite
sufficient to distinguish her from the male at a glance. It is
now some years since we first drew attention to these rather
important differences which had hitherto been entirely over-
looked, and we may now safely say, that though many people,
especially sportsmen, were at first disinclined to believe in this
character being a sexual difference, and tested. it severely, it
has, so far, never been found to fail. To convince gamekeepers
of these facts is in most cases a hopeless task—that the horse-
shoe mark on the breast is a certain sign of the male is “bred
in the bone,” having been handed down as gospel for genera-
‘AOCIYLaYVd NIVINNOW
WX SLwId '
THE TRUE PARTRIDGES, 147
tions. One Scotch keeper in particular, at a place where we
have enjoyed many a pleasant day’s Partridge-shooting, rises
before our mind, and the remembrance of this excellent and
extremely obstinate soul always makes us smile. Often at
lunch-time have we started him on the Partridge question,
merely for the fun of hearing him argue, and stick to his
opinion and that of his forefathers ; and his politely incredulous
smile on being shown by the help of a knife that some parti-
cular bird with a large horse-shoe mark really was a female by
dissection, had to be seen to be appreciated. But there are
some people who will never allow that they are mistaken, and
as long as this good man remains, we may safely look forward
to many a half-hour’s amusement, though the dissection of
numerous Partridges does not meet with our host’s entire
approval! It must be added that barren females are some-
times met with in more or less perfect male plumage. One
barren female (by dissection), in the National Collection, has
an enormous chestnut horse-shoe mark on the breast, while the
wing-coverts have one web of each feather like that of the
male, and the other barred as in the ordinary female. This,
and one other example, are the only two that have come
under our notice, though we have examined thousands of
birds, and we may safely conclude that they are by no means
common.
Varieties—A curious rufous variety of the Common Partridge
(Plate XII.) was first described under the name of Perdix mon-
tana by Brisson,* who believed it to represent a distinct species.
This is not, however, the case, as every intermediate phase of
plumage between the Common Partridge and the most extreme
chestnut form can be found. The finest examples of this
variety have the zvAo/e head and neck dull rust-red and the re-
mainder of the plumage dark chestnut, except the thighs and
lower part of the belly, which are whitish, as well as some bars
and markings on the wing-coverts and scapulars. Brisson’s
* Orn, i. p. 224, pl. xxi. fig. 2 (1760).
148 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
specimens were obtained in the mountains of Lorraine, but
fine examples have also been procured in Northumberland,
Cheshire, and Wiltshire in England, as well as from other
localities, and there can be no doubt that this form is merely
a sport of nature or accidental variety in which the chestnut
colour pervades the whole plumage. Equally perfect examples
of doth sexes have been obtained. Grey, cream-coloured, and
white examples of the Common Partridge are sometimes met
with, but are by no means common, and generally prove to be
birds of the year, probably because birds of peculiar plumage
are generally shot down or killed by birds of prey, &c., while
still young, being more conspicuous than their neighbours.
Nest.-—A slight hollow in the ground, roughly lined with a
few dry grasses, &c., and sheltered by rough grass, growing
crops, or bushes.
Eggs.—Ten to fifteen, and sometimes as many as twenty ,
in shape pointed ovals; uniform pale olive-brown in colour.
Average measurements, 1°4 by 1° inch.
SUB.-SP. @. THE MIGRATORY PARTRIDGE, PERDIX DAMASCENA,
Perdix damascena, Briss. Orn. i. p. 223 (1760), et auctorum.
Starna cinerea, var. peregriana, Tschusi u. de la Torre, Ornis.
1588, p: 250.
This sub-species or race is perfectly similar in plumage to
the Common Partridge, and appears to be merely a smaller
high-ground or Alpine form of the latter species, but the feet
and toes, and apparently also the bill, are yellowish in the
adult, instead of horn-grey. Total length, about ro inches ;
Wine, 5:0; tall, 3°1$ tarsus; 1:4:
Large flocks of the Migratory Partridge visit the plains of
Southern and Central Europe during the cold season, and are
reported not to associate with birds of the common species.
It seems probable that this supposed sub-species may prove to
be founded on certain individuals of the Common Partridge
which inhabit the higher elevations throughout its range, and
a
THE TRUE PARTRIDGES. 149
get driven down in winter to the plains and valleys in search
of food. ‘The fact is, however, that very little is known about
this migratory form; and, although its existence has been well-
known for more than a century, very few examples have been
obtained, and in none of those which have come under our
notice have the colour of the feet and toes been recorded
while the birds were s#// fresh. In all the examples we have
examined, the feet certainly have the appearance of having
been yellow or yellowish horn-colour, but all these are birds of
the year, as may at once be seen by the pointed first primary
quill.
In many parts of Scotland we have met with Partridges
breeding on the lower moorland, and it is by no means uncom-
mon to fall in with an isolated covey or two of these birds on
the edges of a Grouse moor. Such “‘hill-birds” are, as a rule,
smaller and more brightly coloured than the low-ground birds,
and, when handled, seem to be about half the size of specimens
from the southern counties of England. When measured, the
differences in the length of the wing are comparatively trifling,
but the average weight of the hill-birds is considerably less.
II. THE BEARDED PARTRIDGE. PERDIX DAURICA.
Tetrao perdix, var. dauurica, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-As. 11. p. 78
(1811).
Perdix (Starna) cinerea, var. rupestris dauurica, Radde, Reise
Ost-sib. 11. p. 304, pl. xii. (1863).
mera varvara, Verr. and Desm. P. Z.'S..1863, p. 62, pl. ix:;
Gould, B. Asia, vi. pl. 73 (1871); Prjev. in Rowley’s
Orn. Misc, ii. p. 422 (1877).
Ferdix daurica, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 193
(1893).
Adult Male—General appearance of P. serdix, but paler and
greyer, and easily distinguished by having the feathers on the
sides of the chin and throat considerably elongated, with dark
shafts, forming a beard; the middle of the breast bright buff ;
150 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
and the horse-shoe patch on the breast d/ack. ‘Total length,
I1‘5 inches; wing, 6; tail, 3°5 ; tarsus, 1°5.
Adult Female.—Differs from the male in having less buff on
the breast, and the black patch on the breast much reduced
in size, or absent. Smaller ; wing, 5°6 inches.
Range.—North-eastern and Central Asia, extending north
to Dauria, east to Amoorland, Manchuria, and the mountains
near Pekin, west to Dzungaria and the Tian-shan Mountains,
and south to the sources of the Yangtze-kiang.
B. Tail with sixteen feathers ; chest and breast barred with
black.
III. MRS. HODGSON’S PARTRIDGE. PERDIX HODGSONIZ.
Sacfa hodgsonie, Hodgson, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxv. p. 165, pl.
(1857).
Perdix hodgsoniea, Gould, B. Asia, vi. pl. 74 (1857); Hume
and Marshall, Game Birds of India, p. 65, pl. (1879);
Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iil. p. 438
(1890); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 193
(1893).
Adult Male and Female-—Forehead with a black and a white
band, the fore-part of the crown chestnut; a rufous-chestnut
collar ; mantle grey, shading into brownish-grey on the rest of
the upper-parts, and all barred with black and rufous-buff; wings
very similar to those of the male of P. Zerdix, but brighter ;
cheeks, chin, and middle of throat white, the feathers cf the
latter rather long, but shorter than in P. daurica, a large black
patch covering the hinder part of the cheeks and side of the
throat ; under-parts white, barred with black, and with a /arge
black patch on the middle of the breast. Total length, 11°5
mches.; wing, 6-2:; tail-3°6 ; tarsus, 1-7.
Range.—Southern Tibet, just extending into Northern India,
in Cashmere, Gurhwal, Kumaon, and Sikhim.
Habits—This species inhabits the desolate hillsides and
THE MADAGASCAR PARTRIDGES. I51
passes, covered with stones and rocks, at elevations varying
from about 12,000 to 19,000 feet, where the only vegetation
is patches of mossy herbage. Very little is known either of
its habits or mode of nesting, but they appear to be very
similar to those of the Common Partridge, and the flight is
said to be identical.
Eggs—Much like those of P. pferdix; pale clay-brown,
slightly tinged with a reddish-brown towards the poles.
Measurements, 1°77 by 1°2 inch.
IV. PRJEVALSKY’S PARTRIDGE. PERDIX SIFANICA.
Perdix sifanica, Prjevalsky, Mongolia, il. p. 124 (1876) ; id. in
Rowley’s Orn. Mise. ii. p. 423 (1877); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat.
B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 195 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Like P. hodgsonie, but smaller, and
differ chiefly in having the black patch on the hinder part of
the cheek and side of the throat mach smaller, and mixed with
chestnut above ; zo black patch on the middle of the breast,
all the feathers being white, barred with black like the rest of
the under-parts.
Male: Total length, 10°5 inches; wing, 59; tail, 3:2; tar-
sus, 1°6.
Female: Somewhat smaller ; wing, 5°5 inches.
Habits.—This species, Prjevalsky tells us, was met with
principally in the rhododendron thickets in the Alpine regions
of Kansu, where the mountains were covered with small tufts
of Potentilla tenutfolia. It was also met with in the plains,
which are, however, at an elevation of 10,000 feet above the
sea-level.
THE MADAGASCAR PARTRIDGES. GENUS
MARGAROPERDIX.
Marsgaroperdix, Reichenb. Av. Syst. Nat. p. xxviil. (1852).
Type, JZ. madagascariensis (Scop.).
Tail about half the length of the wing and composed of
is LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
twelve feathers, wedge-shaped, the middle pair of feathers
being considerably longer than the next pair; the first primary
flight-feather is intermediate in length between the sixth and
seventh, and not much shorter than the longest. ‘The tarsus
is not provided with a spur in either sex, and the plumage is
entirely different in the two sexes.
Only one rather small species is known.
I. THE MADAGASCAR PARTRIDGE. MARGAROPERDIX
MADAGASCARIENSIS.
Tetrao madagarensis, Scop. (ex Sonnerat), Del. Flor. et Faun.
Insubr. pt. ii. p. 93 (1786).
Perdix striatus, Lath.; Temm. Pl:-Col. v. pl. 39 [Noweeh
(1823).
Margaroperdix striatus, Auctorum, passim, Grandidier and
Milne-Edwards, Hist. Madagas. Oils. i. p. 487, pls. 199-
201A (1885).
Margaroperdix madagascariensis, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus. xxii. p. 196 (1893).
Adult Male—General colour of upper-parts reddish-brown,
with whitish shaft-stripes, and mostly with rufous or buff cross-
bars ; a line of black feathers with whitish shaft-stripes down
the middle of the head ; sides of head and throat black, with
white stripes over the eye and along the sides of the throat ;
fore-neck and middle of chest chestnut ; sides grey ; middle of
breast and belly black, with oval white spots ; sides and flanks
mostly chestnut; tail black, barred with reddish-white ; bill
black. Total length, 10 inches; wing, 5a seule.
Adult Female—General colour above black, mixed with olive- ©
brown, with pale shaft-stripes and bars as in the male ; throat,
sides of the head, and under-parts mostly rufous-buff, the latter
with concentric black lines on each feather ; sides and flanks
barred with black.
Range.—Island of Madagascar.
4
‘
J
THE INDIAN BUSH-QUAILS. re
THE INDIAN BUSH-QUAILS. GENUS PERDICULA.
Perdicula, Hodgs. Beng. Sport. Mag. ix. p. 344 (1837).
Type, P. astatica (Lath.).
Tail composed of twelve feathers, rather feeble, but much
stiffer than the upper tail-coverts ; less than half the length of
the wing. First flight-feather intermediate in length between
the seventh and ninth; fourth slightly the longest. Tarsus
armed in the male with a blunt wart-like spur. Plumage of
sexes different.
Only two very small species are known.
I. THE JUNGLE BUSH-QUAIL. PERDICULA ASIATICA.
Perdix astatica, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 649 (1790).
Perdix cambayensis, Temm. Pl. Col. v. pl. 41 [No. 447] (1828).
Coturnix pentah, Sykes ; J. E. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. ii. pl. 45,
| fig. 3 (1834).
Perdicula rubicola, Hodgs. Beng. Sport. Mag. ix. p. 344 (1837).
Perdicula astatica, Gould, B. As. vil. pl. 4 (1863); Hume and
Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii. p. 109, pl. (1879);
Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. i. p. 440
(1890) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 198
(1893).
Perdicula argoondah, Gould (nec Sykes), B. As. vii. pl. 5 (1863).
Adult Male—General colour above brown, with pale buff
shaft-stripes on the back, and black bars and blotches on the
scapulars and wing-coverts; forehead, eyebrow-stripes, and
throat rufous-chestnut, with whitish edges ; under-parts white,
with regular black cross-bars ; immer webs of primary flight-
feathers not barred with rufous-buff. Total length, 6°4 inches;
mile,.3.3 ; tail, 1°55 tarsus, 0°95.
Adult Female-—Has the throat rufous-chestnut like the male,
but differs in having no buff shaft-streaks on the upper-parts,
and the under-parts uniform vinaceous-buff.
Range.—India and Ceylon.
154 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Habits——According to Mr. Hume, “ moderately thick forésts
and jungles, hills, ravines, and broken ground, not too deficient
in cover, and rich cultivation, if not in too damp and undrained
situations, from near the sea-level to an elevation of four to five
thousand feet, are the ordinary resorts of the Jungle Bush-
Quail. Very considerable differences in rainfall affect them
but little, provided the ground is hilly, raviny, or well drained,
and cover sufficient, and they are abundant, as on the Western
Ghats, where the rainfall is over 100 inches, and on scrub-clad
hills in Rajputana, where it certainly falls short of 20 inches.”
Tickell says: ‘‘ They prefer stony, gravelly places, amongst
thorny bushes, such as the jujube or bér, or tracts of stunted
Sal, Assun, and Polas (or Dhak), congregating in coveys of
eight to a dozen under thickets, whence of an evening they
emerge into adjacent fields, meadows, and clumps of grass to
feed. They lie very close, suffering themselves to be almost
trodden upon, and then rise at once out of some small bush,
with a piping whistle, and such a sudden start and whir,
instantly flying off to all parts of the compass—including some-
times a close shave of the sportsman’s countenance,—that a
more difficult bird to hit could nowhere be found, especially
as their flight is prodigiously rapid, and directed so as barely
to skim the upper twigs of the bushes. They do not go far,
but, when once down, are hardly ever flushed again till they
have reunited. This they lose as little time as possible in
doing, running like mice through the herbage to some central
spot, where the oldest cock bird of the covey is piping all
hands together. Although so gregarious and sociable, these
birds are very quarrelsome, and their extreme pugnacity leads
to their easy capture. . . . . Bush-Quails are not often
caught by hawking, as the Uriyas do not care to trust their
trained sparrow-hawks (shickras and besras) so much amongst
the jungle. For the table they are hard and tasteless, and they
are valued by the natives chiefly for their fighting qualities, which
do not appear to degenerate even after long confinement.”
THE INDIAN BUSH-QUAILS. 155
Nest.—Neatly made of roots and fine grass, ina depression in
the ground sheltered by a bush or tuft of grass.
Eggs.—Slightly pointed ovals, varying in colour from creamy-
to brownish-white; five to seven in number. Average measure-
ments, 1°0 by 0°85 inch.
II. THE ROCK BUSH-QUAIL. PERDICULA ARGOONDAH.
Cauriix arsoondah, Sykes, P. Z.S. 1832, p. 153; id. Lrans.
ZOO SoCs p. 17, pl. ti. (1841).
Perdicula argoondah, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of
India, i. p. 117, pl. (1879); Oates, ed. Hume's Nests
and Eggs Ind. B. ill. p. 441 (1890); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat.
B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 200 (1893).
Adult Male-——Like the male of P. as‘atica, but the upper-
parts are barred with buff and black or grey; the rufous on the
head and throat is dull brick-colour, not bordered with white ;
and the quills are barred on ¢he zmneras well as the outer webs
with rufous-buff. Total length, 6°5 inches ; wing, 3°3 ; tail, 1°7;
tarsus, I.
Adult Female.— Has the ¢hroat white, tinged with vinaceous ;
the upper-parts vinaceous-brown and under-parts dull vina-
ceous, a few faint buff and dusky markings on the former and
the middle of the belly whitish-buff.
Range.—India ; ? Ceylon (Zayard). Mauritius [¢troduced].
Habits——This species appears to have nearly the same wide
and irregular distribution throughout the Peninsula of India as
its near ally, the Jungle Bush-Quail, but affects very different
localities, the two forms being apparently complementary to
one another. The Rock Bush-Quail prefers the dry rocky
plains or low hillocks, thinly covered with scattered thorn-
bushes, and barren sparsely-cultivated districts ; and though
both species may occasionally be met with on the same stubble
where their ranges meet, it may be generally stated that, where
one is found, the other does not occur. The habits of the
156 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Rock Bush-Quail are perfectly similar to those of its ally, and,
like it, the birds generally feed in company, even in the breed-
ing-season, when ‘‘newly-hatched birds may frequently be seen
running amongst half-a-dozen old ones” (AZtken).
Nest.—Placed under a tussock of grass, and neatly made of
dry grass placed in a shallow, saucer-shaped, depression in the
ground.
Eggs.—F ive to seven in number, generally rather pointed
towards the small end; uniform glossy white, slightly tinged
with brownish-buff. Average measurements, I'o2 by 0°84
inch.
THE PAINTED BUSH-QUAILS. GENUS MICROPERDIX.
Microperdix, Gould, B. As. vii. pl. ili. (1862).
Type, JZ. erythrorhyncha (Sykes).
Very similar in size and general appearance to the last
genus, but the tail is composed of only ten feathers, and the
first primary flight-feather is about equal to the tenth, the sixth
being slightly the longest. The ¢ars¢ in the males are without
any trace of a spur.
Only three very small species are known.
I, THE PAINTED BUSH-QUAIL. MICROPERDIX
ERYTHRORHYNCHA.
Coturnix erythrorhyncha, Sykes, P. Z: S. 1832, Pp. 1535.92 22
Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. ii. pl. 44, fig. 2 (1834); Sykes, Trans.
Zool. Soc. il..p: 16;pl. 1184
Perdicula erythrorhyncha, Auctorum, pass.m.
Microperdix erythrorhyncha, Gould, B.’As. vii. pl. 3 (1862) ;
Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii. p. 123, pl.
(1879); Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iii. p.
442 (1890); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 203
(1893).
Adult Male —General colour above earthy-brown, with rounded
THE PAINTED BUSH-QUAILS. 157
black spots, blotched, especially on the wings, with black; the
latter being also marked with whitish shaft-streaks and buff
cross-bars ; top of the head, except the middle of the crown,
black, with a zarvow well-defined white band between the eyes,
continued backwards on each side of the head and forming a
U-shaped white mark ; throat white ; chest greyish-brown, with
a rufous wash, and shading gradually into rufous-chestnut on
the rest of the under-parts; the sides and flanks with rather
large black white-edged spots. Total length, 7 inches ; wing,
ee4; tail, 19 ; tarsus, 1.
Adult Female.—Like the male, but the black on the head and
the white throat are replaced by dull rufous-chestnut.
Range.—South-western hills of the Peninsula of India, ex-
tending from Bombay to the Cardamum Hills in Travancore.
Habits.—Davison says: “The Painted Bush-Quail is very
abundant on the Nilgiris and their slopes, and is not un-
common in the Wynad. They always occur in bevies, num-
bering eight to twelve birds. ‘They of course avoid the inner
depths of the jungles, but are found on the outskirts, especially
where there is good dense cover, such as the common brake-
fern; but their favourite resort is rather rocky ground, inter-
spersed with bushes and dense clumps of fern and high grass,
especially when such places abut on or are near cultivation, or
any road along which cattle, carrying grain, habitually pass.
“About the station of Ootacamund they are, even to this
day, not uncommon; and in the grounds of almost all the
outlying houses, where these are tolerably wooded, one or
more coveys are sure to be found. In the mornings and
evenings they are very fond of coming out into the open, and
I have met with a dozen or more coveys on the road ina
morning’s ride between Coonoor and Ooty. They are tame
little birds and will seldom rise when met with on a road,
unless hard pressed or suddenly surprised ; they content them-
selves with running on ahead, occasionally stopping to pick up
50 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
a grain or an insect, until they think they are being too closely
followed, when they quietly slip out of sight into the first bit
of cover they come to.
‘When retreating they keep uttering a very rapidly and
continually repeated note, in a very low tone, hardly to be
heard unless when one is quite close to them.
‘“When flushed they do, as a rule, rise, as Jerdon says, all
together, usually scattering in different directions, but this is
by no means invariably the case, and sometimes, even before
a dog, they will rise singly, or in couples, several minutes often
intervening between the rise of the first and last birds. . . .
- “When a covey has been flushed and scattered, one bird
commences after a few minutes calling in a very low tone,
another immediately taking it up, then another, and so on.
They then begin cautiously to reunite, uttering all the time
their low note of alarm, moving very slowly, with continual
halts while in cover, but dashing rapidly across any open space
they may have to cross.”
Nest.—Like that of the Rock Bush-Quail.
Eggs—Ten or more; rather long ovals. Uniform glossy
pale brownish-buff. Average measurements, 1°22 by o’g1
inch. i
Il, BLEWITT’S PAINTED BUSH-QUAIL. MICROPERDIX
BLEWITTI.
Microperdix blewitt?, Hume, Str. F. ii. p. 512 (1874); id. and
Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii. p. 130, pl. (1879);
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 204 (1893).
Adult Male-—Closely resembles the male of AZ. exy¢throrhyncha,
but is smaller and distinguished by having the white band be-
tween the eyes much wider and the black forehead much
narrower, the chest greyer, and the rest of the under-parts
paler. ‘Total length, 6°8 inches; wing, 3°1 ; tail, 1°6; tarsus,
0°95.
a lilexs
divyg
Trvno
“HSN daLNIvd HNdINVW
my
THE PAINTED BUSH-QUAILS. 159
Adult Female—Like the female of JZ. erythrorhyncha, but
paler.
Range.—Central Provinces of India.
III THE MANIPUR PAINTED BUSH-QUAIL. MICROPERDIX
MANIPURENSIS.
Perdicula manipurensis, Hume, Str. F. ix. p. 467 (1880).
Microperdix manipurensis, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
Xxii. p. 204 (1893).
(Plate XIII.)
Adult Male—Above dark grey, barred (and blotched on the
wings) with black ; forehead, eyebrow-stripes, and throat dar}
chestnut ; neck and chest grey, shading into ¢azwzy on the rest
of the under-parts, which have a black shaft-stripe and wide
black cross-bar on each feather. Total length, 6-5 inches ;
wine, 3°45 tail, 2; tarsus, 1°05.
Adult Female.—Differs from the male in having zo chestnut
on the head or throat, the latter being zw/zt7sh, and the breast
and belly are buff.
Range.—Sikhim and South-eastern Manipur Hills.
This extremely handsome little species was discovered by
Mr. A. O. Hume during his expedition to Manipur, and was
only met with in one place, in a patch of thick elephant-grass
jungle, where eleven adult and immature specimens were 9b-
tained. A single bird was subsequently shot in the same dis-
trict, and there is also a skin of this species in the British
Museum which is said to have been obtained in Sikhim. No
doubt the bird occurs in the intermediate districts in suitable
localities and will be found by future collectors, but owing to
its skulking habits and small size, it has hitherto been over-
looked and the only specimens so far known are those men-
tioned above. It appears to live entirely in the almost im-
penetrable patches of elephant-grass, only venturing into the
more open spaces in the early morning when feeding, and never
rises till very hard pressed, preferring, if possible, to escape by
160 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
running. The specimens obtained by Mr. Hume (numbering
two coveys of six and five birds respectively, all of which were
shot) were first seen in an open glade in a patch of elephant-
grass about two miles square, and with the aid of about a
hundred beaters were eventually obtained after two days’
arduous work. After reading his account of how these speci-
mens were obtained (in the volume of “Stray Feathers” cited
above), some idea may be formed of the labour and expense
entailed in forming the magnificent ‘‘ Hume collection” of
Indian birds which, thanks to the generosity of that great orni-
thologist, now forms part of the National Collection.
THE TREE-PARTRIDGES, GENUS ARBORICOLA.
Arboricola, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. p. 85 (1844).
Type, A. torgueola (Valenc.).
Tail less than half the length of the wing, composed of four-
teen short, somewhat rounded feathers, the middle pair being
rather the longest.
First flight-feather intermediate in length between the eighth
and tenth ; fourth and fifth slightly the longest.
Throat and fore-part of the neck often thinly covered with
feathers or nearly naked.
Nails Zong and nearly straight.
A supra-orbital chain of bones* (fig. 1).
Sexes similar in plumage or very nearly so, with the excep-
tion of A. torqueola.
A concealed patch of downy feathers on the sides of the body
under the wings, g7ey.
I. COMMON TREE-PARTRIDGE. ABORICOLA TORQUEOLA.
Perdix torqueola, Valenc, Dict. Sci. Nat. xxxvili. p. 435 (1825).
* Mr. W. T. Blanford has called my attention to the fact that two speci-
mens of A. chloropus in the British Museum bear MS. notes by Mr. Wood-
Mason stating that the supra-orbital chain of bones peculiar to all the other
- species of Arboricola is absent, A. chlovopus and A. charltoni belong to
THE TREE-PARTRIDGES. TOI
Perdix megapodia, Temm. Pl. Col. v. pls. 35 and 36[Nos. 462,
463] (1828).
Perdix olivacea, J. %. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. i. pl. 57-(1830-32).
Arboricola torqueola, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of
india, 1. p. 60, pl. (1879); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. But.
Mus. xxiiap. 207 (1893).
Adult Male-—Crown bright ches‘nut ; back olive-brown, Jarred
with black , wing widely margined with chestnut, and blotched
with black on the coverts ; sides of the face and throat black,
the feathers more or less edged with white ; fore-neck white ;
chest grey, shading into white on the under-parts; flank-
feathers grey, edged with chestnut and with a white central spot.
Momleleneth, 11°73 wnches ; wing, 6 ; tail, 2°7; tarsus, 1°7.
Adult Female.—Differs chiefly from the male in having the
crown d7vown with black shaft-stripes; the sides of the face,
throat, and neck rust-coloured, spotted with black ; and the white
central spots on the flank-feathers much larger.
rather a distinct group of A7bortcola, and on examination we find that the
supra-orbital chain of bones is wanting 77 doth species (fig. 2). This being
the case, Mr. Blanford proposes, very rightly as we think, to place these
two species in a different genus, for which the name 77ofzcoperdix, Blyth,
has already been proposed.
9 M
162 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY,
Range.— Outer ranges of the Himalayas, from 5,000 to 14,000
feet, and extending from the eastern borders of Chamba to
Sikhim, and southwards to the Manipur Hills.*
Wilson gives the following account of this species :—“ This
handsome little Partridge inhabits the forests and jungles, and
is never found in open spots or cultivated fields. It is most
numerous on the lower ranges in the wooded ravines and hill-
sides, from the summit to near the base, but does not occur at
the foot of the hills or low down in the valleys. It is not so
common in the interior, but is met with to an elevation of
about 9,ooo feet. It is rather solitary in its habits, generally
found in pairs ; but occasionally, in autumn and winter, five or
six will collect together and keep about one spot.
“Tt is a quiet, unsuspicious bird; when alarmed it utters
a soft whistle, and generally creeps away through the under-
wood, if not closely pressed, in preference to rising. Its flight
is rapid, oftener across the hill than downwards, and seldom
very far; in general, not more than eighty or one hundred
yards. Its food being very similar, it is met with in the same
places as the Koklass Pheasant, and both are often found to-
gether. Indeed, in winter, in some of the forests of the in-
terior, Tragopans, Moonal, Koklass, and Kalij Pheasants, and
the Hill Partridge, are at all times all found within a compass
of fifty or sixty yards.
“Tt feeds on leaves, roots, maggots, seeds, and berries ; in
confinement it will eat grain; in a large cage or enclosure its
motions are very lively, and it runs about with great sprightli-
ness from one part to another. It occasionally mounts into
the trees, but not so often asa forest bird might be expected to
do.
“Tn the forests of the interior, in spring, it is often heard
calling at all hours of the day. ‘The call is a single loud soft
whist’e, and may be easily imitated so as to entice the bird
* I have seen specimens obtained by Col, Godwin-Austen in this
locality.
THE TREE-PARTRIDGES., 163
quite close. At other seasons it is never heard to call, except
when disturbed.”
Hodgson says that “they constantly perch. At the top of
Pulchook I flushed a covey of eight or ten, which flew widely
scattered, all alighting on the highest trees.”
Eggs.—Said (no doubt correctly) to be pure white, and six to
eight in number.
Il, THE BLACK-THROATED TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA
ATRIGULARIS.
Arboricola atrogularis, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xviii. p. 819
(1849) ; Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii. p.
79, pl. (1879) ; Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind.
B. ill. p. 439 (1890); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
Xxii. p. 209 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.— Above olive-brown, barred with black
on the back, and much the same as in A. /orgueola ,; throat
black ; feathers of fore-neck black, edged with white; chest
grey, shading into white on the middle of the upper-parts ;
flank-feathers grey, edged with olive-brown, and with an oval
white spot near the end of the shafts. Total length of maze,
To’o inches; wing, 5°6; tail, 2°2; tarsus, 1°7. Female rather
smaller.
Range.—North-eastern India, extending from Eastern Assam
to Chittagong and Manipur, and eastwards to the Kachin
Hills east cf Bhamo.
Habits—Mr. J. R. Cripps found this species common in
Sylhet, frequenting the hillocky ground covered with dense
forest. He says :—“ They are very fond of feeding about the
banks of the small rivulets that meander among the hillocks
which are scattered about the district. They feed on insects,
for which they scratch amongst the decaying leaves that carpet
the ground, seeds and berries of various kinds, and on young
shoots.
M 2
164 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
‘Though greatly affecting dense forests, these birds are also
partial to bamboo-jungle. :
“ Their call, which is often heard, papeatally towards dusk, is
a rolling whistle, zeZez, whew, repeated many times, and wind-
ing up with a sharper and more quickly uttered zwhew. The
sound is very easily imitated, and the birds are easily enticed
to approach one by the imitation, and this is the way in which
natives usually secure them.
“This species certainly perches at times, for I have seen one
fly down from a small tree.”
Nest.—A mere lining of leaves and twigs placed in a slight
depression at the foot of a large tree (C77ffs).
Eggs.—Four in number; pure white, broad ovals, rather
pointed towards the small end; shell fine, rather glossy.
Average measurements, 1°38 by 1°12 inch.
III, THE HAINAN TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA ARDENS.
Arboricola ardens, Styan, Ibis, 1893, pp. 56, 436, pl. xii. ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 210 (1893).
Adult Male.—In general plumage like A. afriguaris, but with
an orange-red patch of feathers on the fore-part of the neck and
middle of the chest, the sides of the neck and under-parts
being faintly washed with the same colour. Total length, 8
mehes; wing, 2°35 tally 1°75 3 tarsus, 1-2;
Bek ed une of Hainan.
This remarkable species is at present only known from a
single skin, the property of Herr Schmacker.
1V. THE FORMOSAN TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA
CRUDIGULARIS.
Oreoperdix crudigularis, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1864, p. 426.
Arboricola crudigularts, Blyth; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
Us psn (1893):
Adult Male and Female.—Very similar to A. atrigu/arts, but the
barring on the back is wider and darker; the chin, upper-part
THE TREE-PARTRIDGES, 165
of the throat and fore-neck are white, and the lower part of the
threat black. Yotal length, 9°5 inches ; wing, 5°5; tail, 2°2;
tarsus, 1°55.
Range.— Mountains of the interior of Formosa.
V. THE ARACAN TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA INTERMEDIA.
Arboricola intermedia, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxiv. p. 277
(1856) ; Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii.
Dees, pl (1s 70); Oates, B. Burmah, ii; p. 327 (1883).
and ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iii. p. 440
(1890); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 211
(1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Upper-parts olive-brown without black
bars on the back, though sometimes the feathers have dusky
margins ; otherwise the plumage is much like that of the female
of A. dorgueola, but the chin and throat are d/ack, and the fore-
neck bright rufous.
Range.—North-eastern India, extending from the Garo and
Naga Hills to the borders of Arakan and Pegu and eastwards
to Bhamo.
VI. THE RUFOUS-THROATED TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA
RUFIGULARIS.
Arboricola rufogularis, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xviii. p. 819
(1849) ; Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii. p.
75, pl. (1879) ; Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind.
B. iii. p. 439 (1890) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
Sie 2h 2) (1303).
Adult Male and Female-—Resemble the sexes of A. znterm.aa,
but the feathers of the chin and throat are rust-red spotted with
black, as in the female of A. torqgucola; from the latter they
are easily distinguished by the adsence of black bars on the
back 2.lotal length, 11. inches ; wing, 5°6; tail, 2°3; tarsus,
7.
Range.— Lower outer ranges of the Himalayas from Kumzon
166 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
to at least as far east as the Darrung district, north of the
Daphla Hills. It is also common on the higher ranges of
Tenasserim, on Mooleyit, but has not been met with in the
intervening countries.
Habits——The Rufous-throated Tree-Partridge, which, in
general appearance, closely resembles the female of the
Common Tree-Partridge (A. torgueola) but is at once dis-
tinguished by the absence cf black bars on the back, inhabits
a much lower range than that species, not exceeding an
elevation of about 6,000 feet in the summer, while in cold
weather it may be met with nearly at the bottom of the
valleys. It is also more often met with in coveys than the
common species, but its general habits are otherwise perfectly
similar, though apparently it is more given to perching on
trees, when fiushed by a dog oz otherwise. Davison, who
collected many on the higher slopes of Mooleyit in ‘Tenasseeee
tells us that he has shot three or four when thus perched,
before the others attempted to move, and that these birds
sometimes settled in trees within a few feet of him, being
apparently far tamer than the Himalayan examples of this
species.
Nest and Eggs. —Very similar to those of 4. atrigudaris. An
egg measures 1°5 by 1°2 inch.
VII. SONNERAT’S TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA GINGICA.
La Perdrix de Gingt, Sonnerat, Voy. Ind. Orient. ii. p. 167
(1782).
Tetrao gingicus, Gmel. S. N. i. pt. il. p. 760 (1788).
Arboricola gingica, Blyth, Ibis, 1870, p. 1743; Ogilvie-Grant,
Ibis, 1892, 395, pl. ix.;-id. Cat. B. But. Mus: sxupa ene
(1893).
Adult.—General colouring above similar to that of 4. riuj-
gularis, but easily distinguished by having a ¢viangular black
patch on the base of the fore-neck, succeeded by a narrower white,
and a wider band of deep maroon.
XIV.
PLATE
MANDELLI'S TREE-PARTRIDGE.
THE TREE-PARTRIDGES 167
Although this species has been known to science for more
than a century, its habitat still remains unknown ; and, so far
as I am aware, the only specimen at present known is that
in the Leyden Museum. It has been suggested that the
Philippine Islands might probably prove to be the home of
this bird, but although most of them have now been visited by
various naturalists, we are still no nearer the solution of the
Doystery.
VIII. MANDELLI’S TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA MANDELLII.
Arborophila mandeliit, Hume, Str. F. ii. p. 449 (1874); iil. p.
202, pl. 1.(1875).
Arboricola mandeliii, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of
India, u. p. 83, pl. (1879); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus: xxi, p. 214 (1893).
(Plate XIV.)
Adult Male and Female-—Crown dark chestnut, shading into
brown on the nape; sides of the neck and cheeks rust-red,
spotted with black ; feathers of the back olive-brown, margined
but not barred with dusky ; eyebrow-stripes grey; throat and
fore-neck rust-red, divided from the rich chestnut chest by a
white and a black band ; breast and belly grey. ‘Total length,
Pmamches ; wing, 5°4; tail, 2°2 ; tarsus, 1°6.
Nothing is known of the habits or nidification of this re-
markable species, the only specimens as yet obtained having
been collected by the late Mr. Mandelli’s hunters in the damp
dense jungles of the Bhotan Doars and Native Sikhim. The
whole of that ornithologist’s splendid collection, having been
purchased at his death by Mr. A. O. Hume, now forms part of
the Hume collection in the British Museum.
IX. THE JAVAN TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA JAVANICA.
Javan Partridge, Brown, ll. Zool. p. 40, pl. 17 (1776).
Letrao javanicus, Gmel. §. N. i. pt. 11, p. 761 (1788).
163 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Arboricola javanica, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
214 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Crown reddish-brown, shading into
rusty on the forehead and bordered by a black band, which
encircles the eye, and is continued down the middle of the rust-
red nape, and joins a second black band surrounding the base
of the neck ; upperparts grey, barred with black ; cheeks and
throat rust-coloured; chest grey; vest of underparts and
franks chestnut. ‘Total length, 11 inches; wing, 5°6; tail, 2°2;
farsus, 1°58.
Range.— Mountains of Java.
X. THE RED-BILLED TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA
RUBRIROSTRIS.
Peloperdix rubrirostris, Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. xiv.
p. 251 (1879); Snelleman, in Veth’s Midden-Sumatra, iv.
P1460, pl til. (1837):
Arboricola rubrirostris, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus, xxii.
p. 215 (1893).
Adult Male—Head, throat, and neck black, with a few white
spots on the sides of the crown and throat, and a small patch of
the same colour on the chin; upper-parts reddish olive-brown,
barred with black ; chest brown ; upper breast and sides of the
belly white, with a large black spot on each feather; middle
of belly white ; flanks black, barred with white. ‘Total length,
9°6 inches ; wing, 5°2 ; tail, 1-7; tarsus, 1°75.
Adult Female-—Has rather more white on the lores and chin
and is somewhat smaller.
Mountains of Sumatra.
Range,
This is a very rare bird in collections, very few specimens
having as yet been obtained, but its habits, so far as they are
known, appear to be similar to those of its allies. The colora-
tion of the under-parts is peculiar, and very different from that
of any of the other species of this genus.
THE TREE-PARTRIDGES, 169
XI. THE BROWN-BREASTED TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA
BRUNNEIPECTUS.
Arboricola brunneopectus, Vickell ; Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxiv.
p. 276 (1855); Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of Ind.
Weepeeo7, pl. (1679); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B: Brit. Mus.
xi. 200 (1593).
Adult Male and Female——Crown brownish-black ; forehead, wide
eyebrow-stripes, cheeks, and throat buff; a black band com-
mencing at the gape, surrounds the eye, and ends in a black
patch on the side of the neck ; upper-parts olive-brown, barred
with black; wings marked with pale olive and chestnut, blotched
with black ; sides and front of neck spotted with black ; chest
brownish-ochre, shading into whitish on the belly; flank-feathers
with a /arge white spot near the extremity, partially or wholly
bordered with black. ‘Total length, 11 inches; wing, 5°6 ; tail,
25; tarsus, 1°7.
Range.—Evergreen forests of Burma and North Tenasserim ;
extending from the Karen and Tonghoo Hills through Eastern
Pegu as far south as Tavoy, Tenasserim.
Habits.— This species is met with from nearly sea-level to an
elevation of about 4,500 feet. Mr. Darling, who had many op-
portunities of studying its habits in the vicinity of Thoungyah,
usually found it between the months of September and Novem-
ber in coveys of from three to ten or even more birds, “but,” he
says, ‘owing to their shyness and dead-leaf colour, they were
difficult to secure. They feed amongst the dead leaves on seeds,
insects, and small shells, and are very restless, giving a scratch
here, a short run and another scratch there, and so on, uttering
a soft cooing whistle all the time. When disturbed by a man,
they always disappeared into the dense undergrowths ; but a dog
always sent them flying into some small tree, whence they would
at once begin calling to one another, whistling first low and soft,
and going up higher and shriller, till the call was taken up by
another bird. I often got quite close to them, but the instant
179 LLOYD S NATUPAL MISTORY,
I was seen, away they ran helter-skelter in all directions, and I
could only now and then catch a glimpse of the little fellows
scuttling through the bushes. Of course they are entirely a
forest bird, though they may be seen just at the outskirts of -
a wood.”
XII. TREACHER’S TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA
HY PERRY PER A,
Bambusicola hyperythra, Sharpe, Ibis, 1879, p. 266 ; Gould, DB.
Asia; vi.-pl. 71 (1879).
Arboricola hyperythra, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
p. 217 (1893).
Adult.— Differs from 4. drwnnetpectus in having the crown jet
black; the broad eyebrow-stripes, ear-coverts, and cheeks ashy-
grey ; and the chin, throat, and under-parts reddish-chestnut.
The flank-feathers have the same peculiar black and white
marking as in the last species. -Total length, 10°5 inches;
wine.5°2.; tall, 2-2 5 tarsus, 1:6,
Range.—North-west Borneo; mountains above the Lawas
River.
Since the present species was described in 1879 by Dr.
Bowdler Sharpe, from a single specimen obtained by Mr.
Treacher in the above locality, no more examples have been
obtained, and the type in the Oxford Museum remains unique.
It is just possible that a larger series of specimens than we have
at present had the opportunity of examining, may show that this
species and the following (A. exythrophrys) are stages of plu-
mage of the same bird (see Sharpe, Ibis, 1894, p. 539), but we
do not believe this to be the case, for in none of the specimens
of the latter species that we have examined—and we have had
a good series before us—is the grey eyebrow-stripe (apparently
a sign of immaturity) at all marked, and it is never found in —
adult specimens with the crown black
THE TREE-PARTRIDGES. IF
XIII. WHITEHEAD’S TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA
BREE RO PTR Ys.
Baimbusicola erythrophry's, Sharpe, Ibis, 1890, pp. 139, 284, 288,
280, pl. iv.
Arboricola erythrophrys, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
peaie (1893).
Adult Male-—Closely allied to the last species, A. hyperythra,
but distinguished by having the eyebrow-stripes d/ach, like the
crown, in the fully adult birds, xs¢zed in less mature birds, and
greyish in the young (which have the crown é7ow/z, only slightly
spotted with black, and the throat whitish-buff) ; chin and
throat black in the fully adult, rust-coloured in younger birds.
Moral length, 10 inches; wing, 5°8; tail, 1°8; tarsus, 1°85.
Adult Female-—Appears to differ from the male in never get-
ting the black on the throat.
Range.—North Borneo ; the dense bamboo-jungles of Mount
Kina Balu, from 2,000 to 4,000 feet.
XIV. HORSFIELD’S TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARDORICOLA
ORIENTALIS.
Perdix orientalis, Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 184
(1822).
Perdix personata, Horsfield, Zool. Res. Java, pl. 61 (1824).
Arboricola ortentalis, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
218 (1893).
Adult—Crown and nape blackish-brown ; eyebrow-stripe,
sides of the head, and throat white; upper-parts dark brown,
fringed with blackish ; wing mixed with olive-brown and orange-
red, and blotched with black ; a dark brown band along each
side of the head enclosing the eye; chest and breast brownish-
grey ; belly whitish; flanks grey, with wide irregular bars of
black and white. Total lenvth, 11 inches; wing, 59; tail, 2°5 ;
tarsus, .1°3;
Range-—Moun‘ains of East Java; forests of 3,000 feet.
172 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY,
Nothing is known of the habits of this rare bird, which, so far
as we are aware, is only known from the unique type obtained
by Horsfield in the province of Blambangan, East Java. .
XV. THE SUMATRAN TREE-PARTRIDGE. ARBORICOLA
SUMATRANA.
Arborophila sumatrana, Ogilvie-Grant, Ann. Mag. N. H. (6),
Vill. p. 297 (1891).
Arboricola sumatrana, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
Pp: 219 (1893).
Adult.— Differs from A. orrentadis in having the crown and
upper-parts golden-brown, fringed and strongly barred with
black ; no white eyebrow-stripe ; and the flank-feathers zezth
broad regular three-fold bands of black, white and black at -
the extremity.
Range-—Mountains of Central Sumatra, at about 3,000 feet.
The type-specimen has been in the Museum for many years,
but its origin is unknown. Dr. H. O. Forbes procured some
specimens during his travels in Sumatra, but no one else seems
to have met with the species.
THE WOOD-PARTRIDGES. GENUS TROPICOPERDIX.
Tropicoperdix, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxviii. p. 415 (1859).
Type, Z. chloropus, Blyth.
Characters the same as those given for Arboricola, but the
peculiar supra-orbital chain of bones is wanfzng* and the con-
cealed patch of downy feathers on each side of the body under
the wing is pure white.
I. THE GREEN-LEGGED WOOD-PARTRIDGE. TROPICOPERDIX
CHLOROPUS.
Tropicoperdix chloropus (Tickell), Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng.
Xxvili. p. 415 (1859).
* See fig. 2, p. 161, and footnote, p. 160.
THE WOOD-PARTRIDGES. 173
Arboricola chlorcpus, Tickell, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxviii. p. 453
(1859); Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii. p.
g1, pl. (1879); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
p. 219 (1893).
Adult Male and Female-—Crown and upper-parts warm brown,
barred and marked with black ; wing-coverts mixed with buff
and rufous ; eyebrow-stripes black and white, and bordering the
crown and sides of the nape; sides of face and throat white,
the neck rust-colour, all these parts dotted with black ; chest
brown, barred with black; middle of the breast rust-colour,
shading into whitish on the belly ; flanks buff, z~7egu/ary barred
and marked with black.
Range.—From the bases of the hills north of Tonghoo and
the astern Pegu Hills, and extending as far south as Tavoy in
Tenasserim. Also recorded from Cochin China.
Habits.—This species appears in Tenasserim to be confined
to the lower forests and jungles that skirt the bases of the hills,
generally avoiding the more dense hill-forests of the higher
elevations, where <Arboricola brunnetpectus is met with.
Davison found it most abundant in the thin tree-jungle,
generally in pairs or small parties which were seen gliding
about on the ground amongst the dense brushwood, and
scratching amongst the dead leaves in search of insects and
seeds. He says that the note is a soft double whistle, chiefly
uttered in the morning and evening, and that without dogs
they are hard to procure, being loath to take wing and pre-
ferring to run and squat undercover. When flushed by a dog
they rise at once, and after flying a short distance drop to the
ground, never perching on treesas is often the habit of Arbori-
cola rujigularis and its allies.
II. CHARLTON’S WOOD-PARTRIDGE. TROPICOPERDIX
CHARLTONI.
Perdix charltont, Eyton, Ann. and Mag. N. H. xvi. p. 230
(1845).
eg LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Tropicoperdix charltoni, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxvii. p. 415
(1859).
Arboricola charitont, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India,
ii. p. 93, pl. (1879) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
De 221 (1503).
Adult Male and Female-—Differ chiefly from the sexes of 7.
chloropus in having the upper-parts finely mottled with black
and marked with irregular buff spots and bars; a black band
on the sides and base of the neck ; the upper half of the chest
deep chestnut; and the flank-feathers vegw/arly barred with
black and buff. Total length, 11 inches; wing, 6°3 ; tail, 2°5 ;
tarsus, 1:6.
Range.—The hill-jungles of the Malay Peninsula from Pinang
southwards, Sumatra, and North Borneo. Reported also from
Bangkok in Siam and the South Tenasserim Hills.
THE CRIMSON-HEADED WOOD-PARTRIDGES. GENUS
HASMATORTYX.
Hematortyx, Sharpe, Ibis, 1879, p. 266.
Type, 7. sanguiniceps, Sharpe.
Tail short and rounded, composed of twelve feathers, and less
than half the length of the wing.
First primary flight-feather equal to the tenth, fifth slightly
the longest. Feet armed with ¢/7ee pairs of spurs in the male
(none in the female) ; hind-toe with a small but well-developed
claw.
Sexes different.
The only species known is
I. THE CRIMSON-HEADED WOOD-PARTRIDGE. H4MATORTYX
SANGUINICEPS.
flematortyx sanguiniceps, Sharpe, Ibis, 1879, p. 266; Gould,
B. Asia, vi. pl. 70 (1879) [ ¢ ]; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus. xxii. pp. 222 andys560 (1893); id. Ibis, 1804, qm
374 pl. x. [do]. |
THE WOOD-PARTRIDGES. 175
Adult Male.—General colour blackish-brown ; crown and nape
dull deep crimson ; fore-neck, chest, and longer under tail-
coverts deep brillant crimson; cheeks and throat paler crimson.
Total length, 10°5 inches; wing, 6°6; tail, 2°8; tarsus, 2°3.
Adult Female.— Differs from the ma/e in having the throat pale
rufous, washed with crimson, and the fore-part of the neck and
chest reddish-chestnut. Smaller. Total length, ro’5 inches ;
minc.«o; tail; 2°38; tarsus, 1°9.
Range.— Mountain forests and jungles of North Borneo.
This splendid Wood-Partridge was first described by Dr.
Bowdler Sharpe, from a single female specimen obtained by
Mir. WV. H. Treacher near the Lawas River and now in the
Oxford Museum. In 1891 a second female was collected by
Mr. Hose on the moss-clad summit of Mount Dulit, at an
elevation of about 5,000 feet ; but it was not until 1893, when
Mr. Everett’s collectors captured a third example of this rare
bird on the eastern slope of Mount Kina Balu, that the adz/t
male of this wonderful form of Partridge, with its brilliant
crimson chest and treble-spurred legs, became known. The
three individuals mentioned are all that have been obtained,
and the two latter now form part of the National Collection.
THE FERRUGINOUS WOOD-PARTRIDGES. GENUS
CALOPER DIX.
Caloperdix, Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 160.
Aype, Cocviea (1Temm.).
Tail rather short and composed of fourteen feathers ; less
than half the length of the wing.
First primary flight-feather equal to the tenth, the fourth to
the sixth feathers being equal and longest.
Tarsi armed in the ade with one or more pairs of spurs ;
nail on the hind-toe rwdimentary.
I. THE FERRUGINOUS WOOD-PARTRIDGE. CALOPERDIX OCULEA.
eran oculea, Lerom. Pig. et Gall. i. pp. 408 and 732
(isi):
176 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY,
Caloperdix oculea, Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 160; Hume and Mar-
shall, Game Birds of India, ii. p. 101, pl. (1879) ; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 222 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—Crown chestnut; nape rufous, shad-
ing into black on the mantle, each feather of which is marked
with concentric white lines ; feathers of rest of upper-parts black,
with a bright rust-coloured sub-marginal band; wings olive-
brown, with round black spots; sides of the head and throat
rufous-buff shading into clear rufous-chestnut on the rest of
the under-parts ; sides barred with whitish and black.
Male: Total length, 11:8 inches ; wing, 5°7 ; tail, 25 eae
sus, 1°8.
Female: Somewhat smaller.
Range.—The dense forests of South Tenasserim and the Malay
Peninsula.
Nothing is known of the habits of this species, except that it
feeds on insects, seeds, and berries, and all the specimens ob-
tained have been caught in snares.
SUB-SP. @ THE SUMATRAN FERRUGINOUS WOOD-PARTRIDGE.
CALOPERDIX SUMATRANA.
Caloperdix sumatrana, Ogilvie-Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. C. No.
ii. p. v. (1892); id. Ibis, 1892, p. 118 ; 1d. Cat eee
Mus. xxii. p. 224 (1893). .
Adult Male and Female.—This sub-species only differs from the
pical C. oculea in having the black feathers of the mantle
atked with zrregular transverse bands of pale yellow, the
nder-parts less brightly coloured, and the basal half of the
reast-feathers mottled and barred with black.
Range.—Forests and jungles of Sumatra and Java.
Il. THE BORNEAN FERRUGINOUS WOOD-PARTRIDGE,
CALOPERDIX BORNEENSIS.
Caloperdix borneensis, Ogilvie-Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. C. No. ii.
p- v- (1892); 1d. Ibis, 1893, <p. 1173) 1d. wat aeons
Mus. xxii. p. 224 (1893).
PLATE XV.
P) of) lle :
SSAQVOnraw ‘ 1
i
ie FDI oy ALAA
> Sey hy
S
J Var
CAN aN
eg 3
RED-CRESTED -WOOD-PARTRIDSGE
TILE WOOD-PARTRIDGES. 177
Adult Male—Also very closely allied to C. oculea, but the
mantle is very black and sharply defined from the chestnut of
the crown and nape, the concentric white lines are narrower
and more regular than in typical C. ocw/ea from the Malay
Peninsula, and the throat is darker and more rufous-chestnut.
Range.—Mount Dulit, Sarawak, North Borneo.
The only known example of this extremely handsome species
was obtained by Mr. C. Hose in the month of May on the moss-
clad summit of Mount Dulit, at an elevation of 5,000 feet.
THE CRESTED WOOD-PARTRIDGES. GENUS ROLLULUS
Lollulus, Bonnat. Tabl. Encycl. Méth. i. Introd. p. xciii. (1790).
Type, 2. rowlroul (Scop.).
A tuft of long hair-like bristles on the middle of the fore-
head.
A long full hairy crest in the sa/e.
Tail short, soft, and rounded ; composed cf twelve feathers ;
about two-fifths of the length of the wing.
First primary flight-feather equal in length to the tenth;
fifth slightly the longest.
Claw on the hind-toe gucte rudimentary.
A naked patch of skin round the eye. Sexes entirely differ-
ent in plum7ge. Only one species is known.
if bum RED-CRESTED WOOD-PARTRIDGE. ROLLULUS
ROULROUL.
Phasianus roulroul, Scop. Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr. ii. p. 93
(iraG):
Phastanus cristatus, Sparrm. Mus. Carls. fase. iii, pl. 64 (1788).
Letrao viridis, Gmel. 5. 'N. i. pt. ii. p. 761 (1788) [ female).
Letrao porphyrio, Shaw and Nodd. Nat. Misc. ii. pl. 84.
Rollulus roulroul, auctorum, passim; Hume and Marshall,
Game Birds of India, ii. p. 103, pl. (1879); Ogilvie-Grant,
Cat. B. Brit. Mus, xxii: p. 225 (1893).
(Plate XV.)
9 N
178 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Adult Male—Head and neck black, except a white band
between the eyes, and the long, hairy, maroon-coloured crest
which covers the hinder part of the head; upper-parts rich
green, glossed with steel-blue ; wings dark brown, mixed with
buff, except the inner coverts and scapulars, which are maroon,
glossed with purplish-blue ; under-parts black, glossed with
blue. Totallength, 10°8 inches; wing, 5°5; tail, 2°3; tarsus, 1.7.
Adult Female.—FHlead blackish-grey, moderately crested ; rest
of the plumage bright grass-green, washed with grey on the
belly, except the wings, which resemble those of the male, but
the inner wing-coverts and scapulars are mostly chestnut, only
edged with maroon, and but slightly glossed. Size rather smaller.
Range—From Southern ‘Tenasserim and Western Siam,
south through the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra, Java, Billis
ton, and Borneo.
Habits—The only notes on the habits of this bird worth
recording are those by the late Mr. W. Davison, who writes :
“This species is always found in small parties of six or eight
or more, males and females, keeping to the dense forest, and
never venturing into the open, living on berries, seeds, tender
shoots and leaves, and insects of various sorts. They do rot
scratch about nearlyso much as the Avdoricolas, and are much
quicker and more lively in their movements, much like a Quail,
running hither and thither. ‘They rise well before a dog, but
it is hard to flush them without. Their note is a soft, mellow,
pleasant whistle, which is chiefly heard in the morning, but
which they also utter when calling to each other after they
have been separated. Like that of A. rufigularis, their note
is very easily imitated, and they will answer the call readily.”
THE BLACK WOOD-PARTRIDGES. GENUS MELANO-
PERDIX.
Melanoperdix, Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. 580 (1864).
Type, JAZ. nigra (Vig.).
Fail short, soft, and rounded ; composed of twelve feathers ;
more than half the length of the wing.
THE QUAILS. 179
First primary flight-feather equal in length to the tenth,
fifth rather the longest.
JVo occipital crest in either sex.
Lill unusually stout and thick.
Hind-toe with a rudimentary claw. Sexes entirely different
in plumage.
Only one species is known.
I. THE BLACK WOOD-PARTRIDGE. MELANOPERDIX NIGRA.
Cryptonyx niger, Vigors, Zool. Journ. iv. p. 349 (1829) [made].
Cryptonyx ferrugineus, Vigors, Zool. Journ. iv. p. 349 (1829)
[ female].
Cryptonyx dussumiert, Less. Bélang. Voy. Ind. p. 275, pl. vii.
(1834).
Melanoperdix nigra, Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. 580 (1864); Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 228 (1893).
Adult Male-—Entire plumage uniform glossy black. Total
length, 10°5 inches; wing, 55; tail, 3:3; tarsus, 1°8.
Adult Female.—General colour above chestnut, finely mottled
w.th black, and with bars of the same colour on the scapulars ;
throat and belly whitish ; chest dark chestnut; breast and
flanks more rufous, the latter barred and mottled with black.
Range.—Southern part of the Malay Peninsula from Province
Wellesley southwards, Sumatra, and Borneo.
This species, Mr. C. Hose tells us, is “found in the low
country, and does not ascend the mountains” of the Baram
district, Sarawak.
Eggs.— Five in number ; broad ovals in shape, considerably
pointed at the smaller end; white, with the surface slightly
rough and chalky. Measurements, 1°65 by 1°3 inch.
THE QUAILS. GENUS COTURNIX.
Coturnix, Bonn. Enc. Méth. Intr. pp. lxxxvii. 216 (1790).
Type, C. coturnix (Linn.).
Tail composed of ten or twelve feathers, short, soft, and
N 2
180 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
hidden by the upper tail-coverts; less than half the length of
the wing.
First primary flight-feather about equal to the third, the
second being generally slightly the longest: in some in-
stances the first three feathers are sub-equal, or the first may
even be a trifle the longest.
Axillary feathers* long and white.
Feet without spurs. Sexes different in plumage.
This genus may be divided into two sections :
A. Outer web of the primary flight-feathers with irregular
bars and marks of buff (species 1 and 2, pp. 180-184).
Z. Outer web of the primary flight-feathers uniform brown
(species 3 to 6, pp. 185-188).
A. Outer web of the primary flightfeathers with irregular bars
and marks of buff.
I. THE MIGRATORY QUAIL. COTURNIX COTURNIX.
Tetrao coturnix, Linn. 5. N. 1. p- 278 (1766).
Perdix coturnix, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 651 (1790).
Coturnix communis, Bonn. Tabl. Encycl. Méth. i. p. 217, pl.
G6, fiz. 2 (1791); Dresser, B. Europe, vil. p. 143,.pe ene
(1878) ; Hume and Marshall, Game B. of India, ii. p. 133,
pl. (1879); et auctorum, Aassim.
Coturnix dactylisonans, 'Temm. Pig. et Gall. ili. pp. 478, 740
(1815); Gould, B. Europe, iv. pl..263 (1837).
Coturnix vulgaris, Bout. Orn. Dauphiné, p. 72, pl. 43, fig. 1
(1843).
Coturnix coturnix, Licht.; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
Xl. P= .233- (Loos):
Adult Male.—General colour above sandy-brown, with pale
buff shaft-stripes and black bars and markings; chin and
throat white, with a black anchor-shaped mark down the middle;
chest rufous-buff, with pale shafts ; rest of under-parts paler.
Total length, 6°7 inches ; wing, 4°2; tail, 1°5 ; tarsus, 1.
* The feathers under the wing, where it joins the body.
THE QUAILS. ISI
_ Adult Female.—Differs from the maZe in having no black band
down the middle of the throat, and the chest more or less
thickly spotted with brownish-black. From the female of C.
japonica it may be readily distinguished by having the feathers
on the chin and sides of the throat short and rounded.
The male described above is a typical example of C. cofur-
mix. As considerable variation is to be found in the colora-
tion of the chin and throat and their black markings, it may
be as well to give here the substance of the remarks I have
already published on this subject. ‘The Migratory Quail has
been constantly confused with two more or less resident local
forms, C. capensis, found in South Africa, &c., and C. japonica,
from Japan and China. ‘The former is probably nothing more
than a more richly coloured, rather smaller, resident local race
of C. coturnix, but the latter is a perfectly distinct and easily
characterised species. The migratory bird, wandering over an
immensely wide range, visits the countries inhabited by both
these forms, and constantly inter-breeds with them, the result
being that all sorts of intermediate forms occur. The male of
C. gaponica has the chin and throat dull brick-red, devoid of
any black markings, and the intermediate plumages between
this species and the migratory bird are most noticeable among
the save hybrids. For instance, some have the dull brick-red
throat of C. gaponzca and the black anchor-shaped mark of C.
coturnix ; others have only the upper two-thirds of the throat
dull red, and the lower third white; while, again, a third lot
have, in addition, a black band down the middle of the red
part ; and all kinds of intermediate stages between these three
examples may be found. ‘These hybrids are, so far as I know,
generally only found in Mongolia, China, and Japan, though
there is one skin among the large series in the National Collec-
tion said to have been obtained in Bootan, N. India.
The Migratory Quail also inter-breeds freely with the chest-
nut-throated form (C. cafensis) found in S. Africa and the
islands surrounding the coast, and the results are to be seen in
182 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
the many male birds from S. Africa and Southern Europe, &c.,
in which the white parts on the sides of the head and throat are
more or less suffused with the bright rufous-chestnut charac-
teristic of the resident bird.
A curious variety or semi-melanistic form of C. coturnix
occurs in Spain in the marshy neighbourhood of Valencia.
A male in the British Museum has the general colour of the
plumage black, and the fema/e has the under-parts suffused
with sooty-brown.
Range.—Africa, Europe, and Asia, except in the south-east
portion.
Habits—The migratory habits of this species are well-known
to most people, but though the great majority —countless hosts
of Quail, which may be numbered by millions rather than
thousands—shift their quarters in September and October, on
the approach of winter, and move southwards, in many places
a certain number remain and spend the winter where they have
bred. For instance, in the South of England and Ireland,
and in the countries bordering the Mediterranean, a few re-
main to winter, but the bulk of the European summer visitors
betake themselves by various lines of migration to South
Africa, from whence they return in March and April of the
following spring. Enormous numbers also winter in India,
crossing the Himalayas from Central Asia, while many arrive
in Sind and Guzerat from the west, moving southwards from
Beluchistan, Persia, and other northern latitudes.
The number of migrants varies greatly in different years, their
movements being largely, if not entirely, regulated by the food-
supply and seasonal conditions of the countries which they
visit.
One may form some idea of the vast number to be met
with in some parts of India from the following remarks by
Tickell. He says: “In such localities as have been above
noticed, Quails at times abound to such a degree that shooting
them is mere slaughter. Where birds get up at every step dogs
THE QUAILS. 183
or beaters are worse than useless, and where the game is so
plentiful, search after a wounded bird is seldom thought worth
the trouble. It is usual to be provided with two or three
guns,* to be loaded, as fast as emptied, by a servant. With
one gun only it would be necessary to wash out the barrels
two or three times in the course of the afternoon, or at all
events to wait every now and then for them to cool. A toler-
ably good shot will bag fifty to sixty brace in about three
hours, and knock down many others that are not found. I re-
member one day getting into a deyra, or island formed by
alluvial deposit, in the Ganges, between Patna (Bankipore) and
Sonepore, which was sown almost entirely over with gram
(chunna), and which literally swarmed with Quail. I do
not exaggerate when I say they were like locusts in number.
Every step that brushed the covert sent off a number of them,
so that I had to stand every now and then like a statue and
employ my arms only, and that in a stealthy manner, for the
purpose of loading and firing. A furtive scratch of the head,
or a wipe of the heated brow, dismissed a whole “ bevy” into
the next field ; and, in fact, the emdbarras de richesse was nearly
as bad as if there had been no birds at all.”
Nest.—A slight hollow in the ground, with little or no lining,
and sheltered by standing crops or grass, &c.
Eggs.— Eight to twelve in number, sometimes more are laid;
creamy-white or buff, more or less boldly blotched and spotted
with rich brown. Average measurements, 1°15 by 0°88.
SUB-SP. @. THE CAPE QUAIL. COTURNIX CAPENSIS.
Coturnix capensis, Licht. fide Gray, Handl. B. ii. p. 268
(1870); Ogilvie-Grant, Ann. Mag. N. H. (6), ix. pp. 167,
E69, 170 (1892); 1d. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. pp, 235, 237
(1893).
Adult Male—Differs from the male of typical C. cofurnix in
having the sides of the head, chin, and throat bright rufous-
* Tle refers to the days before breech-loaders came in.
184 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
chestnut, and the mantle and chest washed with the same
colour. It is also somewhat smaller. Total length, 6°3 inches ;
wine, 3°O-4 ; tail, 1:4 5 tarsus, 1:1.
Adult Female.—Very similar to the female of C. co/urnix, but
slightly smaller.
Range.—South Africa, south of about 15° S. latitude, Mau-
ritius,* Madagascar, Comoro Islands, Cape Verd Islands,
Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores.
II. JAPANESE QUAIL. COTURNIX JAPONICA.
Coturnix vulgaris gaponica, Vemm. and Schl. Faun. Jap. p.
Loge pl. Ox (1842):
Coturnix japonica, Cass. in Perry’s Exp. Jap. ii. p. 227 (1856) ;
Prjevalsky, in Rowley’s Orn. Misc. . p. 424"@o7e
Ogilvie-Grant, Ann. Mag. N. H. (6), x. pp. 167, 170, 171
(1892; with woodcut of head of female); id. Cat. B.
Brit. Mus. xxii. pp. 235, 239 (1893).
(Plate X VT.)
Adult Male-—Differs from the male of C. coturnix chiefly in
having the sides of the head, chin, and throat wzzform dull
brick-red, with no trace of the black anchor-shaped mark, and
the margins of the flank-feathers mostly rufous and much less
spotted with black. Total length, 5°7 inches; wing, 3°9 ; tail,
£2), tarsus, 1/05;
Adult Female.—Differs from the female of C. coturnix in
having the feathers of the chin and throat elongated and pointed,
especially on the sides, and generally margined with rufous ; the
chest and sides less spotted with black.
Young Males have the elongated throat-feathers as in the adu/¢
female, and the middle of the throat is suffused with dull brick-
red. As the short, rounded, brick-red feathers of the adult are
moulted, the elongated feathers disappear.
* There is a fine adult male of the typical Cape form in the National
Collection said to have come from the Mauritius, but the locality way be a
mistake, It is said that no indigenous Quail occurs there.
XV1.
PLATE
JAPANESE QUAIL.
THE QUAILS. 185
Range.— Japan, South-east Mongolia, and China as far south
as Canton. Specimens have also been obtained in Bootan,
Northern India, and Karen-nee.
Habits.—Apparently very similar to those of the Migratory
Quail.
LD. Outer web of the primary flightfeathers untform brown.
Ill. THE BLACK-BREASTED OR RAIN QUAIL. COTURNIX
COROMANDELICA,
Tetrao coromandelicus, Gmel. S. N. i. pt. ii. p. 764 (1788).
LPerdix coromandelica, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 654 (1790).
Coturnix coromandelica, Bonn. Tabl. Encycl. Méth. i. p. 221
(1791); Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 9 (1854); Hume and
Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii. p. 152, pl. (1879); Oates,
ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iii. p. 444 (1890) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 241 (1893).
Coturnix textilis, 'Temm. Pig. et Gall. iii. pp. 512, 742 (1815).
Adult Male—Like the male of C. coturnix, but the black
pattern on the throat and neck is more strongly marked, and
there is a large black patch covering the middle of the chest
and breast. ‘Total length, 5 inches ; wing, 3°5 ; tail, 1-2; tar-
Sus, [°OS.
Adult Female.—-Very like the female of C. coturnix, but easily
recognised by the absence of buff markings on the outer webs
of the flight-feathers, as well as by its smaller size.
Range.—Greater part of the Peninsula of India, and extend-
ing to Assam, Manipur, Chittagong, and Pegu ; also no doubt
to Arakan.
Habits.— Generally speaking, the Rain Quail is merely a
seasonal visitor over the greater part of its range, spending the
monsoon in the drier parts of Upper and Western India, and
the remainder of the year in the damp low-lying districts ; but
in many parts of Central India it is resident, merely shifting its
feeding-ground with the change of season,
186 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
As a straggler it may sometimes be met with in the hills at
an elevation of quite 6,000 feet, but the plains are its real
home. Between the months of April and October, Mr. Hume
says that it is habitually found in pairs, and singly during the
cold season, while just after the young are able to fly, it may be
found in coveys. The habits of this species are generally very
similar to those of the Grey Quail, but the call is quite distinct,
being a louder double (not a tri-syllabic) whistle.
According to Mr. Hume, “ Rain Quail afford just as pretty
shooting as the Common Quail when they are numerous ;
indeed, as they run less and fly rather faster, they yield per-
haps better sport ; but I have never known it possible to make
such huge bags of these as one can of the other. In Upper
India, during the winter and spring, you are pretty sure to
pick up a brace or two along with the Grey Quail (with which
they seem to associate on friendly terms) when shooting this
latter; but I never knew more than five brace killed at this
season in a day by one gun. But just when they first appear
in the Doab in June or July, according as the rains are early
or late, you may manage, by hard work, to get from twenty to
thirty brace in a day, if you have steady dogs and there is
plenty of grass about from two to three feet in height, or if,
as is the case in some districts, there are a good many fields of
the dwarf early rain millets.”
Nest.—A slight hollow without lining, or with only a few
blades of grass.
Ezgs.—Average number about nine, sometimes more, often
less. The ground-colour varies from yellowish-white to brown-
ish-buff. The markings vary greatly in different clutches. Some
are finely spotted and dotted all over with blackish or brown ;
others are heavily blotched and marked with rich brown, and
much resemble those of the Migratory Quail; but numerous
intermediate, and less heavily marked, sets are not uncommon.
Average measurements, 1°09 by 0°83 inch.
THE QUAILS. 187
IV. DELEGORGUE’S QUAIL. COTURNIX DELEGORGUEI.
Coturnix delegorguet, Deleg. Voy. Afr. Austr, ii. p. 615 (1847);
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 243 (1893).
Coturnix histrionica, Hartl. Rev. et Mag. Zool. i. p. 495
(1849) ; id. Beitr. Orn. W.-Afr. pp. 1, 38, pl. xi. (1852).
Coturnix fornasint, Bianc. Spec. Zool. Mosamb. fasc. xvi. p.
399, pl. i. fig. 2 (1850).
Coturnix crucigera, Heugl. Vog. N. O.-Afr. p. 51 (1856).
Adult Male-—Easily distinguished from the male of C. cotur-
nix by having the general colour of the under-parts chestnut,
with a large black patch in the middle of the breast. Total
length, 6°o inches wing, 3°7 ; tail, 1°3 ; tarsus, 1.
Adult Female—Distinguished from the female of C. coturnix
in having the general colour of the under-parts rufous-buff or
dull chestnut.
Range.—Africa, south of about 15° N. latitude ; recently ob-
tained at Aden.
Very little is known about this rare Quail, but its habits are
probably very similar to those of the common species.
V. THE AUSTRALIAN QUAIL. COTURNIX PECTORALIS.
eaurms. peciorals, Gould, Px ZS. 1837, p. 8; id; SynsiB
Austr. text and pl. fig. 1 (1837-8) ; North, Nests and Eggs
B. Austr. p. 289 (1889); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
XXll. p. 244 (1893).
Adult Male—Differs from the made of C. coturnix chiefly in
having the sides of the head, chin, and throat dw// brick-red
(as in C. japonica), but the feathers of the under-parts are
white with black shaft-stripes, and there is a black patch in the
middle of the chest. ‘Total length, 7 inches; wing, 4°1; tail, 1°5;
tarsus, 0°9.
Adult Female.—Differs chiefly from the female of C. coturnix
in having the feathers of the chest and breast longitudinally
barred with black near the extremity, the bars being cxéer-
rupted in the middle by a wide buff interspace.
188 <LOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Ranze.—<ustralia and Tasmania. os
Habits. This is a very common bird all over Eastern and
South-eastern Australia, as well as in Tasmania.
Gould writes: “Open grassy plains, extensive grass flats,
and the parts of the country under cultivation are situations
favourable to the habit of the birl; in its economy and mode
of life, in fact, it so closely resembles the Quail of Europe (C.
coturnix) that a description of one is equally descriptive of
the other. Its powers of flight are considerable, and when
flushed, it wings its way with arrow-like swiftness to a distant
part of the plain ; it lies well to a pointer, and has from the
first settlement of the colony always afforded considerable
amusement to the sportsman. It is an excellent bird for the
table, fully equalling in this respect its European representative.
The chief food of this species is grain, seeds, and in-
sects; the grain, as a matter of course, being only procured in
cultivated districts, and hence the name of Stubble Quail has
been given to it by the colonists of Tasmania, from the great
numbers that visit the fields after the harvest is over.”
Nest.—The slight nest of dry grass is placed in grassy flats
or under some tuft of herbage on the open plain.
Eggs.—Seven to fourteen in number, varying considerably in
markings, even in the same nest; usually with the ground-
colour yellowish-white, with markings varying from minute
freckles of umber-brown to large marbled blotches of a darker
tint. Average measurements, 1°2 by 0°94 inch.
VI. THE NEW ZEALAND QUAIL. COTURNIX NOVA-
ZEALANDIA.
Coturnix nove-zealandi@, Quoy and Gaimard, Voy. Astrul.
Zool. i. p. 242, pl..24, fig. 1 (1830); Buller, Cesk eee
Zeal. i. p. 225, pl. xxili. (1888) ; Ogilvie-Grant; GateR:
Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 245 (1893).
Adult Male—Like the male of C. fectoralis, but larger; the
general colouring of the upper-parts warmer in tone; the sides
THE QUAILS. 189
of the head, chin, and throat dr/ghter brick-colour or chestnut,
the latter with a black bar on each side; and the fore-part of
the neck is mostly black like the middle of the breast. Total
length, 7:G-inches ; wing, 4°6 ; tail, 1-8 ; tarsus, 1.
Adult Female.—Distinguished from the female of C. pectoradis
by having the black bars on the chest- and breast-feathers con-
Jiuent or very nearly so, and the black markiags on the rest of
the under-parts more numerous.
Range.— New Zealand.
This handsome species, once common in New Zealand, was
long believed to be nearly, if not quite, extinct; for in 1888 Sir
W. Buller remarked that no specimen had been heard cf for
the last twelve years. He says: “In the early days of the
colony it was excessively abundant in all the open country, and
especially on the grass-covered downs of the South Island.
The first settlers, who carried with them from the old country
their traditional love of sport, enjoyed some excellent Quail-
shooting for several years; and it is a matter of local history
that Sir D. Munro and Major Richmond, in 1848, shot as many
as forty-three brace in the course of a single day within a few
miles of what is now the city of Nelson, while a Canterbury
writer has recorded that ‘in the early days, on the plains near
Selwyn, a bag of twenty brace of Quail was not looked upon as
extraordinary sport for a day’s shooting.’ ”
“Tt may be interesting to mention, as showing the value
attaching to extinct or rapidly-expiring forms, that askin of this
bird (and that, too, a female) sent from the Canterbury Museum
to Italy fetched as much as £75.” The disappearance of this
bird is no doubt largely due to the bush fires employed in
clearing the Sheep-runs, as well as to the introduction of Dogs,
Cats, and Rats.
It has since been ascertained that a few bevies still exist on
the Kermadec Islands, but no doubt these will soon be exter-
minated for the sake of their market value.
Tgo LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Eggs.—Very similar to those of the Australian Quail ; yellow-
ish-brown or buff, thickly marked with spots and blotches of
umber. One pair of eggs in the National Collection are so
thickly spotted, that little of the ground-colour is visible, while
another pair are not nearly so heavily marked. Measurements,
about 1°3 by o’9 inch.
THE SWAMP-QUAILS. GENUS SYNG:CUS:
Synoicus, Gould, B. Austr. v. pl. 89, or pt. xii. (1843).
Type, S. australis (Temm.).
Characters as in Cofurnix, but the axillary feathers are short
and grey.
Only three small species are known.
I. THE AUSTRALIAN SWAMP-QUAIL. SYNCECUS AUSTRALIS.
Coturnix australis, Temm. Pig. et Gall. ili. pp. 474, 740
(1815).
Synoicus australis, Gould, B. Austr. v. pl. 89 (1843) ; North,
Nests and Eggs Austr. B. p. 289 (1889).
Synoicus sordidus and S. diemenensis, Gould, P. Z. S. 1847,
P- 33:
Synoicus cervinus, Gould, Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 195 (1865).
Synecus australis, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 247
(1893).
Adult Male——-The feathers of the upper-parts are reddish-
brown, with dull grey centres, the black mottlings are few and
fine, and the white shafts, so conspicuous in younger birds,
are scarcely visible. The sides of the head and throat are
dull grey. The feathers of the under-parts are buff, with grey
centres and almost devoid of black cross-bars. J somewhat
younger examples the plumage of the upper-parts is mottled
with black, and barred with rufous, the narrow w/ize shafts
of the feathers being well defined ; sides of the head and throat
pale vinaceous-white ; rest of under-parts buff, with V-shaped
black cross-bars. Total length, about 7°5 inches; wing, 3°5-4°2 ;
THE SWAMP-QUAILS. Ig!t
tail, 1°7-2°0; tarsus, o’9. This stage of plumage represents
typical S. australis (Temm.). In very old males (S. sordidus,
Gould) most of the markings on the upper- and under-parts
disappear, and there is a general tendency to uniformity of
colour in the plumage.
Adult Female——Differs from the male in having the sides of
the crown d/ack or mostly black ; the black markings on the
upper- and under-parts ch coarser; the centres of the feathers
are mot grey, and the shaft-stripes are duff and much wider than
inthe maze. From the female of S. raa/fenz, it is distinguished
by having the chest pale rufous-buff, barred all over with black.
The Australian Swamp-Quail, as will be seen from the above
list of names, was divided by Gould into four distinct species ;
but, from the large series I have examined, it is quite clear
that the characters on which he relied are merely differences
due to age and sex, and that all the forms are merely stages of
plumage of one and the same species. It must also be noted
that individuals vary, one from another, considerably in size,
even in birds from the same locality, as may be seen from the
measurements given above, though this is of very little import-
ance. ‘The changes in plumage of the upper-parts of the pre-
sent species are very similar to those found in the Painted Quail
(Excalfactoria chinensis).
Range.—South-eastern New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania.
Habits.—This species is distributed all over Australia and
Tasmania, and seems to prefer thick grassy flats and damp
spots overgrown with undergrowth in the vicinity of rivers and
water-holes. Gould says: “Its call is very similar to that of
the Common Partridge, and, like that bird, it is found in coveys
of from ten to eighteen in number, which simultaneously rise
from the ground, and pitch again within a hundred yards of
the spot whence they rose. It sits so close that it will often
admit of being nearly trodden upon before it will rise. Pointers
stand readily to it, and it offers, perhaps, better sport to the
sportsman than any other bird inhabiting Australia. Its weight
192 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
is about four ounces and three-quarters, and its flesh is deli-
cious.”
Nest.—Made of dry grass, &c., and placed on the ground
among rank grass bordering running water.
Eggs.—F rom ten to eighteen in number ; pale bluish-white,
finely dotted all over with light brown. Average measurements,
ii7z by 0°92 inch.
Il. RAALTEN’S SWAMP-QUAIL. SYNCECUS RAALTENI.
Perdix raaltenti, Mull- and Schl. Land- en Volkenk. p. 158
(1839-44).
Coturnix. raaltenit, Wallace,;-P. Z. S. 1863, p. 486.
Synecus raaltent, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 249
(1893).
Adult Male.—Differs chiefly from the most adult male of 5S.
australis in having the sides of the head, chin, throat, and rest
of under-parts rufous, with traces of dark cross-bars on the
sides and flanks. As in less mature examples of S. austra/ts,
the younger male has the white shafts of the feathers of the
upper-parts well marked, and the black bars on the under-parts
stronger and extending over the breast and belly. Total length,
4°4 inches ; wing, 3°5-3°8; tail, 1°5-1°7 ; tarsus, 0°95.
Adult Female.—Distinguished from the male by having the
upper-parts blotched and marked with black, and the shaft-
stripes wider and more distinct, while the under-parts are more
strongly barred with black. From the femade of S. australis it
differs in having the chest pale dull rufous, with the black bars
nearly obsolete.
Range.—-Islands of Timor and Ilores.
Ill. THE GREY SWAMP-QUAIL. SYNCECUS PLUMBEUS.
Synecus plumbeus, Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. (2), xiv.
p- 152 (1894).
Through the kindness of Count Salvadori, I have had the
pleasure of examining the type of this species, which appears
wo
THE PAINTED QUAILS, . £63
to be a very old male, and in general appearance resembles the
most adult males of S. australis, but differs in having the plu-
mage much greyer than that of any example of the latter species
that I have seen.
Range.—South-east New Guinea.
Pe PAINTED QUAILS. GENUS. EXCALFACTORIA,
Excalfactoria, Bonap. C. R. xlii. p. 881 (1856).
Type, £. chinensis (Linn.).
Tail composed of only ezgh¢ very short soft feathers, entirely
hidden by the upper tail-coverts and less than half the length
of the wing. The first primary flight-feather slightly shorter
than, or sub-equal to, the second and longest.
Tarsi without spurs. Sexes entirely different.
All the three species of this genus are birds of extremely
small size, and the plumage of the males is very beautiful.
I. THE COMMON PAINTED QUAIL. EXCALFACTORIA
CHINENSIS.
The Chinese Quail, Edwards, Glean. Nat. Hist. v. p. 77, pl. 247
(1758).
Tetrao chinensis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 277 (1766).
Coturnix excalfactoria, ‘Temm. Pig. et Gall. iii. pp. 516, 742
(1815).
Coturnix flavipes, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xi. p. 808 (1842).
Lxcalfactoria chinensis, Bonap.; Hume and Marshall, Game
Birds of India, ii. p. 162, pl. (1879) ; Oates, ed. Hume’s
Nests and Eggs Ind. B. ili. p. 448 (1890); Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 250 (1893).
Excalfactoria minima, Gould, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 128; id. B.
Asia, vii. pl. vii. (1867).
Coturnix catneana, Swinh. Ibis, 1865, pp. 351, 54>.
Adult Male—Upper-parts brown, mottled and blotched with
black, most of the feathers with whitish shaft-stripes, widest on
the lower back and rump; forehead, sides of the head, and
wing-coverts washed with dark slaty-blue, the latter mixed
fe) fA
194 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
with bright chestnut; chin and throat handsomely marked
with black and white; upper part of the chest, sides, and
flanks slaty-blue ; rest of the under-parts rich chestnut. Total
length, 5°2 inches; wing, 2°8; tail, 1°; tarsus, o°8.
In very old birds the shaft-stripes on the upper-parts entirely
disappear, and the whole aspect becomes darker and more
uniform; on the under-parts the chestnut gradually takes the
place of the slaty-blue colour till very little of the latter remains.
Younger Males.—The upper-parts are warmer brown, the black
markings stronger, the shaft-stripes wider, and the under-parts
are mostly slaty-blue, with only a small patch of chestnut on the
middle of the belly.
Adult Female-—Upper-parts like.those of the younger male,
but the forehead and sides of the head are rufous-buff; the
chin and throat white; and the under-parts buff, barred with
black on the chest, sides, and flanks.
Range.—Ceylon, Indian Peninsula, and the Indo-Chinese
countries ; also Formosa, Celebes, Ternate. ? Hainan.
This extremely beautiful little Quail has a very wide distribu-
tion.
The somewhat darker and more strongly marked sub-species
E. lineata, described below, is merely a southern representative
of this bird, found in many of the larger islands of the Malay
Archipelago and Australia, and it is extremely curious that we
should find the typical £. chinensis in Celebes and Ternate.
The examples collected by Mr. A. R. Wallace in the former
island were described as a distinct species (£. minima) by Gould,
and were supposed to differ from £. chinensis in being smaller,
but even this distinction, slight as it is, does not hold good, for
many examples from India and the Malay Peninsula are quite
as small.
Habits—Mr. Hume remarks: “I have always, except in the
autumn, met with this species singly or in pairs. You may at
times find a considerable number in the same patch of grass,
but they are always as independent of each other as are similar
THE PAINTED QUAILS. 195
aggregations of the Common Quail, and I totally disbelieve
Latham’s story of their going about in Sumatra in ‘ flocks of a
hundred birds,’ or in any sort of flocks or coveys except just
after the breeding-season, when the two old birds, with their
four to six young ones, do keep in a covey.
‘Open, swampy, grassy lands or meadows are their favourite
haunts, and I doubt whether they are ever found far from such.
They will, doubtless, wander into low bush-jungle, the edges
of low-standing crops, and, as Jerdon says, into patches of
grass along the sides of roads; but this is almost exclusively
when feeding in the early mornings and evenings, or when
their meadow-homes have been suddenly flooded.
“They come freely into the open when feeding, and in the
early mornings may be seen gliding along by the sides of roads
and paths, picking about and scratching here and there, taking
little notice of passengers, and either running on before them
if not pressed, or just hiding up in the nearest tuft of grass, to
emerge again as soon as the traveller has got ten or fifteen
yards beyond their hiding-place.
“Their call is a very low, soft, double-whistled note, com-
paratively rarely heard except when a pair has been separated.
Then, indeed, almost the moment the male has lit he begins
calling to his mate. They feed quite silently, and, if they have
seen and are expecting you, rise quite silently also; but both
sexes, if suddenly alarmed, and females when startled from
their nests, rise with a low, shrill, rapidly-repeated chirp, ‘ ¢c/7,
tcht, tcht”’ ‘Their flight is very fast, straight, and low, rarely
more than a foot above the tops of the grass, and is continued
for from fifty to seventy yards, affording an excellent shot.
Indeed, they fly so fast that, in places where they are abundant,
they must, I should think, afford excellent sport. Always, be
it understood, if you have small dogs to flush them ; for with-
out dogs, though you may or may not be able to start them at
once, you will certainly not succeed in putting them up a
second time.
O 2
196 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
“They feed chiefly on grass-seeds ; very little, so far as my
experience goes, on either grain or insects, though they do un-
doubtedly eat both of these. But I have always found them
in meadows, where there was but little cultivation in the
neighbourhood, and, perhaps, when they occur where millet-
fields are common, they may, as I have been told, feed equally
on these small grains. . . .
“This species is clearly monogamous. The “en sits (not
the male, as in the Bustard Quails), and the male is always to
be found near at hand; and when the young are hatched both
parents accompany the brood for at least two months after they
are able to fly.
‘“‘T have had reason to suspect that they may breed twice a
year, but the matter is still doubtful, as the different periods
at which we have found their nests may be due to differences
in the climate of the localities in which we met with them.”
Nest.—A mere depression in the ground, in a clump of coarse
grass, loosely lined with a few grass-stems.
Eges.—Five or six in number; rather broad ovals and with
some gloss; olive-brown, more or less speckled with minute
reddish-brown or purplish-grey dots. Average measurements,
0°98 by 0°76 inch.
SUB-SP. @. THE ISLAND PAINTED QUAIL. EXCALFACTORIA
LINEATA.
La Petite Caille de [Isle de Lugon, Sonnerat, Voy. N. Guin. p.
54, pl. 24 (1776).
Oriolus lineatus, Scop. Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr. i. p. 87
(1786).
Tetrao manillensis, Gmel. S. N. i. pt. ii. p. 764 (1788).
Excalfactoria chinensis, Auctorum, passim ; nec Linn.
Excalfactoria australis, Gould, Handb. B. Austr. i. p. 197
(1865).
Excalfactoria lineata, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
253 (1893).
THE PAINTED QUAILS. 197
Adult Male.—Differs from the male of £. chinensts in having
the general colour of the upper-parts much darker and more
strongly blotched with black.
Adult Female.— Distinguished from the female of E. chinensis
by having much more black on the upper-parts, while the under-
parts are darker and much more strongly barred with black.
Range.—Philippines, Palawan, Sulu Islands, Borneo, Java,
Sumatra, and Australia.
Il. THE NEW BRITAIN PAINTED QUAIL. EXCALFACTORIA
LEPIDA.
Lxcalfactoria lepida, Hartlaub, Ber. Ver. Hamb. vii. November
(1879); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 254
(1893).
Adult Male—Upper-parts darker than in typical £. chin-
ensis, and similar to those of £. dimeafa, but easily distin.
guished from both these forms by having no trace of chest-
nut on the wing-coverts, while the under-parts are entirely
slaty-blue, except the lower part of the belly and under tail-
coverts, which are chestnut. ‘Total length, 4°8 inches; wing,
Gages tall, 0-9; tarsus, 0°7.
Adult Female—We have never had the opportunity of ex-
amining the female of this species, but it is probably very
similar to that of £. /neata.
Range.—New Britain, New Ireland, and the Duke of York
Group to the East of New Guinea.
III. ADANSON’S PAINTED QUAIL, EXCALFACTORIA ADANSONI.
Coturnix adansont, Verr. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1851, p. 515;
Sharpe, ed. Layard’s Birds S. Afr. p. 606 (1884).
Excalfactoria adansonit, Bonap. ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus. xxil. p. 255 (1893).
Coturnix emint, Reichenow, J. f. O. 1892, p. 18, pl. 1, fig. 3
[male].
Adult Male.—Differs from the male of £. chinensis chiefly in
198 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
having the upper-parts blackish-brown washed with slate; the
upper tail-coverts and wing-coverts chestnut, the latter with
slate-grey shaft-stripes ; the under-parts dark slate-grey, except
the sides and flanks, which are bright chestnut. Total length,
5°2 inches; wing, 2°9-3; tail, 1°1; tarsus, o°8.
Younger Males have the middle of the back blotched with
black, but in the more adult examples these marks disappear.
Adult Female.—Very similar to the female of £. dineata, but
the wing-coverts are more strongly barred with black. The
females of this species appear to average rather larger than the
males, the wing measuring 3°1-3°2; but we have not examined
a very large series of birds.
Range.—Africa, south of about 5° north latitude.
Habits.—Adanson’s Painted Quail has a very wide distribu-
tion in Africa, being found in suitable localities over the
greater part of that vast continent.
It is rather a rare bird, and its habits appear to be very
similar to those of its eastern ally, 2. chinensts.
THE STONE PHEASANTS. 199
THE PHEASANTS, TURKEYS, AND GUINEA-FOWLS
(PHASIANIN 4).
The first flight-feather is considerably shorter than the
tenth,* the tail is shorter or longer (often much longer) than
the wing, and the sides of the head are feathered or entirely
naked. [If the first flight-feather is longer than the tenth, the
tail is a/ways considerably longer than the wing. |
The most typical form of Pheasant-wing is found in the
Argus Pheasant (Argusianus argus), where the first flight-
feather is the sforfes¢, and the tenth the Jongest.
Bie SLONE PHEASANTS, GENUS PTILOPACHYs:
FPtilopachus, Swainson, Class. B. it. p. 344 (1837).
Type, P. fuscus (Vieill.).
Tail composed of fourteen feathers, rather long and rounded
and more than three-fifths of the length of the wing.
First flight-feather somewhat shorter than the tenth; fifth
slightly the longest.
Feet without spurs in eitber sex.
A large naked space behind the eye. Sexes similar in
plumage.
Only one African species is known.
I. THE AFRICAN STONE PHEASANT. PTILOPACHYS FUSCUS.
eran jusca, Vieill. Vabl. Eneycl. Méth. 1. p. 366 (1323); id:
Galedes, ©is. i. p- 40, pl. cexit. (1825).; Jard. and) Selby,
Illustr. Orn. (new series), pl. xvi. (1837).
Feraix ventratis, Valenc. Dict. Sci. Nat. xxxviil. p. 435 (1825).
* The genus Phastanus, including the typical Pheasants, forms an ex-
ception, the first flight-feather being about equal to the eéghth ; but the
length of the tail, which is always greater than that of the wing, at once
distinguishes it as one of the Phastanzne, though, as already remarked on
p. 78, the distinction between this group and the Lerdicine is a purely
artificial one.
200 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISIORY.
Ptilopachus erythrorhynchus, Swains. B. of W. Afr. ii. p. 220
(1837).
Ptilopachys fuscus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
256 (1893).
Adult Male and Fetiale—Upper-parts brown, finely mottled
with whitish; mantle and chest mostly sienna, with a dark
shaft-band down the middle of each feather ; sides of the head
and throat dark brown, edged with white; middle of the
breast uniform baff; belly dark brown; sides and flanks chest-
nut, with irregular cross-bars of brown and white.
Male measures: Total length, 11 inches; wing, 5'2; tail,
SiO seaTSuS, «1°72.
female: Smaller ; wing, 4°7.
Range.—Africa, extending from Senegarnbia and the Gold
Coast to Kordofan, Abyssinia, and the Sik country.
Habits.—Very little has been recorded about the habits of
this curious bird, which seems to be met with chiefly on the
bare stony hillsides at a considerable elevation.
The only account I can find is that given by Heuglin,
and the substance of his remarks is as follows:—The Stone
Pheasant is a gregarious bird, living in flocks of from five to
fifteen individuals. It is only met with in rocky ground in the
neighbourhood of cliffs and precipices, always in the proximity
of running water or wells, and seems to prefer the neighbour-
hood of scrub and coarse grass. Flocks of these birds are apt
to escape notice on account of the protective colour of their
plumage, which harmonises perfectly with their surroundings,
and renders them almost invisible. In the breeding-season,
however, and throughout the rainy season, their presence is
generally betrayed by the far-reaching flute-like whistle of the
male; and in the early morning, and towards evening, one often
falls in with a covey on their way to or from the water. The
way in which these birds get over the rough stony faces of the
hills reminds one of the Chukar (Caccabis chukar), for they hop
THE STONE PHEASANTS. 201
from point to point in just the same way, helping themselves
along with their wings. If surprised, they instantly disappear
among the crevices in the rocks, and are then very difficult to
flush ; if in scrub or grass, they always prefer, if possible, to
escape by running ; but when pressed by a dog, they rise with a
whirring flight and make for thick cover, where they are in the
habit of drying their plumage after heavy rain or dew. Heuglin
often noticed a peculiar habit of these birds during the breeding-
season, from July to September, when whole flocks are wont to
repair to some particular playground, usually a small bare spot
sheltered by the bushes. The hens are more numerous than
the cocks, and the former withdraw from the scene of action
into the neighbouring cover, while the males strut round the
open space, challenging and answering the chorus from neigh-
bouring parties. Their note may be syllablised as dwz-diiz,
dui-ditt, dut-diit, dut-dili, di, which is repeated at longer or
shorter intervals.
Simultaneously the males commence dancing and showing
off, ruffling their neck-feathers, nodding their heads, flirting
their tails like a fan, and trailing their wings along the ground,
while they circle round the playground with hops and springs.
Halfgrown young, still partially in the down, were often met
with in January.
The Stone Pheasants generally roost under the shelter of
overhanging rocks. ‘Their flesh is said to be white and sweet,
and Heuglin reckoned them one of the best of African Game-
Birds.
Mr. F. J. Jackson, Captain Shelley, and Mr. T. E. Buckley,
all state that they found this species in fazrs, not in flocks;
but perhaps the birds they met with were breeding, which may
account for the difference between their observations and those
of Heuglin, given above. The preponderance of the females
over the males, combined with the curious habit indulged in
by the Stone Pheasants, of repairing to some particular spot,
where the males display their charms and pay court to the
202 ILOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
females, seems to suggest that these birds are polygamous, like
the True Pheasants; and certainly their behaviour during the
pairing-season resembles that of the Black Game and other
Grouse.
Nest.—Placed on the ground at the foot of a rock and hidden
by coarse grass and scrub.
Eggs.—Yellowish-white ; like miniature eggs of the Golden
Pheasant.
THE BAMBOO-PHEASANTS. GENUS BAMBUSICOLA.
Bambusicola, Gould, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 285.
Type, 2. thoracica (Temm.).
Tail composed of fourteen feathers, rather long and wedge-
shaped, more than three-fourths of the length of the wing.
The first flight-feather is much shorter than the tenth, and
the fifth is generally the longest.
Plumage of sexes similar. Males (and sometimes females)
have a pair of spurs.
I. FYTCH’S BAMBOO-PHEASANT. BAMBUSICOLA FYTCHII.
Bambusicola fytchu, Anderson, P. Z. S. 1871; p: 214, ploxw;
id. Zool. Res. Yun-nan, Birds, p. 673, pl. liv. (1878);
Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, ii. p. 97, pl.
(1879); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 257
(1893).
Bambusticola hopkinsout, Godwin-Austen, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 44.
Adult Male and Female.—General colour above brown ; nape
mostly chestnut; feathers of the upper-back dark chestnut
in the middle, and more or less mottled with white; wing-
coverts strongly marked with buff, dark chestnut, and black ;
quills sostly chestnut ; eyebrow-stripes, sides of the head, and
throat buff; a black band from behind the eye down the side
of the neck ; chest brown, marked with chestnut and white ;
rest of under-parts buff, with heart-shaped black spots on the
sides and flanks
THE BAMBOO-PHEASANTS. 203
Male measures: Total length, 12°3 inches; wing, 5°8; tail,
a4; tarsus, 1°.
Female: Rather smaller.
Range.—North-eastern Bengal: Garo, Khasia, and Naga Hills
in Assam ; also the hills of North Cachar, East Manipur, and
Yun-nan, and extending to South-western Sze-chuen and the
Shan States.
Habits—This Bamboo-Pheasant is a shy bird, frequenting
dense grass and rarely met with in the open, except at dawn.
When first flushed, they fly rapidly, often perching on trees,
but never rise a second time if they can avoid doing so; their
note, most often heard in spring, is, as one might expect from
their affinities, somewhat fowl-like, and very different from that
of the Tree Partridges, which are met with in similar localities.
It is, according to Mr. Damant, who had opportunities of
observing this bird in various parts of Assam, nowhere very
common, and only found in the heavy forest-jungles at heights
of not less than 2,500 feet, and most often in pairs; they are
difficult to shoot, as they will not rise till hard pressed. Mr.
Oates recently obtained specimens of this bird from the Shan
States, and also a single egg.
Eggs-—The only example we have seen is almost perfectly
oval in shape, the small end being but slightly pointed; colour
uniform pale rufous-buff. Measurements, 1°45 by 1°1 inch.
II. THE CHINESE BAMBOO-PHEASANT. BAMBUSICOLA THORACICA.
Perdix thoracica, Temm. Pig. et Gall. iii. pp. 335, 723 (1815).
Perdix sphenura, G. R. Gray, Zool. Misc. p. 2 (1844) ; id.
Fasc. B. China, pl. viil. (1871).
Arboricola bambuse, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1862, p. 259.
Bambusicola thoracica, Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 307 ; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 258 (1893).
Adult Male and Female.—-General coloration much like that of
the Common Partridge (Perdiv perdix). Above mostly olive-
brown, marked with chestnut on the back and scapulars, and
204 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
with some white and buff markings. Quills mostly blackish.
brown ; eyebrow-stripes grey; sides of the head and throat
rufous-chestnut ; chest mostly grey ; rest of under-parts buff,
with dark transverse spots on the sides and flanks ; tail
mostly chestnut.
Male: Total length, 11°8 inches; wing, 5°4; tail, 3°8; tar-
Sus, 177.
Female; Somewhat smaller ; wing, 5*2 inches.
Range.—South China, extending from Fokien to Sze-chuen
and South Shen-si.
Ill. THE FORMOSAN BAMBOO-PHEASANT. BAMBUSICOLA
SONORIVOX.
Bambusicola sonorivox, Gould, P.’Z. S. 1862, p. 285; id. B.
Asia, vi. pl. 63 (1864) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
Mull 259 (SOs).
Adult Male and Female-—General plumage like that of B. ¢ho-
racica, but richer and darker, and distinguished by having only
the chin and throat chestnut, the sides of the face being dark
grey, like the eyebrow-stripes and sides of the neck.
Male: Total length, 9°6 inches; wing, 5°1; tail, 3°5 ; tar-
Sus, I°5. :
female; Rather smaller.
Range.—lIsland of Formosa.
Habits—Swinhoe gives the following account of the For-
mosan Bamboo-Pheasant :—‘“ This and the Foochow Bamboo-
fowl (B. ¢horacica) are of very similar habits and notes. This
species is found throughout all the hills of Formosa, generally
scattered about the bush, never in coveys. It is very pugi-
listic, the males and females both singing the same loud cry,
beginning with &7//y-kil/y, and ending rapidly with £e-put-kiwaz,
which is so powerfully uttered that it may be heard at a great
distance. They are not easily flushed, lying so close to the
ground that you may walk over the spot whence the noise ap-
pears to come, and rarely put up the bird. Each pair selects
THE SPUR-FOWL. 295
its own beat, setting up frequently during the day the challenge
note, and woe betide any other Partridge that encroaches on
the forbidden ground! ‘They both set on him at once, and
buffet him without mercy till he takes to his heels. This pug-
nacious propensity often meets, as perhaps it deserves to do,
with an evil fate. The Chinese fowler listens for the chal-
lenge, and sets on the disputed hill a trap with a decoy within.
The decoy is trained, and sets up a reply. The lord and lady
of the manor rush to the spot and run recklessly into the trap
and are caught. The captures are taken to the market and
sold as cage-birds, the Chinese having a great love for the
horrible screeching cry that this bird is incessantly sending
forth. In the night this species leaves the shelter of the grass
and bush, and repairs to the branches of bamboos and other
trees to roost. It is an excellent percher, being quite at home
on a branch, in which respect it differs from the Chinese
Francolin (/rancolinus chinensis), which never perches.”
Nest.—A depression in the ground under the shelter of a
bush or tuft.
Eggs.— Numerous ; seven to twelve or more in number;
dark brownish cream-colour, much like those of the Common
Partridge (P. perdix). Measurements, 1°38 by 1°o inch.
THE SPUR-FOWL. GENUS GALLOPERDIX.
Galloperdix, Biyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xiii. pt. 2, p. 936 (1844).
Type, G. Zunulata (Valenc.).
Tail composed of fourteen feathers, fairly long and rounded,
the outer feathers being shorter than the middle pair.
The first flight-feather is much shorter than the second, which
is about equal to the tenth; the fifth and sixth are rather the
longest.
A large naked space round the eye.
Plumage of the sexes different. The feet of the male armed
with two, and sometimes with three pairs of spurs. In the
female one pair of spurs is usually developed, sometimes, b t
206 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY,
more rarely, two, though not unfrequently one or other of the
feet may have two spurs.
I. THE RED SPUR-FOWL. GALLOPERDIX SPADICEA.
La Perdrix rouge de Madagascar, Sonnerat, Voy. Ind, Orient.
ip. 109 (1752).
Tetrao spadiceus, Gmel. S. N.i. pt. il. p. 759 (1788).
Francolinus spadiceus, J. EH. Gray, Ill. Ind. Orn. ii. pl. 42, fig. 2
(1834).
Polyplectron northia, J. %. Gray, Ill. Ind. Orn. ii. pl. 43, fig. 1
(1834).
Ithaginis madagascariensis, G. R. Gray, List Brit. Mus. Gall.
p. 32 (1844).
Galloperdix spadiceus, Blyth ; Gould, B. Asia, vi. pl. 68 (1854) ;
Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, i. p. 247, pl.
(1878); Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iii.
p. 423 (1890); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
261 (1893).
Adult Male—General colour brownish-chestnut or rufous-
chestnut, most of the feathers with pale greyish-brown margins ;
crown of the head dark brown ; sides of the head and neck
greyish-brown. Total length, 14°6 inches; wing, 6°3; tail, 5°4;
tarsus, 1°7. :
Adult Female.—Differs in having the upper-parts irregularly
barred with black and buff, and the feathers of the neck and
under-parts tipped with black.
Specimens from Mt. Abu and the dryer northern parts of
this bird’s range, are paler and less strongly marked than ex-
amples from Southern India.
Range.—Peninsula of India, more especially the western parts.
Madagascar [introduced].
As Mr. Hume very ably puts it :—“ Certainly the distribution
of the Red Spur-Fowl is as yet very imperfectly understood, and
it inosculates so strangely with that of the Painted Spur-Fowl
(G. dunulata), as will be seen when I come to deal with that
THE SPUR-FOWL. 207
species, that at present I can make nothing of the question.
Both species seem to me to affect almost the same localities,
and to have exactly the same habits, to be in fact complemental
species, like the Red and Grey Jungle Fowl, or the Black and
Painted Partridges, &c., and the way in which they seem to
overlap each other’s areas of distribution by many hundreds
of miles is therefore most inexplicable. I need scarcely add
that this species is essentially Indian, and occurs nowhere out
of India.
Habits.—‘‘ The Red Spur-Fowl ranges from nearly sea-level to
an elevation at Abu, the Pulneys, and the Nilgiris of 4,000 to
5,000 feet ; indeed, on the latter it Zas been shot at over 7,500
feet. It is essentially a bird of forests and jungle, on hilly and
broken land. It is unsafe to generalise from one’s own limited
personal experience, but I have the impression that the Red
Spur-Fowl goes in more for forests and earth, and that the
Painted one more affects scrub-jungle and rocks. You rarely,
if ever, find the Red, you constantly find the Painted, Spur-
Fowl in very rocky ground.” (4. O. Hume.)
The late Mr. Davison, who was familiar with the species in
the Nilgiris, says: ‘It seems to affect by preference dense and
thorny cover in the vicinity of cultivation, but is also found
in small isolated patches of jungle or sholas, and along the
outskirts of the larger forests. It is perhaps found more
numerously on the lower portions of the northern and west-
ern slopes of the Nilgiris.
“‘Though,” as Dr. Jerdon remarks, “two or three Spur-Fowl
usually form part of a day’s bag on the Nilgiris, they are by no
means easy birds to obtain; for without dogs it is almost im-
possible to flush them, and I have often observed that, even
with dogs, they will run before these, till they come to some
dense thorny bush, when they will silently fly up out of reach,
and hide themselves in the thickest part, and once so con-
cealed, it is almost impossible to flush them without cutting
the bush to pieces. When flushed they rise with a cackle, and
208 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
fly well and strong for a couple of hundred yards. Their flight
is very like that of the ‘Kyah Partridge.’ They are usually
found in small coveys of four or five birds, and when flushed do
not rise together, but at irregular intervals, dispersing in different
directions ; they are often found in pairs, and not unfrequently
I have come across single birds.
‘They come into the open in the mornings and evenings to
feed, and wander about a good deal. Even after they have re-
tired into the shade they do not rest quietly, but wander hither
and thither under the trees, scratching about among the dead
leaves.
“A well-wooded ravine with p!enty of thorny undergrowth,
and with a stream of water in it, is always a favourite resort of
this species. .
“TI do not think that this species is in any degree migra-
tory, but no doubt, in many localities, in hot weather, when
all springs and pools dry up, the birds shift their quarters a
few miles to where water is available. With this exception,
wherever it occurs, it is, I believe, a permanent resident, and
there breeds.”
There can be little doubt that this species is monogamous,
as they are always found in pairs during the breeding-season.
Nest.—A_ slight hollow scratched in the ground and lined
sparingly with dry leaves and grass, under the shelter of more
or less dense undergrowth, generally in bamboo-thickets.
Eggs.—F our to seven in number, sometimes as many as ten;
fowl-like ; varying in colour from brownish- or pinkish-buff to
cream-colour, and devoid of markings. Average measurements,
t'67 by 1:28 inch,
II. THE PAINTED SPUR-FOWL. GALLOPERDIX LUNULATA.
Perdix lunulata, Valenc. Dict. Sci. Nat. xxxviii. p. 446
(1825).
Perdix hardwickit, J. E. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. i. pl. 52 (1830:
32).
THE SPUR-FOWL, 209
trancolinus nivosus, Delessert, Mag. de Zool. Ois. pl. 18
(1840).
Galloperdix luniulosa, Gould, B. Asia, vi. pl. 69 (1854) ; Sclater,
in Wolf’s Zool. Sketches (2), pl. 41 (1861).
Galloperdix lunulatus, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of
India, i. p. 255, pl. (1878) ; Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and
Eggs Ind. B. ili. p. 425 (1890) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B.
Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 263 (1893).
Adult Male-—Crown of the head black, with some purplish-
green gloss and spotted with white ; upper-parts chestnut, with
white black-edged spots ; rest of head, throat, and neck white,
spotted and barred with black ; under-parts buff, spotted with
black. Total length, 13°6 inches; wing, 6°2 ; tail, 4°8 ; tarsus,
oe
Adult Female-—— Crown black, with chestnut shaft-stripes ;
above dull olive-brown, most of the feathers with dusky mar-
gins; eyebrow-stripes, sides of the head, and throat mostly
chestnut ; under-parts dull brownish-ochre shading into olive-
brown ; most of the feathers with a blackish marginal spot or
band.* Total length, 12°6 inches; wing, 59; tail, 4°4; tarsus,
14.
Range.— Peninsula of India, especially the eastern portions.
Habits.—Although the Red Spur-Fowl and the present species
inhabit much the same area, on the whole the latter may be
said to be more of an eastern form, though the ranges of the
two birds constantly overlap, and in many localities both species
are met with.
Colonel Tickell writes: “In all places its skulking habits
cause it to be very seldom seen. It haunts rocky places
buried in thorny thickets, sometimes the stony jungly beds
of nalas or small rivers, but more generally the isolated granite
hills covered with dense brushwood, which are so common a
feature in Chota Nagpore. It is generally in beating those
* In some examples these black spots are absent.
210 LLOYD'S NATURAL HiSTORY
huge rocks with large bodies of men, when bear-shooting, that
the ‘Askal’ is seen, and I have sometimes observed two or
three in the air at a time, flying straight, with rapid action of
the wings, much like Jungle Fowl. They are flushed but once ;
and after alighting, run into fissures and holes amongst the
rocks, whence there is no dislodging them.”
Captain Baldwin, again, says: ‘‘ The male does not crow like
the Jungle Cock, though both sexes make a kind of clucking
noise like a true fowl. When running, these birds carry the tail
up, not like a Partridge. -I have often watched them when
hidden behind a bush or rock, waiting for the beat to approach ;
sometimes over a dozen have run past me. ‘They move very
fast, and seldom take wing till hard-pressed. ‘The flight is
swift and rarely at any great height from the ground. The
birds take a good hard blow to bring them down.”
Nest.—None ; the eggs being deposited on the bare ground
sheltered by a rock or root of a tree, and concealed by sur-
rounding tufts of grass.
Eggs.—Generally longer ovals than those of the Red Spur-
Tow], and uniform pale brownish-buff. Average measurements,
7 O2 by 1° 1inch.
Ill. THE CEYLON SPUR-FOWL. GALLOPERDIX BICALCARATA.
Perdix bicalcaratus, Pennant, Ind. Zool. p. 40, pl. vii. (1769).
Perdix zeylonensis, Gmel. S. N. i. pt. ii. p. 759 (1788).
Galloperdix bicalcarata, Layard, Ann. Mag. N. H. (2), xiv.
p. 105 (1854); Legge, Birds of Ceylon, ui: p> 74a, pn
(1880) ; Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, i.
p. 261, pl. (1878) ; Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs
Ind. B. iii. p. 426 (1890) ; Ogilvie-Grant, (Cat. Bi -Bne
Mus. xxii. p. 264 (1893).
Adult Male-—Crown of the head, neck, mantle, and sides
black, with a wide white shaft-stripe to each feather; rest of
upper-parts chestnut, with rather large white black-edged spots
on the wing-coverts; chin and throat white ; chest black, with
THE SPUR-FOWL..- 211
a large white patch on each feather ; rest of under-parts mostly
white, edged with black, varying in width, according to age.
Wotaklength, 12 inches; wing, 6°r ; tail, 4:5 ; tarsus, 2:
Adult Female.x—Crown Jd/ackish ; feathers of the forehead and
sides of the head with pale rufous centres; chin and throat
white; rest of the plumage chestnut, finely mottled with black.
otal length, 10°8 inches; wing, 5°6 ; tail, 3°38; tarsus, 19.
Range.—Ceylon.
Habits.— To Colonel Legge’s excellent work on the “ Birds
of Ceylon,” I am indebted for the following note :—‘‘ The shy
habits of this bird would prevent its being detected in most
places where it is even abundant, were it not for its noisy cries
or cackling, so well known to all who have wandered in our
Ceylon jungles. .
“Tt frequents tangled breaks, thickets in damp nalas, forest
near rivers, jungle over hillsides, and in fact any kind of cover
which will afford it entire concealment.
“Tt runs with great speed, and has a knack of noiselessly
beating a retreat at one time, while at another it ventriloquises
its exciting notes until the sportsman becomes fairly exaspe-
rated, and gives up the attempt he has made to stalk it in dis-
gust. I have more than once endeavoured to cut off its retreat,
or flush it by rushing into a little piece of jungle or detached
ccopse in which I had found it, and from which it seemed im-
possible for it to escape, but I invariably failed in the attempt
—a failure aggravated by my utter bewilderment at its un-
accountable disappearance. .
“The cock birds begin to call about six inthe morning, and
when one has fairly commenced, the curious ascending scale
of notes is taken up from one to another until the wood re-
sounds with their cries.
“They seem always to keep in small parties, which perhaps
consist of the young of the year with their parents.
“The natives in the Central Provinces snare them with horse-
P 2
212 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
hair nooses set in spots which they are observed to frequent in
the early morning.
“They do not live well in confinement, either killing them-
selves by fighting or knocking their brains out by flying up
against the top of their aviaries, and if they escape this fate,
they are liable to die of some disease.”
Nest.—None ; situation similar to that chosen by the Painted
Spur-Fowl.
Eggs.—Uniform cream-colour. Measurements, 1°42 to 1°43
by 1°12 inch.
THE PHEASANT-QUAIL. GENUS OPHRYSIA,
Ophrysia, Bonap. C. R. xlii. p. 414 (1856).
Type, O. superciliosa (Gray).
Tail composed of ¢ez feathers, rather long and wedge-shaped,
the outer pair being about two-thirds of the length of the middle
pair.
First flight-feather much shorter than the tenth ; fifth or sixth
longest.
Plumage long and soft, and quite different in the two sexes.
The feet not provided with spurs in either sex.
Only one species of this genus is known, a small bird about
the size of a Common Quail, but differing entirely from that
species and all its group in most of its structural characters.
I have no doubt that the nearest allies of this pigmy Phea-
sant—for that is really what it is—are the Blood Pheasants
(Ithagenes) which follow. The rather stout corai-red bill, dull
red feet, the long, soft, rather loose plumage, the shape of the
wing, and the rather long tail are all characteristic of the Blood
Pheasants, but not of the Quails. Unfortunately the present
species is so rare, and so few examples have ever been obtained,
that its anatomy has never been examined, but the probability
is, that its bones would teach very little, for the skeletons of all
the Quails, Partridges, and Pheasants are remarkably alike.
THE PHEASANT-QUAIL. 213
I. THE MOUNTAIN PHEASANT-QUAIL. OPHRYSIA
SUPERCILIOSA.
Rollulus superciliosus, Gray, Knowls. Menag. Aves, p. 8, pl. xvi.
(1846).
Ophrysia superciliosa, Bonap. C. R. xliii. p. 414 (1856) ; Hume
and Marshall, Game Birds of India, i. p. 105, pl. (1879) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. Xxii. p. 266 (1893).
Malacoturnix superciliosus, Blyth, P. Z.S. 1867, p- 475 ; Gould,
B. Asia, vii. pl. 8 (1868).
Malacortyx superciliaris, Blyth, Ibis, 1967, D- 313!
Adult Male.—Middle of crown and nape brownish-grey, with
black shaft-stripes ; sides of crown black ; forehead and a wide
band down each side of the crown white ; sides of the head,
chin, and throat black, with a white band on each side of the
latter ; rest of upper- and under-parts grey, the former washed
with olive-brown, and all the feathers edged with black; under
tail-coverts black, tipped and spotted with white. Total length,
9 inches; wing, 3°5 5 fail-o tarsus, i
Adult Female.—Upper-parts brown, most of the feathers with
black shaft-stripes or blotches ; a black band on each side of
the crown ; eyebrow-stripes and sides of the head vinous-grey ;
throat whitish ; under-parts similar to the back, but paler and
more tawny. ‘Total length, 8°8 inches; wing, 3'5; tail, 2°7 ;
tarsus, I.
Range.—North-western India, in the neighbourhood of
Masuri and Naini Tal.
Habits—This is still one of the least known of all the Indian
Game-Birds, the total number of specimens recorded amount-
ing to less than a dozen ; and, so faras I am aware, no addt-
tional specimens have been obtained since the one shot by
Major Carwithen near Naini Tal in 1876.
There can be little doubt that these birds are merely winter
migrants from Tibet, though some occasionally remain till the
beginning of summer. They rarely leave the cover of thick
grass-jungle and brushwood, and cannot be flushed without
0 a LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
the aid of dogs. When on the wing, their flight is slow and
heavy, and, after going a short distance, they drop again into
cover. |
Those met with were generally in coveys of from six to ten,
and found at elevations varying from: 5,000 to 7,000 feet.
When feeding on the fallen grass seeds, they utter a soft Quail-
like note, but when separated, after they have been flushed,
their call-note is a shrill whistle.
Captain Hutton says: ‘‘ During the forenoon they wander
up to feed amongst the long grass, to which they obstinately
cling, feeding on the fallen seeds, and their presence being
made known by their short Quail-like note. They will not
come out into the open ground, and in the afternoon they de-
scend into sheltered hollows amongst the grass and brush-
wood.”
It is no doubt owing to the singularly retiring habits of this
bird that so few specimens have as yet been obtained. We have
several times tried to induce friends shooting in the neighbour-
hood of Masuri to look for and collect specimens, but so far
without result, probably,as Mackinnon remarked, because these
birds are very small, and involve an immense deal of bother in
shooting, and when bagged, prove poor eating !
Nest and Eggs. —Nothing is known.
THE BLOOD PHEASANTS. GENUS ITHAGENES.
Ithaginis, Wagler, Isis, 1832, p. 1228.
Type, Z. cruentus (Hardwicke).
Tail composed of fourteen feathers, rather long, about four-
fifths of the length of the wing and slightly rounded, the outer
feathers being somewhat shorter than the middle pair.
First flight-feather much shorter than the second, which is
about equal to the tenth ; fifth rather the longest.
Bill very short and stout. A large naked patch round the eye.
Plumage long and soft. Male with a full crest, and the
feathers of the body pointed.
PLATE XVI
BLOOD-PHEASANT
THE BLOOD PHEASANTS. 215
Feet of the male armed with two or more pairs of spurs;
females devoid of these appendages or with a pair of blunt
knobs.
Plumage quite different in the two sexes.
Only three species are known.
I. THE BLOOD PHEASANT. ITHAGENES CRUENTUS.
Phastanus cruentus, Wardwicke, Tr. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 237
(1822) [male].
Phasianus gardnert, Hardwicke, Tr, Linn: Soc. XV. ps, 107
(1827) ale)
Lthagints cruentus, Wagler, Isis, 1832, p. 1228 ; Elliot, Monogr,
Phasian. ii. pl. 30 Gooe Hume and Marshall, Game
Birds of India, p. 155, pl. (1878).
Ithagenes cruentus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
268 (1893).
(Plate XVII.)
Adult Male—Crown buff or rufous-buff; upper-parts grey,
with white shaft-stripes, washed with green on the wings ; longer
median wing-coverts gveer ; upper tail-coverts widely margined
with crimson; forehead and feathers round the eye black ;
chin, throat, and cheeks cvimson ; rest of the under-parts shad-
ing into pale gveez, darkest on the sides and belly, the feathers
of the chest and breast being more or less edged with crimson.*
Under tail-coverts crimson, tipped with greenish-white. Total
length, 15°6 inches ; wing, 8°3 ; tail, 6°38; tarsus, 2°6.
Adult Female.—/vrehead, chin, and throat} rwst-colour ; back
of the head and nape slate-grey; upper-parts pale brown,
under-parts reddish-brown, all finely mottled with darker colour.
Total length, 11°5 ; wing, 7°7; tail, 5°7-; tarsus, 2°3.
Range—Higher regions of Nepal, Native Sikhim, Sikhim,
and Western Bootan ; it also extends into Tibet.
* The crimson edges are most marked in birds from Nepal, much less so,
or absent, in examples from Sikhim.
+ I have seen an example in which the chin and throat are washed with
crimson ; perhaps a barren female beginning to assume male plumage.
216 LLOYD'S NATURAL IIISTORY.
The peculiar grass-green colour characteristic of the males of
this genus is not seen in any other species of Game-Bird. The
only other bird of this Order with green plumage is the female
of the Red-Crested Wood Partridge (Ro//ulus roulroul), but in
this instance the colour is much darker.
Habits—Mr. Hume publishes the following notes by Hodg
son, which give some idea of the bird’s habits :—‘‘ This species
is common in Nepal in flocks of twenty to thirty in the same
situations as the Moonal, that is to say, in the higher forests and
in the immediate neighbourhood of the snow, even outside,
though always near, the forests.
“They greatly affect the clumps of Mountain Bamboo, and
feed about on the ground amongst these, much like domestic
fowls, turning over the leaves and grasses with their feet,
scratching about in the ground, and picking up insects, grass,
seeds, grain, and wild fruit.
“They do not eat the bulbous roots of which the Moonal
is so fond. On any alarm the whole flock utter a sharp alarm-
note (ship, ship), and scuttle away.
“Tn the winter the birds come southward a little, but never
approach the Great Valley. Numbers are caught in November
and December, and in their own haunts they are by no means
rare. Packs are often seen consisting of as many as seventy
to one hundred birds. They ascend and descend with the
snow, and are easily captured, being fearless and stupid. They
prefer somewhat inaccessible places. Their flight is short and
feemles-
Sir J. Hooker, who met with the Blood Pheasant in Eastern
Nepal and Sikhim at elevations of from 10,000 to 14,000 feet,
remarks: ‘‘ During winter it appears to burrow under or in holes
amongst the snow; for I have snared it in January in regions
thickly covered with snow, at an altitude of 12,000 feet. I
have seen the young in May. The principle food of the bird
consists of the tops of the pine and juniper in spring, and the
THE BLOOD PHEASANTS. 207
berries of the latter in autumn and winter ; its flesh has always
a very strong flavour, and is moreover uncommonly tough ; it
was, however, the only bird I obtained at those great elevations
in tolerable abundance for food, and that not very frequently.
The Bhutias say that it acquires an additional spur every
year ; certain it is that they are more numerous than in any
other bird, and that they are not alike on both legs. I could
not discover the cause of this difference; neither could I learn
if they were produced at different times. I believe that five
on one leg, and four on the other, is the greatest number I
have observed.”
Mr. W. T. Blanford adds, in his notes on the zoology of
Sikhim :—‘ All that I saw were in the pine-forests round Yeo-
matong, where they were tolerably abundant. They rarely take
flight even when fired at, but run away and often take refuge
on branches of trees. I have shot five or six out of one flock
by following them up; they usually escape uphill, and if, as
frequently takes place, the flock has been scattered, after a few
minutes they commence calling with a peculiar long cry, some-
thing like the squeal of a Kite. The only other note I heard
was a short monosyllabic note of alarm; I have heard a bird
utter this when sitting on a branch within twenty yards of
me,
“In their crops I found small fruits, leaves, seeds, and in
one instance what appeared to me to be the spore-cases of a
moss ; there were no leaves or berries of juniper, and the birds
were excellent eating. We did not notice the unpleasant
flavour mentioned by Hooker, probably because better food is
abundant at the season when we shot our birds, and they con-
sequently do not then feed upon pine or juniper.”
Nest and Eges.—Nothing definite is known of the Blood
Pheasant’s nesting habits, but the nest, loosely constructed of
grass and leaves, is said to be placed on the ground among
grass and bushes, and to contain ten to twelve eggs.
2.15 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Il. GEOFFROY’S BLOOD PHEASANT. ITHAGENES GEOFFROYI.
Ithaginis geoffroyt, Verr. Bull. Soc. d’Acclim. (2), iv. p. 706
(1867) ; Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 42 (1872) ; Elliot, Monogr,
Phas. ii. pl. 31 (1872); David and Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p.
AGT, pl. 229:(1877 ).
Ithagenes geoffroyi, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
269 (1893). |
Adult Male—Differs chiefly from the male of LZ. crwentus in
having the long crest-feathers gvey, with white shafts ; a larger
patch of green on the wing-coverts ; and the chin, throat, and
chest gvey. Total length, 17 inches ; wing, 7°7 ; tail, 6 ; tarsus,
2:0;
Adult Female.—Differs from the female of Z. cruentus in
having the forehead, sides of the head, chin, and throat dzozn-
ish; the upper- and under-parts a/vke greyish-brown, the latter
finely mottled all over with blackish-brown, Total length, 16
imches 5 wins, 771 > tail: 5: 3 tarsus, 2:5;
Range.— Higher regions of Eastern Tibet and Western Sze-
chuen, China.
Habits.— Writing of this species, Abbé David, its original dis-
coverer, says that it lives in more or less numerous flocks near
the limits of the upper forest-region, preferring the bamboo-
jungles. Ordinarily its food consists of young shoots, leaves,
and seeds, but the stomachs of three birds he killed in April,
whilst the country was still covered with snow, contained
absolutely nothing but moss. ‘These fine birds are in the
habit of perching on trees, and they are extremely sociable
by nature, and after the young are hatched, several old
pairs in company bring up their united families and form
one covey.
Nest—One found on the ground under brushwood in the
forest, at an elevation of 13,500 feet above sea-level.
Eggs.— Buff, spotted with reddish-brown. Average measure-
ments, 1°95 by 1°31 inch.
THE BLOOD PHEASANTS. 219
Ill. THE NORTHERN BLOOD PHEASANT. ITHAGENES SINENSIS.
Ithaginis sinensis, David, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5), xviii. art. 5, p. 1
(rS73), and xix, art:'9, p. 1 (1874); id. and Oustalet,
© Ois;-Chine, p. 402, pl. 114°(1877). °° |
Ithaginis geoffroyt, Prjev. (nec Verr.), Mongolia, ii. p. 122,
(1876); id. in Rowley’s Orn. Misc. ii. p. 421 (1877).
Tthagenes sinensts, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 270
(1893).
Adult Male—Differs from Z. geoffroyi in having the sides of
the crest d/ackish-brown, and the patch on the wing-coverts
rust-brown ; chin, throat, and fore-neck blackish-grey with
whitish shaft-stripes, washed on the chin with crimson. ‘Total
fencin, ©7°6 inches; wing, 8; tail, 7; tarsus, 2°5.
Adult Female—Differs from. the female of Z geoffroy? in
having the upper-parts browner, more like those of . cruentus,
but paler; the throat is a7¢y grey and the breast pale brown-
ish-buff, with scarcely a trace of dark mottlings. Total length,
16°2 inches ; wing, 7°5; tail, 5°9; tarsus, 274.
Range.—Higher regions north of the Nan-shan and Kan-su
Mountains, also the Sinling Mountains between Shen-si and
Ho-nan.
Habits.—Prjevalsky says: ‘‘ We observed this scarce species,
called by the natives ‘Sermun,’ only in the Kan-su Mountains,
where it principally inhabits the wooded districts, and also
ascends to the alpine regions. We did not obtain a single
specimen ourselves, but bought a skin from the Tanguts, who
told us that these birds, in spring, keep mostly to the edges of
forests and about the alpine bushes, and then feed on a par-
ticular kind of grass. In winter they descend to the middle
and low mountain ranges, where they form small companies,
and pass the night on trees like Crossoptilon aurttum.
“The note of the present species consists of a long, perfectly
clear, but not loud whistle.”
220 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
THE IIORNED PHEASANTS. GENUS TRAGOPAN.
Tragopan, Cuvier, Rég. Anim. éd. 2, 1. p. 479 (1829).
Type, Z. satyra (Linn.).
Tail composed of eighteen feathers, rather long and wedge-
shaped, the outer pair being about two-thirds of the length of
the middle pair.
First flight-feather shorter than the tenth and much shorter
than the second ; the fourth or fifth rather the longest.
Axillary feathers very long.
Sides of the head nearly naked or thinly feathered in the
males, completely so in the females. ‘The male has a short
crest, an elongate, fleshy, erectile horn inserted above each eye,
and a large gular flap or apron-like wattle, most prominent in
the breeding-season, and especially when the birds are excited
by passion, but scarcely visible in winter, Feet armed in the
male (rarely in the female) with a pair of short, stout spurs.
Plumage of sexes quite different.
I. THE CRIMSON HORNED PHEASANT. TRAGOPAN SATYRA.
Horned Indian Pheasant, Edwards, Nat. Hist. B. ii. pl. 116
(1750).
Meleagris satyra, Linn. S. N. i. p. 269 (1766).
Phasianus cornutus, P. L. S. Mill. Natursyst. Suppl. p. 125
(1776).
Tragopan satyrus, Cuv. Régne Anim. i. p. 479 (1829) ; Gould,
Cent. B. Himal. pl. 62 (1832); Temm. PI. Col. v. pls. 13,
14 [Nos. 543, 544] (1834); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus. xxii. p. 271 (1893).
Satyra pennanti, pl. 49, and S. Zathamt, pl. 51, J. E. Gray, IIl.
Ind. Zool. i. (1830-32), and S. wepaulensts, id. tc. il. pl.
40 (1834).
Ceriornis satyra, G. R. Gray; Gould, B. Asia, vil. pl. 49
(1868) ; Elliot, Monogr. Phas. i. pl. 22 (1872); Hume
and Marshall, Game Birds of India, i. p. 137, pl. (1878) ;
Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iii. p. 409 (1890).
|
|
THE HORNED PHEASANTS. 221
Adult Male-—Crown and sides of the head black ; sides of the
crown and longer crest-feathers, mantle, and under-parts orange-
carmine ; rest of upper-parts mostly olive-brown; all with a
rounded white spot, edged with black except on the belly,
at the end of each feather; wing-coverts edged with dark
orange-carmine ; tail black, marked with buff towards the base
of the feathers ; horns greenish-blue ; naked skin round the eye
and upper throat purplish-blue ; gular flap orange or salmon-
colour, with blue cross-bars. Total length, 26 inches; wing,
fos2,, tail, 9°5 ; tarsus, 3°3.
Adult Female—Above black, mottled with buff, rufous-buff,
and sandy, and spotted with buff cn the back and wings; chin
and throat whitish or buff; under-parts sandy-buff, finely
mottled with black and with triangular whitish or buff shaft-
spots. Total length, 19°5 inches ; wing, g ; tail, 7°1 ; tarsus, 2°9.
Range—The higher ranges of the Himalayas from Kumaon
and Western British Gurhwal, through Nepal and Sikhim to
Bootan.
Habits—-Mr. Hume gives the following excellent account :—
In the summer they are to be found at elevations of from
8,000 to 10,000 feet, always in thick cover, by preference in
patches of the slender reed-like ringal bamboo, in the neigh-
bourhood of water.
** Although always on hills near to or bordering on the snow,
they are never seen amongst it (except perhaps in winter), and
seem to shun it as much as the Blood Pheasant delights in it.
Even the Moonal will be seen high above the forest, well up
on grassy slopes, fringed with and dotted about with patches
of snow. But the Tragopan is essentially a forest bird, rarely,
if ever, wandering up towards the snow or into the open, and
though frequenting perhaps rather their outskirts than their
deeper recesses, it hardly ever voluntarily quits the shelter of
the woods and their dense undergrowth.
“Except by chance, when you may come upon a male
pled LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY.
sunning himself or preening his feathers on some projecting
rock or bare trunk of a fallen tree, these birds are never to be
seen, unless by aid of three or four good dogs, who will
speedily rouse them up, or of a trained shikari, who will call
them out by cleverly imitating their loud bleating cry.
“Tf you ever catch a passing glimpse of them, it is but for a
second ; they drop like stones from their perch and dart away.
with incredible swiftness, always running, weve, so far as I
have seen, rising, unless you accidentally almost walk on to
them, or have dogs with you.
‘To judge from those I have Sarid they feed much on
insects, young green shoots of bamboos, and on some onion-
like bulbs, but Mr. Hodgson notes that those he examined had
fed cn wild fruits, rhododendron seeds, and, in some cases,
entirely on aromatic leaves, bastard cinnamon, daphne,
cd Ce eer |
* At the end of April, and very likely earlier, the males are
heard continually calling. When one is heard calling in any
moderate-sized patch of jungle, you make for the’ nearest
adjoining cover, and work your way sufficiently near to the
outside to get a view of the intervening space. Then you
squat, and your man begins calling. Very soon he is answered,
too often by some wretch of a bird behind you, who persists in
ferretting you out, gets scent of you, and goes off with a sudden
series of alarm notes that frightens every other bird within a
mile, you never having caught the smallest glimpse of it
throughout. But if you are in luck, and all goes well, the
right bird, and the right bird only, answers, and answers nearer
and nearer, till, just as your dusky comrade, forgetting, in his
excitement, his wonted respect, pinches your leg, you see a
_head emerge for a Second from the bases of the ringal stems
- Opposite ; again and again the head comes out with more and
more of the neck turned rapidly right and left, and then out
darts the would-be combatant towards you; the gun goes off,
everything is hid for a moment in the smoke hanging on the
THE HORNED PHEASANTS. 223
damp morning air, and then—well there is no trace of the
Tragopan! I protest that this is an exact account of the only
good chance I ever had at one of these birds on the calling
‘lay.’
“Alas! ‘the merry days when we were young!’ I was
soaking wet, my legs were perfect porcupines of spear-grass
(we had crossed a low valley), and leeches innumerable were
feasting on my miserable self, but I said, and thought, that it
was splendid sport !
‘‘The most characteristic points about these Tragopans are
the fleshy horns of the males and their gular lappet, which
latter, during the breeding-season, especially when the birds
are excited by passion, extends downwards several inches, but,
during the winter, it is barely traceable.
“ The horns, too, though erected when courting, are greatly
diminished in size during the winter, and even during the
breeding-season are, except at moments of excitement, con-
cealed amongst the crest-feathers.”
Captain Beavan, writing from Sikhim, says: “The winter
months, when the underwood is not so dense as at other sea-
sons, are the only period of the year at which even the natives
can get atthem. ‘The usual plan of capture is by making a
hedge of bushes about three feet high, extending down the
sides of a hill, like the sides of a triangle, with the base open.
The sides are made to gradually converge until near the apex,
where small gaps are left, in each of which a noose is placed.
The birds are then slowly driven by men on foot walking in
line from and parallel to the base of the triangle and towards
its apex ; and the birds, continuing to run instead of resorting
to flight, dash through the openings and are caught in the
nooses. A curious fact with regard to this mode of capture is,
that the proportion of males to females is generally four or five
of the former to one of the latter.”
Speaking of this species Colonel .Tickell tells us: ‘ When
a fine cock bird shoots into the air, his inexpressibly rich
224 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
plumage, in clear relief against the snowy-white mist of the
valley far below, is a splendid sight indeed! The aim should
e quick, and the charge heavy—of No. 1 or 2—for if not
killed at once, search for a wounded bird is almost always
profitless toil ; and if it be only winged, pursuit is as vain as if
it were missed altogether. Alas! if missed, the unlucky wight
sees the kaleidoscopic vision shoot like a ruby meteor down the
dizzy depth below, across the misty valley to settle in the
woods of some far distant hill—Zheu, nunguam revisura |”
Nest.—In forests or dense patches of hill-bamboo, at eleva-
tions of from 9,000 to 12,000 feet.
Eggs.— Like large fowl’s eggs; nearly white, faintly tinged
with brownish-buff, and here and there slightly freckled with
dull lilac. Average measurements, 2°58 by 1°82 inches.
Il. THE WESTERN HORNED PHEASANT, TRAGOPAN
MELANOCEPHALUM.
Phasianus melanocephalus, J, E. Gray, in Griff. ed. Cuy. 111.
p. 29 (1829).
Satyra melanocephata, J. E. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. i. pls. 46, 48
(1830-32).
Tragopan hastingsi, Vigors, P. Z. S. 1830, p. 8; Gould, Cent.
B. Himal- pls. 63, 64, 65 (1622).
Ceriornis melanocephala, G. R. Gray, Gen. B. ili. p. 499
(1845); Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 45 (1855); Elliot, Monogr.
Phasian. i. pl. 23 (1872); Hume and Marshall, Game
Birds of India, i. p. 144, pl. (1878); Oates, ed. Hume’s
Nests and Eggs Ind. B. iii. p. 410 (1890).
Tragopan melanocephalus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B, Brit. Mus.
Xxli, p. 273 (1893).
Adult Male-—Differs chiefly from Z. sa¢yra in having a much
longer black crest, tipped with dull Indian red, and the breast
and under-parts mostly black, with a round white spot near the
extremity of each feather. Fleshy horns sky-blue ; naked skin
round eye bright red; gular flap purple in the middle, flesh-
THE HORNED PHEASANTS. Zz25
coloured or salmon on the sides, which are spotted or edged
with blue. ‘Total length, 27 inches; wing, 10°8 ; tail, g°2; tar-
Sus, 3°1.
Adult Female-——Differs from the female of 7. satyra in having
the general tone of the plumage much greyer, with very little
rufous-buff, even on the wings and under-parts.
Range.— Higher ranges of the western Himalayas from Native
Gurhwal westwards to Cashmere.
Habits—Writing from Kulu, of this species, which is com-
monly, though incorrectly, known as the “ Argus” by most
Indian sportsmen, Mr. Young remarks: ‘They keep in
companies of from two or three to ten or a dozen, not in
sompact flocks, but scattered widely over a considerable space
of forest, so that many at times get quite separated, and are
found alone. :
“The trees furnishing them with a sufficiency of food, though
the ground be covered with snow many feet in depth, the
severest storms of winter do not, speaking of the species
generally, cause them to change their locality. After a severe
fall of snow, a few occasionally leave for a time their usual
haunts, if in a very bleak quarter, or at any considerable eleva-
tion, and are found in places widely differing, as small patches
of forest on a bare exposed hillside, narrow wooded ravines,
patches of low brushwood and jungle, and anywhere where the
ground is sheltered from the sun by trees and bushes. Some-
times one is found in a similar situation in fine weather, proba-
bly driven out of its retreat by an Eagle* or Falcon; but these
are rare exceptions, and they soon again return to their regular
resorts.
“‘ At this season, except for its note of alarm when disturbed,
the Zewar is altogether mute, and is never heard of its own
accord to utter a note or call of any kind, unlike the rest of our
Pheasants, all of which occasionally crow or call at all seasons.
When alarmed, it utters a succession of wailing cries, not un-
* The Nepal Hawk-Eagle (Zimnaétus nipalensis) is an inveterate foe to
both species of Tragopan and to the Moonal.
Q Q
226 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
like those of a young lamb or kid, like the syllables “ waa, waa,
waa,” each syllable uttered slowly and distinctly at first, and
more rapidly as the bird is hard pressed or about to take
wing. ;
‘“‘Tn spring, as the snow begins to melt on the higher parts
of the hill, they leave entirely their winter resorts, and gradually
separate and spread themselves through the more remote and —
distant woods, up to the region of birch and white rhododen-
dron, and almost up to the extreme limits of forest.
“Early in April they begin to pair; and the males are then
more generally met with than at any other period; they seem
to wander about a great deal, are almost always found alone,
and often call at intervals all day long. When thus calling,
the bird is generally perched on the thick branch of a tree, or
the trunk of one which has fallen to the ground, or on a large
stone. The call is similar to the one they utter when dis-
turbed, but is much louder, and only one single note at a time,
a loud energetic “waa,” not unlike the bleating of a lost goat,
and may be heard for upwards of a mile. It is uttered at
various intervals, sometimes at every five or ten minutes for
hours together, and sometimes not more than two or three
times during the day, and most probably to invite the females
to the spot.
‘*When the business of incubation is over, each brood, with
the parent birds, keep collected together about one spot, and
lescend towards their winter resorts as the season advances ;
but the forests are so densely crowded with long weeds and grass,
that they are seldom seen till about November, when the vegeta-
tion has partially decayed and admits of aview through the wood.
“They feed chiefly on the leaves of trees and shrubs: of the
former, the box and oak are the principal ones ; of the latter,
ringal and ashrub something like privet. They also eat roots,
flowers, grubs and insects, acorns and seeds, and berries of
various kinds, but ina small proportion compared with leaves.
In confinement they will eat almost any kind of grain.
THE HORNED PHEASANTS. 227
“Though the most solitary of our Pheasants, and in their
native forests perhaps the shyest, they are the most easily
reconciled to confinement; even when caught old they soon
loose their timidity, eating readily out of the hand; and little
difficulty is experienced in rearing them.”
Nest.—-Placed on the ground, and roughly constructed of
grass, small sticks, and a few feathers.
Eggs._—Six in number (in the one nest found); long ovals,
pointed at the smaller end, with very little gloss but fine
shell ; pale buff, very finely granulated with a darker shade.
Average measurements, 2°51 by 1°7 inches.
Il]. TEMMINCK’S HORNED PHEASANT. TRAGOPAN TEMMINCKI.
Satyra temmincktt, J. E. Gray, Il. Ind. Zool. i. pl. 50 (1830-32).
Certornis temmincki, G. R. Gray, Gen. B. ili. p. 499 (1845) ;
pclater, List of Phas. p. 11, pl. 11-(1863); Gould, B. Asia,
vil. pl. 46 (1869); Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. 1. pl. 24(1872);
David and Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p. 118, pl. 112 (1877).
Tragopan temmincki, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
275 (1893).
Adult Male—Differs chiefly from the two last-mentioned
species in having the occipital crest orange-red, the upper-parts
Indian red, with pearZgrey spots edged with black, and the
under-parts dark Judian red, with a large grey spot near the
extremity of each feather. Horns blue; gular flap deep blue,
barred with red on the outer margins. ‘Total length, 25 inches ;
mine, oro ; tail, 7°8 ; tarsus, 3°2.
Adult Female—Apparently much lke that of Z° satyra, but
we have never had the opportunity of examining specimens,
except those living in the aviaries at the Zoological Gardens.
Range.—-South-western and Central China, extending from
the Mishmi Hills through Sze-chuen to Southern Shen-si and
Hoo-pih.
Habits——Abbé David tells us that this bird lives a solitary
life on the wooded mountains, seldom leaving the thick covert,
Q 2
228 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
and feeding on seeds, fruits, and leaves. Its cry is very loud,
and most nearly imitated by the syllable owa two or three times
repeated, whence its Chinese name Ouwa-oua-ky, but it is also
called Ko-ky, or Kiao-ky, meaning Horned Fowl, and Sznx-
tsion-ky, or Starred Fowl, on account of the grey spots adorn-
ing the plumage. The flesh is said to be capital eating. I
am informed that this bird is not met with under about 10,000
feet above the sea-level.
Iv. BLYTH’S HORNED PHEASANT. TRAGOPAN BLYTHI.
Ceriornis blythi, Jerd. P. As. Soc. Beng. 1870, p. 60; Sclater
P, Z.S. 1870, pp. 163,-270, pl. 15 ; Gould, B. Asiayaieee
47 (1872); Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 26 (1872);
Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, i. p. 152, pl.
(1878) ; Godwin-Austen, P. Z. 8. 1879, p. 457, pl. xxxix.
Tragopan blythit, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 276
(1893).
Adult Male— Head, neck, and chest orange-red; rest of upper-
parts like those of Z. sa¢yra, but with a very dark red patch on
each side of the white spot; sides and flanks similar; breast
and belly smoky-grey or greyish-buff. Worns azure; orbital
skin orange; gular flap brimstone, tinged with greenish-blue
at the base. Total length, 24 inches ; wing, 10:2 ; tail, 7-4;
tarsus, 3°2.
Adult Female.—Like the female of Z. satyra, but with the
upper-parts blacker and less ferruginous ; the lower-parts paler
and without ferruginous-buff. From the female of Z. me/a-
nocephalus it is distinguished by having the black and buff
marking of the upper-parts much richer and darker. We have
only seen living female examples of this species, and have had
no opportunity of examining them close at hand.
Range.—Higher ranges of North-eastern Assam, east of the
Burrail range and southwards to North-east Manipur.
Habits.——Mr. G. Damant writes of the “ Grey-bellied Trago-
pan,” as he calls it:—‘‘This bird is found on most of the
PLATE XVIII.
THE HORNED PHEASANTS, 229
high ranges in the Naga Hills, notably on the Burrail range,
near the villages of Kohima, Khenomah, and Mozemah.
“Tt is a permanent resident, and does not appear to migrate.
“It is found on the highest peaks (which attain an altitude
of 9,000 feet in the Burrail range) and probably never descends
to a lower elevation than 5,000 feet. It is said to breed in the
month of April, and to lay three or four eggs.
“ During the cold weather it is found at lower elevations
than in the rains, as it descends as the mountain springs dry up.
“Tt appears to be generally distributed, but is not very
common. ‘Two live examples, now in my possession, eat
worms and a kind of red berry very greedily. So far as I
have observed, it has only one note resembling the syllable
pal.’
“The Nagas catch these birds by laying a line of snares
across a ravine which they are known to frequent, and then,
with a large semicircle of beaters, driving the birds down to
them. They go as quietly as possible so as not to frighten the
birds sufficiently to make them take flight, as, if not much
alarmed, they prefer running.”
V. CABOT’S HORNED PHEASANT. TRAGOPAN CABOTI.
Ceriornis caboti, Gould, P. Z.S. 1857, p. 161; id. B. Asia, vii.
pl. 48 (1858) ; Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 25 (1872) ;
David and Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p. 419, pl. 111 (1877).
Ceriornis modestus, David, MS.; David and Oustalet, Ois.
Chine, p. 419 (1877).
Tragopan caboti, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 277
(1893). (Plate XVII.)
Adult Male—Upper-parts, sides, and flanks differ from those
of 7. dlythi in having each feather d/ack down the middle, with
a buff spot at the extremity and an Indian-red patch on each
side; the basal part of each feather also spotted with white ;
under-parts duff; naked sides of head and gular flap reddish-
230 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
orange, the latter marked on the sides and base with emerald-
ereen. Total length, 23 inches ; wing, 9°2 ; tail, 6°8 ; tarsus,
2°0.
Adult Female.-—We have never been able to examine a female
example except in aviaries, but it appears to resemble the female
of Z. temminckt.
Range.—South-eastern China; mountains between Fo-kien
and Kiang-si. ? Also the hills in the interior of Quang:si.
Habits-——Abbé David found this somewhat aberrant species
fairly common in the chain of mountains separating Fo-kien
from Kiang-si. It is known to the natives by the same local
names as Z. femmincki, which bird it closely resembles in its
habits, and its flesh is equally excellent for the table. Of the
many specimens he examined in October and November nota
single male was seen in female plumage, though at that season
one would expect to find the young males of the year in that
garb, and David came to the conclusion that this species
differed from all the other members of the genus in getting its
fully adult plumage at the first moult.
THE MOONAL PHEASANTS. GENUS LOPHOPHORUS.,
Lophophorus, Temm. Pig. et Gall. il. p. 355 (1813).
Type, L. refuleens (Temm.).
Tail composed of eZgh/een feathers, moderately long (shorter
than the wing) and rounded, the outer pair being somewhat
shorter than the middle pair.
The first flight-feather considerably shorter than the tenth,
the fifth slightly the longest.
Male with an elongate crest of semi-upright spade-shaped
plumes or with the top of the head (in Z. sc/azerr) covered with
curled feathers. A nearly naked space round the eye, and the
feet armed with a stout spur.
Sexes quite different in plumage ; most of the upper-parts in
the male brilliantly metallic.
THE MOONAL PHEASANTS. 231
I, THE COMMON MOONAL PHEASANT. LOPHOPHORUS
REFULGENS.
Lophophorus refulgens, Temm. Pig. et Gall. ii. p. 355 (1813),
iii. p. 673 (1815); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
p. 278 (1893).
Lophophorus tnpeyanus, Gould (zec Latham), Cent. B. Himal.
plswoo non (1632) ;.1d, B. Asia, vil. pl. 53 (1850) 7 Elliot;
Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 18 (1872) ; Hume and Marshall,
Game Birds of India, i. p. 125, pl. (1878) ; Oates, ed.
Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. ili. p. 407 (1890).
Adult Male——Top and sides of the head and crest composed
of spade-shaped feathers, metallic-green shot with purplish-
blue; back of the neck reddish copper-colour, shading into
golden-green; mantle shining golden-green; wings mostly
purplish-blue, changing to bronze-crimson ; /ower back pure
white ; under-parts black, with zo green gloss except on the
throat; tail light rufous-chestnut. ‘Total length, 26 inches ;
Wiese“ >. tall, o> tarsus, 3°2.
Adult Female——Short crest, top of the head, mantle, rump,
chest, and sides of breast black, with buff centres, mostly with
black lines on each side of the shaft, and with irregular black
bars and mottlings on the wings; lower back with more or
‘ess concentric irregular bars of black and buff; chin and
throat white ; rest of under-parts mottled with black and buff,
and generally with distinct whitish shaft-stripes; tail black,
barred with rufous. Total length, 23 inches; wing, 1o'5;
fail 7-55 tarsus, 2°6.
Range.—Llevated forests of the Himalayas, from Eastern
Afghanistan to Western Bhotan.
Every author writing since 1832 has followed Gould’s
original mistake in calling this bird Lophophorus impeyanus, a
name which, without a shadow of doubt, Latham applied to the
next species. He clearly states in his description that his bird
had the d2ck and wing-coverts zich purple, tipped with green-
232 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY.
bronze, and the under-parts glossed with green. A glance at
his figure shows that his Z. zmfeyanus was not the present
species, but the bird afterwards described as Z. chambanus by
Gol GC. “H. T. Marshall.
Habits—Mr. Hume writes: “What is essential to this species
is elevation and forest. All our Pheasants in the Himalayas
may, as Hodgson (I think) pointed out thirty or forty years
ago, be roughly divided into three classes: firstly, those of
the high mountains, to which belong the Moonal, the Snow-
Cocks, the Blood Pheasant, and the Tragopans; secondly,
those of the mid-region, the Cheer, the Koklass, and the
various Kalij Pheasants ; and thirdly, the Jungle Fowl of the
lower region.
“And you must have vegetation and forest as well as con-
siderable altitudes ; it would be vain to seek the Moonal in the
stony wildernesses of Lahoul and Spiti, or the desert steppes
of Ladakh. I have shot many Moonal in my time, and have
seen a vast number more. ‘There are few sights more striking,
where birds are concerned, than that of a grand old cock
shooting out horizontally from the hillside just below one,
glittering and flashing in the golden sunlight, a gigantic rain-
bow-tinted gem, and then dropping stone-like, with closed
wings, into the abyss below.”
From the full and excellent account of this species given by
Mr. Frederic Wilson I extract the following. He says :—
“The Moonal is found on almost every hill of any elevation,
from the first great ridge above the plains to the limits of forest,
and in the interior it is the most abundant of our Game-Birds.
When the hills near Mussooree were first visited by Europeans,
it was found to be common there, and a few may still be seen
on the same ridge eastwards from Landour.
“Tn summer, when the rank vegetation which springs up in
the forest renders it impossible to see many yards around, few
are to be met with, except near the summits of the great ridges
jutting from the snow, where morning and evening, when they
THE MOONAL PHEASANTS, 233
come out to feed, they may be seen in the open glades of the
forest and on the green slopes above. At that time no one
would imagine they were half so numerous as they really are ;
but, as the cold season approaches, and the rank grass and
herbage dies away, and they begin to collect together, the
woods seem full of them, and in some places hundreds may be
put up in a day’s walk.
“In summer, the greater number of the males, and some of
the females, ascend to near the limits of the forests where the
hills attain to a great elevation, and may often be seen on the
grassy slopes a considerable distance above these limits.
“In autumn, they all descend into the forest, frequenting
those parts where the ground is thickly covered with decayed
leaves, under which they search for grubs ; and they descend
lower and lower as winter sets in and the ground becomes
frozen or covered with snow.
“The females keep more together dan the males ; they also
descend lower down the hills, and earlier and more generally
leave the sheltered woods for exposed parts or the vicinity of
the villages on the approach of winter. Both sexes are often
found separately in considerable numbers. On the lower part
or exposed side of the hill, scores of females and young birds
may be met with, without a single old male; while higher up,
or on the sheltered side, none but males may be found. In
summer they are more separated, but do not keep in individual
pairs, several being often found together.
“Tt may be questioned whether they do pair or not in
places where they are at all numerous; if they do, it would
appear that the union is dissolved as soon as the female begins
to sit, for the male seems to pay no attention whatever to her
whilst sitting, or to the young brood when hatched, and is
seldom found with them.
“The call of the Moonal is a loud, plaintive whistle, which
is often heard in the forest at daybreak or towards evening,
and occasionally at all hours of the day.
234 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
“In severe weather numbers may be heard calling in
different quarters of the wood before they retire to roost. The
call has a rather melancholy sound, or it may be that, as the
shades of a dreary winter’s evening begin to close on the snow-
covered hills around, the cold and cheerless aspect of Nature,
with which it seems quite in unison, makes it appear so.
‘From April to the commencement of the cold season, the
Moonal, though there is nothing of cunning or artifice in its
nature, is rather wild and shy, but this gives way to the all-
taming influence of winter’s frosts and snows; and from
October it gradually becomes less and less wild, until it may
be said to be almost tame, but as it is often found in places
nearly free from underwood, and .never attempts to escape
observation by concealing itself in the grass or bushes, it is
perhaps sooner alarmed, and at a greater distance, than other
Pheasants, and may, therefore, appear to a casual observer at
all times a little wild and timid.
“Tt gets up with a loud fluttering, and a rapid succession of
shrill screeching whistles, often continued till it alights, when
it occasionally commences its ordinary loud and plaintive call
and continues it for some time.
“Tn winter, when one or two birds have been flushed, all
within hearing soon get alarmed; if they are collected together,
they get up in rapid succession ; if distantly scattered, bird
after bird slowly gets up, the shrill call of each as it rises
alarming others still farther off, till all in the immediate neigh-
bourhood have risen. In the chestnut-forests, where they
often collect in large flocks, and where there is little under-
wood, and the trees, thinly dispersed and entirely stripped of
their leaves, allow of an extensive view through the wood, I
have often stood till twenty or thirty have got up and alighted
in the surrounding trees, and have then walked up to the
different trees and fired at those I wished to procure without
alarming the rest, only those very close to the one fired at
being disturbed at each report. . . .
THE MOONAL PHEASANTS, 235
*“The females appear at all times much tamer than the
males. The latter have one peculiarity not common, in birds
of this Order: if intent on making a long flight, an old male,
after flying a short way, will often cease flapping his wings, and
soar along with a trembling vibratory motion at a considerable
height in the air, when, particularly if the sun be shining on
his brilliant plumage, he appears to great advantage, and cer-
tainly looks one of the most magnificent of the Pheasant-
tribe.
“Tn autumn the Moonal feeds chiefly on a grub or maggot
which it finds under the decayed leaves ; at other times on
roots, leaves, and young shoots of various shrubs and grasses,
acorns, and other seeds and berries. In winter it often feeds
in the wheat and barley fields, but does not touch the grain ;
roots and maggots seem to be its sole inducement for digging
amongst it. At all times and in all seasons it is very assiduous
in the operation of digging, and continues at it for hours to-
gether. In the higher forests, large open plots occur quite
free from trees or underwood, and early in the morning, or
towards evening, these may often be seen dotted over with
Moonals, all busily engaged at their favourite occupation.
‘*The Moonal roosts in the larger forest-trees, but in sum-
mer, when near or above their limits, will often roost on the
ground on some steep rocky spot. The flesh is considered by
some nearly equal to Turkey, and by others as scarcely eatable.
In autumn and winter many, particularly females and young
birds, are excellent, and scarcely to be surpassed in flavour or
delicacy by any of the tribe, while from the end of winter most
are found to be the reverse.”
Mr. Hume adds, “Once or twice late in April I have come
upon males nautching, with wings drooped, tail cocked and out-
spread, and breast almost touching the ground, shivering and
quivering spasmodically, and moving backwards and forwards
with tiny steps like Turkey-cocks, but the birds were always off be-
fore I could really study the peculiarities of their nuptial dance.”
226 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Nest.—A hollow in the ground, sheltered by some rock,
bush, or the root of a large tree; little or no lining.
Eggs.— Four or five, sometimes six, in number; oval and
pointed towards the small end ; pale whitish-buff, more or less
thickly freckled all over, except towards the ends, with reddish-
brown, Average measurements, 2°55 by 1°78 inches.
SUB-SP. @. LOPHOPHORUS MANTOUI.
Lophophorus tmpeyanus, var. mantout, Oustalet, Bull. Soc. Zool.
France, xvill. p. 19 (1893).
Adult Male.—Said to differ from the male of Z. refulgens in
having no trace of bronze-red on the neck, the interscapular
region purple, and the black under-parts slightly glossed with
green.
SUB-SP. &. LOPHOPHORUS OBSCURUS.
Lophophorus impeyanus, var. obscura, Oustalet, Bull. Soc. Zool.
France, xviii. p. 19 (1893).
Adult Male.—Said to differ from the male of Z. vefiu/gens in
having the head, crest, neck, and mantle very deep green,
shading in some lights into black, and the wing-coverts, secon-
daries, and upper tail-coverts greenish-bronze, with some purple,
black, and green reflections.
These two forms were recently founded by Dr. Oustalet on
2 couple of trade-skins obtained from a dealer who purchased
them in the London market. Nothing is known respecting
the locality they come from or any other pa:ticulars. Dr.
Oustalet assures us that the colour of the feathers cannot have
been chemically changed ; if he is correct in this statement,
these birds, especially the former, may represent some really
distinct form of which we at present know nothing, but it is
much more probable that both these examples are merely
accidental varieties picked out from among the thousands
of ordinary Moonal-skins that are annually imported into the
London market,
THE MOONAL PHEASANTS. ve |
Il. THE IMPEYAN OR CHAMBA MOONAL PHEASANT. LOPHO-
PHORUS IMPEYANUS.
Impeyan Pheasant, Latham, Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 208, pl. 114
(1787).
Phastanus tmpezanus (sic), Latham, Ind. Orn. ii. p. 632 (1790).
Phasianus curvirostris, Shaw, Mus. Lever. p. 101, pl. (1792).
Lophophorus tmpeyanus, v. Pelz. Ibis, 1873, p. 120; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 280 (1893).
Lophophorus chambanus, Marshall, Ibis, 1884, p. 421.
(Plate XIX.)
Adult Male—Differs chiefly from Z. ve/u/gens in having the
feathers of the Zower back golden-green, shading into purplish-
blue towards their extremities , upper tail-coverts chestnut, tipped
with golden-green, and the under-parts entirely glossed with
metallic golden-green. Total length, 26 inches; wing, 11°5 ;
fall O tarsus, 3.
Adult Female-— Unknown.
Range-—Chamba, N.W. Himalayas.
Remarks.—Although to Latham the credit of originally de-
scribing the male of this species undoubtedly belongs, Col.
C. H. T. Marshall may at least claim the honour of having re-
discovered this splendid bird, which had long been overlooked
owing to the unanimity with which ornithologists united Z.
impeyanus, Latham, with Z. refulgens, Temminck. Latham’s
type has unfortunately disappeared, and we have been unable
to find any trace of it, though it at one time formed part of
the collection in the Leverian Museum in London, and was
the same individual described by Shaw as Phastanus curot-
rostris. Most of this collection, which was sold by auction in
London in 1806, was purchased by the Vienna Museum, but
Latham’s type of Z. zmpeyanus is no longer to be found.
Colonel C. H. T. Marshall, who re-discovered this species,
which had been quite lost sight of since it was originally de-
scribed by Latham in 1787, writing in the “Ibis” for 1884,
238 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
remarks: “ Two years ago a Monal Pheasant was brought in to
me from the Birnota Forest (in the Chamba State, N.W. Hima-
laya), which I saw at once was very different from Z. zmpeyanus
(meaning Z. rvefulgens). Its bronzed lower back and green
breast made it easily distinguishable from any other known
species. My brother, Colonel George Marshall, R.E., who was
with me, suggested that I should describe it then, but fearing
that it might be a mere variety, I considered it best to wait
until more specimens could be procured. The following spring
Mr. A. L. Seale (to whom I have given a contract to shoot
Monal and Argus for skins in Chamba during the season) told
me that he had had three specimens of what he called ‘the
Black-backed Monal’ brought in to him from the same direc-
tion that my bird came from. On comparison I found that
they agreed exactly with mine. This being, I consider, suffh-
cient proof that it is a distinct species, I propose for it the
name of Lophophorus chambanus, after the Raja of Chamba,
in whose territories it was discovered.”
The female has not yet been discovered, but it is greatly to be
hoped that some of the many sportsmen, who go into Cash-
mere on shooting trips, will visit Chamba and secure examples
of both sexes of this rare Moonal.
Ill DE L7HUYS’S MOONAL PHEASANT. LOPHOPHORUS
L’HUYSII.
Lophophorus Chuysi, Verr. and Geoffr. St.-Hil. Bull. Soc.
Acclim. (2), i. p. 223; pl..(13866), iv. py Feo. Goa ae
Sclater, P. Z. 5S. 1868, p. 1, pl. i. ; Elliot, Monogr. Phasian.
i. pl. 19 (1872); Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 54 (1873) ; David
and Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p. 403, pl. 110(1877); Ogilvie-
Grant; Cat.’ B. Brut. Muss p. 281 (2809):
Adult Male—Like Z. vefi/gens, but differs chiefly in having
the crest purplish-bronze and composed of ordinary elongate
feathers ; lower back zw/v¢e ; the rump-feathers mefal/ic golden-
THE MOONAL PHEASANTS. 239
sreen, margined with white, and the tail bluish-green, glossed
with purplish-blue; the middle of the feathers mostly black,
irregularly spotted on each side of the shaft wth white. Total
length, 30 inches ; wing, 12°6; tail, 10°3; tarsus, 3°3.
Adult Female——Easily recognised from the female of L. reful.
gens by having the whole of the lower back pure white.
Range.—\Western Sze-chuen in West China, extending to
Eastern Koko-nor.
Habits. —-Abbé David tells us that “this splendid Moonal in-
habits the highest regions of Moupin and Eastern Koko-nor, as
well as the western frontier of Sze-chuen, where it is met with in
small flocks on the grassy slopes above the region of forest, roost-
ing in the trees at night. Its general food consists of vegetable
substances, particularly succulent roots, which it digs up with
ease by the help of its strong beak. As it searches in particular
for those of a /rti/aria commonly known as Pad-mow, the
natives callit by the name of Pae-mow-ky. In its native country
the adult male is also called Ho-than-ky (Shining Metallic-Fowl)
on account of its metallic plumage. It is a very shy bird, of ex-
tremely powerful flight, and its cry, which one hears in the early
morning and during rain, consists of three or four separate
piercing notes uttered at intervals.” From certain information
that Abbé David received, he believed that this Moonal is also
found in Yunan and in Quei-chow, and it is certain, in any case,
that it is found throughout the greater part of Eastern Tibet, but
itis everywhere rare, and it cannot be long before it completely
disappears : for the Chinese are constantly in pursuit of it, and
catch these splendid birds by means of snares for the sake of
their delicate flesh.
This bird is found at a higher altitude than any of the other
species, being met with on the rocky plateaux near the limit
of perpetual snow, at elevations of about 16,000 feet above the
sea-level. It roosts on the stunted rhododendrons or descends
to the pine-forests.
240 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
IV. SCLATER’S MOONAL PHEASANT. LOPHOPHORUS
SCLATERI.
Lophophorus sclateri, Jerdon, Ibis, 1870, p. 147, and J. As.
Soc. Beng. 1870,-p. 61 ; Sclater, P.Z. 5. 1870, p. 1625 pe
xiv.; Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 20 (1872) ; Humeand
Marshall, Game Birds of India, i. p. 136, pl. (1878) ;
Godwin-Austen, P. Z. S. 1879, p. 681, pl. li.; Ogilvie-
Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi p, 262{ aga):
Chalcophasts sclateri, Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 55 (1873).
Adult Male-——Top of the head covered with curly golden-
green feathers, changing into blue; mantle and wings mostly
steel-green, changing into purple ; lower back, rump, and upper
tail-coverts white, the two former with black shaft-stripes ;
tail chestnut, with a wide white band at the extremity, and the
basal part of the feathers black, barred and mottled with buff.
Total length, 26 inches ; wing, 11°8; tail, 8:2; tarsus, 3°r.
Adult Female.—Chiefly distinguished from those already
described by having the lower back fade ochraceous-white, finely
mottled with dark brown ; tail black, with six or seven narrow
whitish-cross bars, and tipped with the same colour.
Range.—Hills to the east and south-east of Sadiya, in the
extreme north-east of Assam.
Very few specimens have been obtained of this extremely
scarce Moonal, and most, if not all, of the known examples
have been brought down by the hill-tribes (Mishmis and
Abors) to the fair held annually at Sadiya, the most easterly
station in Assam.
THE CRESTLESS FIRE-BACKED PHEASANTS. GENUS
ACOMUS.
Acomus, Reichenb. Nat. Syst. Vog. p. xxx. (1852).
Type, A. erythrophthalmus (Raffl.).
Tail composed of fourteen feathers, rather short and laterally
compressed, or hen-like ; the third pair being somewhat longer |
than the central ones, and very much longer than the outer pair.
|
:
|
i
THE CRESTLESS FIRE-BACKED PHEASANTS. 241
First flight-feather considerably shorter than the second,
_which is about equal to the tenth ; sixth rather the longest.
No crest in either sex.
A large naked red patch on each side of the head.
Feet, in both sexes, armed witha stout pair of spurs. Female
black.*
I, THE MALAYAN CRESTLESS FIRE-BACK. ACOMUS
ERYTHROPHTHALMUS.
Phastanus erythrophthalmus, Raffles, ‘Tr. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 321
(1822).
Phastanus purpureus, J. i. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. i. pl. 42
(1830-32) [female].
Euplocamus erythrophthalmus, Sclater, in Wolf's Zool. Sketches
(2)nple34 (re61) >: oclater, List of Phasian. p. 7, pl. 8
(1863) ; Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. ii. pl. 28 (1872).
Acomus erythrophthalmus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
xxii. p. 283 (1893).
Adult Male.—General colour of plumage d/ack, glossed with
purplish and steel-blue, and finely mottled with white ; lower
back fiery bronzy-gold, shading into bronzy-red on the rump ;
sides finely mottled with white ; tail pale rufous-buff. Total
length, 20 inches; wing, 9°5 ; tail, 6°4 ; tarsus, 3.
Adult Female.—Plumage entirely black, glossed with purplish
or steel-blue. Total length, 18°5 inches ; wing, 8-4; tail, 5-4;
tarsus, 2°8.
Range.—Southern part of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.
Has been recorded from Java, but probably in error.
Habits.— Practically nothing has been recorded about the
habits of this bird, and the only examples obtained are those
snared by natives. It is only known that the Malayan Crest-
less Fire-Back frequents the dense damp forests, and we may
fairly assume that its habits are much like those of its ally the
Crested Fire-Back, described below.
* The female of 4. zvorvatlus is still unknown.
242 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
The first examples of this species were obtained in Sumatra
by Sir S. Raffles, and skins are generally to be found in collec-
tions of birds made by native collectors in the vicinity of
Malacca, where it would seem to be fairly common.
Nothing is known of the eggs or nidification of this species.
Il THE BORNEAN CRESTLESS FIRE-BACK. ACOMUS
PYRONOTUS.
Euplocomus erythrothalmus (sic), J. E. Gray (nec Raffles),
Til. Ind. Zool. ii. pl: 38, he. 1 (1334).
Alectrophasis pyronota, G. R. Gray, List Gall. Brit. Mus. p.
26 (1844).
Euplocomus pyronotus, "lliot, pees Phasian. ii. pl. 29
(1872).
Acomus pyronotus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 284
(1893).
Adult Male—Distinguished from the male of 4. erythro-
phthalmus in having the neck and mantle grey, finely mottled
with black, and with white shafts; the chest and breast black,
with white shaft-stripes. Total length, 20 inches; wing, 9°3 ;
tal. 5° 7. tarsus, 3:3.
Adult Female——Quite similar to the female of A. erythro-
phthalmus. Total length, 18°5 inches; wing, 8-4; tail, 5;
tarsus, 3°15.
Range.—Sarawak, Borneo.
Mr. C. Hose tells us that this species is a low-country bird
but is decidedly rare, and that its native name is ‘‘ Singgier.”
III. THE BLACK CRESTLESS FIRE-BACK. ACOMUS
INORNATUS.
Acomus tnornatus, Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. xiv. p.
250 (1879); id. P. Z. S. 1879, p. 651, pl. xlvili.; Buttikofer,
Notes Leyd. Mus. ix. p. 77 (1887) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B.
Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 285 (1893).
Adult Male— Much like the females of the last two species,
being entirely black, but all the feathers of the upper-parts are
THE CRESTED FIRE-BACKED PHEASANTS, 243
distinctly and sharply edged with shining dark bluish-green,
producing a scaled appearance. ‘Total length, 18°5 inches;
wing, 89; tail, 6°5 ; tarsus, 2°8.
Adult Female.— Has not yet been obtained.
Range-—Mount Singalan and the highlands of Padang,
Western Sumatra.
Remarks.—I was at first inclined to believe that the male of
this most interesting species, discovered by Dr. Beccari, had
been wrongly sexed, in spite of that naturalist’s assertions to
the contrary. This was certainly not the case, for a second un-
doubted ma/e example, perfectly similar to the type, has since
been obtained by Dr. C. Klaesi, and is now in the Leyden
Museum.
It is exceedingly remarkable that the male of this species
should so closely resemble the females of the other species, and
it will be extremely interesting to see, when the female of the
Black Crestless Fire-Back (in this case somewhat of a misnomer)
is discovered, whether it is black or reddish-brown, as Dr.
Beccari imagined. He relied on the testimony of natives and
on feathers which had been found near their traps, which be-
longed to specimens which had unfortunately been eaten by
some carnivorous animal. It seems likely that these feathers
may have belonged to females of ZLophura rufa, in which, as
we shall see below, the plumage and tail-feathers nearly answer
to the description ‘‘ reddish-brown.”
The native name for this bird is said to be Ajam merah mata.
THE CRESTED FIRE-BACKED PHEASANTS. GENUS
LOPHURA.
Lophura, Fleming, Philos. Zool. 11. p. 230 (1822).
Type, Z. rufa (Raffles).
Tail rather long, composed of sixteen feathers, laterally com-
pressed as in the Fowls ; the third pair somewhat longer than
the middle ones, and very much longer than the outer pair.
Rez
244 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
First flight-feather shorter than the second, which is about
equal to the tenth ; fifth and sixth slightly the longest.
A large naked red or blue patch on each side of the head,
and a large wattle of the same colour on each side of the throat.
Male with a full crest, composed of more or less long bare
shafts, with a bunch of plumes at the tip. Feet armed with a
pair of stout spurs (absent in the female).
I THE MALAYAN CRESTED FIRE-BACK. LOPHURA RUEFA.
Fhasianus tgnitus, Raffles (xec Shaw), Trans. Linn. Soe. xiii. p.
320 (1822) [male]; Vieillot, Tabl. Encycl. Méth. i. p. 363,
pl. 237, fig. 2 (1823).
Phasianus rufus, Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 321 (1822)
[female]. .
Euplocamus vieilloti, Gray, List Gen. B. 2nd ed. p. 77 (1841) ;
Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 15 (1852) 3 Sclater and Wolf, Zool.
Sketches (2), pl. 36 (1867); Hume and Marshall, Game
Birds of India, i. p. 213, pl. (1878).
Euplocamus ignitus, Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. ii. pl. 26 (1872).
Luplocamus sumatranus, Dubois, Bull. Ac. Belg. (2), xlvii.
p. 825 (1879).
Lophura rufa, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 286
(1893). .
Adult Male—General plumage, including the crest, back, and
under-parts, black, beautifully glossed with purplish-blue ; lower
back and rump fiery bronzy-red ; feathers of the szdes and flanks
with white (or sometimes chestnut) shaft-stripes* , middle pairs
of tail-feathers w/ztfe; naked sides of the head and wattles
bright smalt-blue; feet bright red. Total length, 27 inches,
wibg, 11°6 ; tail, £0°2 5-tarsus, 4°.
Adult Female-——General colour above chestnut, redder and
darker on the neck and finely mottled with black ; feathers of
* In some examples, especially in Sumatran birds (the Auplocamus
sumatranus, Dubois, quoted above), the shaft-stripes are rufous-buff or
chestnut instead of white, but this difference is not dependent on locality,
and is apparently of no specific importance.
THE CRESTED FIRE-BACKED PHEASANTS. 245
neck and chest chestnut, edged on the sides with white; those
of the breast and sides of the belly black, usually mottled with
chestnut and margined with white. Tail dark chestnut, naked
sides of the head and feet like those of the male, but paler.
Total length, 24 inches ; wing, 10; tail, 7°6; tarsus, 3°6.
Range.—Siam and Southern Tenasserim southwards, the
Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra.
Habits—-The late Mr. W. Davison, who is probably the only
European who ever shot this bird in a wild state, says: ‘ These
birds frequent the thick evergreen forests in small parties of
five or six ; usually there is only one male in the party, the rest
being females, but on one or two occasions I have seen two
males together ; sometimes the males are found quite alone.
I have never heard the males crow, nor do I think that they
ever do so; when alarmed, both males and females have a
peculiar sharp note, exceedingly like that of the large Black-
backed Squirrel (Scirus bicolor). ‘The males also continually
make a whirring sound with their wings, which can be very
well imitated by twirling rapidly between the hands a small
stick, in a cleft of which a piece of stiff cloth has been trans-
versely placed. I have often discovered the whereabouts of a
flock by hearing this noise. They never come into the open,
but confine themselves to the forests, feeding on berries, tender
leaves, and insects and grubs of all kinds, and they are very
fond of scratching about after the manner of domestic poultry,
and dusting themselves. When disturbed, they run rapidly
away, not in different directions, but all keeping much together ;
they rise at once before a dog, getting up with a great flutter,
but when once well on the wing, fly with a strong and rapid
flight ; they seldom alight again under a couple of hundred
yards, and usually on the ground, when they immediately start
running.
“‘Y noticed on one occasion a very curious thing. I had
stalked an Argus, and while waiting to obtain a good shot,
246 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
I heard the peculiar note, a sort of ‘chukun, chukun, followed
by the whirring noise made by the male Fire-Back, and imme-
diately after saw a fine male Fire-Back run into the open space,
and begin to chase the Argus round and round its clearing.
The Argus seemed loath to quit its own domain, and yet not
willing to fight, but at last, being hard pressed, it ran into the
jungle. The Fire-Back did not attempt to follow, but took up
a position in the middle of the clearing, and recommenced the
whirring noise with his wings, evidently as a challenge, where-
upon the Argus slowly returned, but the moment it got within
the cleared space the Fire-Back charged it, and drove it back
into the jungle, and then, as before, took up his position in the
middle of the space and repeated the challenge. The Argus
immediately returned, but only to be again driven back, and
this continued at least a dozen times, and how much longer it
would have continued I cannot say, but a movement on my
part attracting the birds’ attention, they caught sight of me,
and instantly, before I cou'd fire, disappeared into the jungle.
The Argus never made the slightest attempt to attack the Fire-
Back, but retreated at once on the slightest movement of the
latter towards it, nor did I see the Fire-Back strike the Argus
with either bill, wings, or spurs.”
Nest.—Nothing is known of the nidification.
Eggs.—An egg laid in confinement, in July, is pale brownish-
buff, like that of the Game-Fowl, but larger, with little or no
gloss, and covered with minute pores.
II. THE BORNEAN CRESTED FIRE-BACK. LOPHURA IGNITA.
Phasianus tgnitus, Shaw, Nat. Misc. ix. pl. 321 (¢ 1787).
Gallus macartneyi, Temm. Pig. et. Gall. ii. p. 273 (1813); iii.
p. 663 (1815).
Euplocomus nobilis, Sclat. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 118, pl. xvi;
Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. ii. pl. 27 (1872).
Lophura ignita, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus, xxii. p. 288
(1893).
—
THE CRESTED FIRE-BACKED PHEASAN1S. 247
Adult Male.—Differs chiefly from the male of Z. rufa in
having the lower breast and upper belly fiery bronzy-gold, and
the middle pairs of tail-feathers duff Total length, 23 inches ;
wine, ros); tail, 8:4 ; tarsus, 4°4.
Adult Female.—Differs from the female of Z. rufa in having
the ground-colour of the upper-parts darker chestnut than the
neck, and the tail d/ack. Total length, 22 inches; wing, 9°8 ;
tail-7-6.; tarsus, 3°6.
Range.—Forests of Borneo.
Habits.—This splendid Fire-Back isa bird of the low country,
but nothing further has been recorded of its habits, though
there is no reason to believe that they differ from those of its
Malayan ally Z. rufa. It is known in Sarawak by the native
name of “ Sempidan.”
NotE.—In the National Collection there is a skin of a male example of
a Lophura which was sent by Mr. J. R. Reeves from China, and has evi-
dently been in captivity, some of the flight-feathers of both wings having
been cut, and a second perfectly similar example of this bird was recently
seen living in the aviary of the late Capt. E. W. Marshall at Marlow. Mr.
D. G. Elliot is of opinion that the former specimen is a hybrid between
Lophura rufa and L. zgnita, but I cansee no reason for this conjecture, and
should not be surprised if it were to prove to bea species distinct from either
of the species mentioned, The bird in the National Collection resembles
the male of ZL. zg7z/a, but is distinguished by having the feathers down the
middle of the breast and abdomen entirely black, those on the sides mar-
gined and largely mixed with black, only the middle part of some of them
being rufous-chestnut, and the middle pair of tail-feathers white.
III. DIARD’S CRESTED FIRE-BACK. LOPHURA DIARDI.
Luplocomus diardt, Bonap. C. R. xliii. p. 415 (1856; ex
Temminck MS.).
Diardigallus prelatus, Bonap. C. R. xliti. p. 415 (1856);
Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 21 [male only] (1860).
Diardigallus fasciolatus, Blyth, J. As. Soc. Beng. xxvii. p. 280
1858).
ape prelatus, Sclater, List of Phas. p. 6, pl. 6 (1863) ;
id. and Wolf, Zool. Sketches (2), pl. 35 (1867); Elliot,
Monogr. Phasian. ii. pl. 24 (1872).
248 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Lophura diardi, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 290
(1893).
Adult Male.—Head, throat, and crest black, the latter slightly
glossed with steel-blue; neck, mantle, and chest grey, very finely
mottled with black; wing-coverts with a black white-edged
band near the extremity ; lower back buff, glossed with gold;
rump-feathers black, glossed with purplish-blue, widely margined
with dark crimson, shot with bronzy-red ; rest of under-parts
and tail, zacluding the middle pairs of feathers, black, glossed
with greenish-blue; naked skin on sides of head and wattles
ved. ‘Totallength, 24 inches; wing, 9°8; tail, 13 ; tarsus, 3°4.
Adult Female.—Differs conspicuously from the female of the
other species in having the wing-coverts and scapulars é/ack,
with wide-set buff bands; the breast and sides of the belly
chestnut ; and the rest of the under-parts brownish-black, mar-
gined with white. Total length, 21 inches; wing, 8°8; tail,
8:2; tarsus, 2°90.
Range-—Shan States, Siam, Cambodia, and Cochin China.
Hybrids between this species and the Lineated Kallij
Pheasant (Genneus linzatus) have been bred in the Zoological
Society’s Gardens, London.
Nothing is known of the habits of this splendid Fire-Back,
but it is captured and brought down from the interior to
Bangkok, whence it is imported to this country in some num-
bers, and is by no means an uncommon bird in aviaries.
THE WATTLED PHEASANTS. GENUS LOBIOPHASIS.
Lobiophasis, Sharpe, Ann. Mag. N. H. (4), xiv. p. 373 (1874).
Type, Z. du/wert, Sharpe.
Tail composed of ¢hirty-two* feathers in the male (¢ewenty-
* By far the largest number of tail-feathers found in any of the Phasv-
anide. One of the Eared-Pheasants (Crossoptilon aurttum) has twenty-
four, and the smallest number occurs in the Painted Quaiis (Z.vca/factoria),
which have only ezg’¢.
XX |
ATE
Ee
‘ce PORIE RY pith.
Toney,
:
>,
ah se Mire ‘
OP. > ee
. Ms tate
WATTLED PHEASANT.
BULWER’S
THE WATTLED PHEASANTS. . 249
eight in the female), compressed and pointed ; the middle pairs
being very much curved and more than twice as long as the
outer pairs, which have little or no web. In all the feathers,
the shaft extends considerably beyond the web, and in the
outer pairs it terminates in a sharp point.
The first flight-feather is much shorter than the second,
which is about equal to the tenth; the fifth is somewhat the
longest.
In the ma“e the head is almost entirely naked, with the ex-
ception of a few feathers down the middle of the crown, and it
is ornamented with three pairs of wattles ; a large pair, one on
each side of the head, a very large one on each side of the
throat, and a small pair at the base of the upper mandible.
The feet in the ma/e are armed with a pair of short stout
spurs.
The plumage of the sexes is quite different. Only one
species is known.
I. BULWER’S WATTLED PHEASANT. LOBIOPHASIS BULWERI.
Lobiophasis bulwert, Sharpe, Ann. Mag. N. H. (4), xiv. p. 373
(1874); Gould, B: Asia, vii. pl. 13 (1875); Sclater, P. Z. S.
1876, p. 465, pl. xliv.; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
xxii. p. 292 (1893).
Lobiophasis castaneicaudatus, Sharpe, P. Z.S. 1877, p. 94;
Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 12 (1877).
(Plate XX.)
Adult Male-——Neck and chest dark crimson ; rest of plumage
black, each feather margined with steel-blue ; wpper tatl-coverts
and tail pure white; bill horn-colour; naked skin of head
and wattles bright blue; feet and toes red. Total length, 35
inches ; wing, 10°3; tail, 18; tarsus, 3°5.
Immature Male (Z. castanetcaudatus).—Differs from the aduét
in having the top of the head, chin, and throat thickly covered
with purplish-black feathers mixed with rufous, the blue wattles
but slightly developed; the dark crimson on the neck and
250 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
chest much brighter, and the «/fer tail-coverts and tail chestnut,
and shaped like those of the female.
Adult Female—Above brownish-buff, inclining to rufous on
the wings, and all finely mottled with black ; below rufous and
similarly mottled; upper tail-coverts and tail chestnut, with
some fine black markings. Total length, 20 inches; wing, 9°4;
tail, 6:4; tarsus, 3°7.
Range.— Mountain forests of Sarawak, Northern Borneo.
The male of this magnificent Pheasant, with its curious
wattled head and many-feathered pure white tail, is strikingly
different from all the other birds of its kind. It was first
obtained by Sir Hugh Low, who gave the specimen to Gover-
nor Sir Henry Bulwer (after whom it was named), in the
mountains bordering the Lawas River in 1874, and since
that date a number of specimens have been sent to Europe,
but good skins, with perfect tail-feathers, are difficult to obtain,
and still command a high price in this country.
A few years after Dr. Sharpe described the first examples, he
received from the same locality male and female specimens,
which, in the opinion of Mr. Sclater and the late Mr. Gould,
represented a second and perfectly distinct species of Lodzo-
phasis. This male had the tail chestnut, comparatively short,
and much like that of the female of Z. du/wert. Acting
against his own better judgment, Dr. Sharpe described this
bird under the name of JZ. castanetcaudatus, but shortly after
another male example arrived, in which the chestnut tail-
feathers were being replaced by the white feathers of Z. du/zwerd,
clearly showing that the chestnut-tailed bird is merely the
immature of the white-tailed form. We are informed that the
perfect white tail is not assumed till the male is in his ¢Azrd
year, but this requires confirmation, and it appears to me more
probable that the full plumage is assumed in the second
year.
Habits.—Very little is known about the Wattled Pheasant,
THE EARED-PHEASANTS, 251
for it frequents the dense mountain forests, is extremely shy,
and very rarely seen, all the specimens obtained being caught
by means of snares.
Mr. C. Hose writes: ‘“ Bulwer’s Pheasant is only found on
the mountains, though it does not ascend very high, not
extending beyond 2,000 feet as faras I know. The actions of
this bird are entirely Fowl-like, and it is much more like a
Jungle Fowl in its ways than a Pheasant. Wolf’s picture in the
‘Birds of Asia’ gives a wrong idea of the carriage of the bird,
and I very much doubt whether it ever sits up in the way
there depicted. On the contrary, it skulks along through the
jungle, carrying its tail in a curve like a Fowl. It is often
trapped by the natives and Is essentially a ground-bird, seldom
taking flight, but preferring to run through the jungle to save
itself. I believe that it takes quite three years before the full
white tail is assumed. Native name ‘ Bagier.’”
THE EARED-PHEASANTS. GENUS CROSSOPTILON.
Crossoptilon, Hodgson, J. As. Soc. Beng. vii. p. 864 (1838).
Type, C. ¢¢betanum, Hodgson.
Tail composed of ¢zwenty to twenty-four feathers (the number
varying in the different species), large, full, and rounded, the
middle pair being twice as long as the outer pair. The
extremities of the middle pair much curved, the webs long
and decomposed.
First flight-feather shorter than the second which is equal to
the ninth or tenth; fifth or sixth somewhat the longest.
Sides of the face naked, red, and covered with small
papillee.
Plumage of sexes similar; ear-coverts much lengthened and
forming a long white tuft on each side of the head.
Feet in maze armed with short stout spurs.
252 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
I, HODGSON’S EARED-PHEASANT. CROSSOPTILON
TIBETANUM.
Phasianus (Crossoptilon) tibetanus, Hodgson, J. As. Soc. Beng.
vii. p. 864, pl. 46 (1838); id. Ind. Rev. iii.” p. 593, pL
(1839).
Crossoptilon tibetanum, Sclater, List of Phasian. p. 6, pl. 4
(1863); Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 14 (1872); David
and Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p. 407, pl. 107 (1877) ; Hume
and Marshall, Game Birds of India, i. p. 115, pl. (1878) ;
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxil. p. 293 (1893).
Crossoplilon auritum, G. R. Gray (ec Pallas), Gen. B. iii. p.
495, pl. cxxv. (1845).
Crossoptilon drouynit, Verreaux, N. Arch. Mus. Bull. iv. p. 85,
pl. iii. (1868) ; Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. 1. p. xvill. pl. 15
(1872).
Adult Male—Crown covered with short, soft, curly black
feathers ; long ear-tufts white, as in all the other species ; whole
plumage above and below pure white, shading into grey on the
longer wing- and tail-coverts; quills brownish ; tail with ¢wenty
feathers, black, glossed with dark greenish-blue and deep
purple towards the extremity.* Total length, 36 inches ; wing,
12-4; tail, 18°65 tarsus, 3°90:
Adult Female.-—Perfectly similar in plumage, but devoid of
spurs.
Range.— Mountains of Western China and Eastern Tibet.
The typical specimen described by Hodgson was brought
into Nepal by an envoy who had been to Pekin, but the
exact locality where the bird was obtained was never ascer-
tained.
Habits.—This splendid white Pheasant inhabits the pine-
forests at elevations varying from 10,000 to 12,000 feet above
* In Hodgson’s type the six outer pairs of tail-feathers have an oblong
white spot on the outer web running nearly parallel to the shaft, but these
markings are not symmetrical on the two sides, and, in all other specimens
that we have examincd, are entirely absent.
THE EARED-PHEASANTS., 253
sea-level. It is extremely sociable in its habits, and it is said
that forty or fifty may be found, roosting in company, on the
pine-trees.
Abbé David informs us that this white Cvossoptilon is only
met with in some of the wooded localities of China, on the
high mountains of Western Sze-chuen, in the neighbourhood
of Moupin and Ta-tsien-lou, where its existence is protected
by the superstitious respect of the natives. It is a very gre-
garious bird, loving to live in company with many of its
kind, even when engaged in rearing its young, and it does
not wander far from the place where it is bred. It feeds on
leaves, roots, grains, and insects. Fortunately for its safety, the
flesh of this Eared-Pheasant is but moderately good to eat, and
sportsmen prefer the smaller Pheasants (Phasianus) as game,
since they are more widely distributed and easier to procure.
Il. THE WHITE-TAILED EARED-PHEASANT. CROSSOPTILON
LEUCURUM.
Crossoptilon leucurum, Seebohm, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, No. iv.
p- xvii. (1892) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
294 (1893).
Adult Male——Distinguished from C. tbetanum by having the
greater part of the tail-feathers white, all being pure white,
with black extremities glossed with purplish-blue.
Adult Female.—Has the white on the tail-feathers less exten-
sive, and the middle and outer pairs have the inner webs grey,
while all are tipped and margined with dark grey.
Range.—Eastern Tibet; met with between the Sok Pass
and Chiamdo, also on the plateau between the Sok Pass and
Lhassa.
The typical examples of this apparently perfectly distinct
species were obtained by Captain Bower and Dr. Thorold
between the Sok Pass and Chiamdo, and similar specimens
were collected by Prince Henry of Orleans and M. Bonvalot a
few years before on the plateau between the Sok Pass and
254 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Lhassa. The latter birds are now in the Paris Museum, and
Dr. Oustalet regards them as merely varieties of C. tibetanum,
or hybrids between this species-and the slate-grey C. auritum,
Pallas, which has the greater part of the outer tail-feathers white.
We entirely agree with Mr. Seebohm in believing this con-
clusion to be a mistake, for C. auritum, we may further remark,
has the tail composed of twenty-four, o¢ twenty feathers.
It appears that the range of C. dewcurum overlaps that of C.
tibetanum in Eastern Tibet, and it may be that in this locality
the two forms interbreed, so it is just possible that Hodgson’s
type of C. tibelanum, which has some white markings on the
six outer pairs of tail-feathers (see previous footnote, p. 252)
may be a cross-bred bird of this description, but the exact
locality where it was obtained is quite uncertain.
III. THE MANCHURIAN EARED-PHEASANT. CROSSOPTILON
MANCHURICUM.
Crossoptilon auritum sive mantchuricum, Swinhoe, P. Z. S.
1862, p. 286, and 1863, p. 306.
Crossoptilon auritum, Sclater (mec Pallas), List of Phasian. p.
6, pl. 5 (1863); Milne-Edwards, N. Arch. Mus. Bull. i.
p. 12, pl. i. figs. 1 and 2 (1865); Gould, B. Asia, vii. p.
22 (1870).
Crossoptilon mantchuricum, Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 16
(1872); David and Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p. 405, pl. 106
(1877) Selater, P.-Z.15. 1879; p.-118}pls vil ieee
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. p. 294 (1893).
Adult Male.—Differs chiefly from C. “#defanum in having an
indistinct white band across the crown, the neck black, shading
into brown on the mantle, the lower back and rump dirty
white ; chest blackish-brown; rest of under-parts lighter. ‘Tail
with ¢wenty-two feathers, the basal part dirty white and the
ends brownish, glossed with rich purplish-blue. Total length,
Ao inches ; wing, 12°7; tail, 22°6; tarsus, 4°1.
Adult Female.— Differs only in having no spurs.
THE EARED-PHEASANTS, 255
v
Range.— Mountains of Manchuria and Pechi-li.
Swinhoe says: ‘This bird is called Ho-ke by the natives.
The character Ho is a peculiar one, and especially applied to
this bird from ancient times. It docs of mean Five, as Mr.
Saurin states in his account of the bird in the ‘ Proceedings of
the Zoological Society.” Ke means /ow/. The feathers of
this bird were formerly worn by Tartar warriors.”
According to Abbé David, the brown Cvossoptilon, which is
known by the name of Hoy in Pekin, is resident on some of
the wooded parts of the mountains of Pechi-li, but for some
years past it has become very rare, and it cannot be long before
it completely disappears, partly on account of the constant
persecution it is subjected to, and partly from the destruction
of the woods which form its headquarters. It is an extremely
gentle and sociable bird, living in large flocks, and subsisting
chiefly on grain, buds, leaves, roots, and insects. It seems well
adapted for domestication, the more so as it is easily fed ; but
in captivity one must provide the shade of a park and the
neighbourhood of a clear stream of water—that is, similar sur-
roundings to those it is accustomed to in its wild state.
Mr. Misselbrook writes: “‘ Hens lay from twelve to sixteen
eggs each at a setting, the time of incubation being about
twenty-eight or thirty days.” This refers, of course, to birds
in captivity.
Eggs.— Uniform pale stone-colour. Measurements, 2°3 by
1°7 inches.
IV. PALLAS’ EARED-PHEASANT. CROSSOPTILON AURITUM.
Phasianus auritus, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. ii. p. 86 (1811).
Crossoptilon auritum, Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 17 (1872) ;
Prjevalsky, in Rowley’s Orn. Misc. ii. p. 420 (1877);
David and Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p. 406, pl. 108 (1877);
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 295 (1893).
Crossoptilon cerulescens, David, MS.; Milne-Edwards, C. R.
Ix 9. 5 38°(13870),
256 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY,
Adult Male-—General colour slate-grey; an indistinct white
band bordering the black crown behind; chin and throat
white; tail composed of ¢wenty-four feathers, the six outer
pairs with the basal three-quarters white and the ends black,
glo sed with purple. Total length, 40 inches; wing, 12°4;
tail, 21; tarsus, 4.
Adult Female.
Like the #a/e, but devoid of spurs.
Range.—The mountains of Koko-nor, Kansu, and North-
western Sze-chuen, Western China.
Habits.—This Pheasant inhabits the wooded mountainous
regions, and ascends to a height of even 10,000 feet above the
sea-level. According to Prjevalsky, “it is a resident and re-
mains all the year round in certain places. Water does not
seem to be of so much necessity to this bird as it is to other
species of the present group; at least, it keeps very often to
localities in the Ala-“Shan Mountains, where not a drop of water
is to be found.
“Tn autumn and winter they congregate in small flocks,
probably in families, but very early in spring separate into pairs,
when the males at once commence to crow—z.eé., uttering at
intervals a loud disagreeable note somewhat resembling the cry
of a Peacock. This usually occurs in the morning, but occa-
sionally also during the day. . . .
“ After the breeding-season the males at once commence
moulting, and attain their fresh plumage only in October again.
Generally their feathers very soon get worn, and the birds are
in full plumage only for a short time in winter and spring.
“Tike most of the Family, these birds are fond of digging
about in the ground in search of roots; and it appears that
they chiefly feed upon plants.”
Eggs.—Vary from five to seven; smooth, pale olive-grey in
colour, without any spots, and much like those of the Common
Fowl. Measurements, 2°16 by 1°6-1'63 inches.
THE EARED-PHEASANTS, 257
V. HARMAN’S EARED-PHEASANT, CROSSOPTILON HARMANI.
Crossoptilon harmant, Elwes, Ibis, 188t, p. 390;, ple xnit.
Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 296 (1893).
Adult Male.—Like C. auritum, but distinguished by having a
wide and well-marked white band bordering the back of the head
between the ear-coverts, and no white on the basal part of the
outer tail-feathers. The full number of tail-feathers is probably
twenty-four, as in C. auritum, for though the unique type-
specimen, which is in bad condition, has only nineteen feathers
remaining, the two middle pairs appear to be entirely wanting,
as well as one on the left side.
Range.— Tibet, 150 miles east of Lhassa.
Remarks.— Mr. H. J. Elwes says: “ For this fine species I am
indebted to Lieut. Harman, R.E., who has displayed himself as
a surveyor and explorer of the Eastern Himalayas, especially in
Sikhim, where he has been employed for some years. When at
Darjeeling in December last, I saw the skin of what I at once
recognised as a new Cvossoptifon hanging on the wall of his
room. Unfortunately it had never been properly preserved,
and was in such a terribly moth-eaten state that the remains,
which he kindly presented to me, and which are now in the
British Museum, are hardly worth preserving. They have,
however, proved sufficient for Mr. Keulemans to make a very
accurate drawing, the only fault of which is that the ear-coverts
do not seem in the specimen to be so strongly developed as in
the figure.
“The skin was brought to Mr. Harman by one of his rative
surveyors, who said that he had procured it 150 miles east of
Lhassa, at an elevation of about 6,000 feet, where it was found
in flocks during winter. This part of Thibet has never been
visited by any European, or by any of the late Mr. Mandelli’s
native hunters, and having, as reported, a much milder climate
and more luxuriant vegetation than the western parts of Thibet,
9 s
258 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY,
may be expected to produce a number of remarkable and, as
yet, unknown species.”
THE KALIJ PHEASANTS. GENUS GENNZUS.
Genneus, Wagler, Isis, 1832, p. 1223.
Type, G. nycthemerus (Linn.).
Tail composed of szv¢eex feathers, long, laterally compressed
(like that of the Game-Cock) ; the middle pair somewhat, or
considerably, longer than the second pair, and at least three
times the length of the outer pair in the maze.
First flight-feather considerably shorter than the second,
which is equal to the ninth or tenth ; fifth or sixth somewhat
the longest.
Sides of the head naked. Plumage of sexes quite different.
Male with a long hairy crest and armed with a pair of stout,
fairly long, spurs.
I. THE WHITE-CRESTED KALIJ PHEASANT. GENNAUS
ALBOCRISTATUS.
Phasianus albocristatus, Vig. P. Z. S. 1830, p. 9, and 1832, p. 16;
Gould, Cent. B. Himal. pls. 66, 67 (1832).
Phasianus hamiltoni, J. E. Gray, Il. Ind. Zool. i. pl. 41
(1830-32).
Euplocamus albocristatus, Eliot, Monogr. Phasian, ii. pl. 18
(1872); Hume and Marshall, Gime Birds of India, i. p.
177, pl. (1878); Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind.
Biiit. p.-403-(13800).
Gallophasis albocristatus, Mitch. P. Z. 5S. 1858, p. 544, pl. 148,
fig. 1, and pl. 149, fig. 3.
Genneus albocristatus, Wagler; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus. xxii. p. 298 (1893).
Adult Male.—A long crest of hairy w/z¢e feathers ; rest of the
upper-parts and throat black, glossed with purplish and steel-
blue; the mantle and upper tail-coverts narrowly bordered
THE KALIJ PHEASANTS. 259
with dirty white, and the lower back and rump more widely
margined with pure white; fore-neck and chest dirty white,
shading into whitish-brown on the rest of the under-parts, all
the feathers of which are long and pointed. Total length,
eGeiiches ; wint, 9°23; tail, 11; tarsus, 3.
Adult Female—A long brownish-grey hairy crest; general
colour of the rest of the plumage reddish-brown, brighter on the
rump and under-parts; the upper-parts finely mottled with
black and edged with grey, the wing-coverts and under-parts
with white; under-parts with zw/z~e shafts, never pale shaft-
stripes ; throat and middle of belly dirty white; outer tail-
feathers black. ‘Total length, 22°5 inches; wing, 8°8; tail, 8°8;
tarsus, 2°5.
Range.— The lower and middle ranges of the Western Hima-
layas, from Hazara to Nepal and Western Kumaon.
Habits.—According to Mr. Hume the White-crested Kalij
is found “throughout the fairly wooded lower and middle
ranges of the Himalayas, from Kumaun to Hazara, here
sparingly, there abundantly, according to season and a variety
of other more or less potential influences.”
The late Mr. Frederic Wilson says: ‘This well-known
Kalij is most abundant in the lower regions; it is common in
the Dhtin at the foot of the hills, in all the lower valleys, and
everywhere to an elevation of about 8,000 feet: from this it
becomes more rare, though a few are found still higher.
‘In the lower regions it is found in every description of
forest, from the foot to the summit of the hills ; but it is most
‘partial to low coppice and jungle, and wooded ravines or
hollows. In the interior it frequents the scattered jungle at the
borders of the dense forests, thickets near old deserted patches
of cultivation, old cowsheds and the like, coppices near vil-
lages and roads, and, in fact, forests and jungle of every kind,
except the distant and remoter woods, in which it is seldom
found. The presence of man, or some trace that he has once
5 2
260 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
been a dweller in the spot, seems, as it were, necessary to its
existenGe: ). «) s
“Their call is a loud whistling chuckle or chirrup ; it may
occasionally be heard from the midst of some thicket or coppice
at any hour of the day, but is not of very frequent occurrence.
It is generally uttered when the bird rises, and, if it flies into
a tree near, is often continued some time. When flushed bya
cat or asmall animal, this chuckling is always loud and earnest.
The Kalij is very pugnacious, and the males have frequent
battles. On one occasion I had shot a male, which lay flutter-
ing on the ground in its death struggles, when another rushed
out of the jungle and attacked it with the greatest fury, though
I was standing reloading the gun close by. ‘The male often
makes a singular drumming noise with its wings, not unlike the
sound produced by shaking in the air a stiff piece of cloth. It
is heard only in the pairing-season ; but whether to attract the
attention of the females or in defiance of his fellows, I cannot
say, as I have never seen the bird in the act, though often led
to the spot where they were by the sound.”
Mr. Hume remarks, however, “This is certainly not to
attract the females, but solely as a defiance. If you peg outa
tame male of the allied Vermicellated Pheasant in the breeding-
season, as is commonly done in Burma, surrounding him with
snares, and then set your male drumming, by imitating the —
sound with a piece of stiff cloth, male after male replies, rushes
in at your bird and gets caught in the snares, but no female
ever puts in an appearance, or is ever thus snared.”
According to Mr. Wilson, the species feeds on roots, grubs,
insects, seeds and berries, and the leaves and shoots of shrubs,
The following remarks of Captain J. H. Ballwin are worth
quoting. He says: “I have flushed this Pheasant and the |
common Red Jungle Fowl] from the same description of cover
at the foot of the hills. The call of the bird, which may be
heard at all times of the day, is a sharp Zzow?, fewer, twut, some-
times very low, with a long pause betwecn each note, then |
THE KALI] PHEASANTS. 261
suddenly increasing loudly and excitedly. Generally speaking,
when uttering this cry, which at times might be mistaken by
anyone unacquainted with it, for that of some small bird, the
Kalij is alarmed by a prowling Marten or Hawk hovering over-
head, perhaps a dog, but still oftener it is heard when a pair
of cocks are about to engage in mortal combat.
“‘ Not unfrequently a cunning old cock, instead of taking wing
at once when the dog is close upon him, has a provoking
habit, most irritating to both dog and master, of flying up into
a tree, making a prodigious clucking the while, and at the same
- time taking a look round to see if the coast is clear. The bird
in this manner often observes where the gun is posted, and then
takes wing in a safe direction.
“The Kalij Pheasant, when alarmed, will generally fly down
the Xzad, and will often take along the side of the hill.
Though it will zz, yet it will hardly ever 7#y up hill. Its
speed when well on the wing is amazing, greater frequently, I
am certain, that any rocketer out of an English cover. When
not bullied by the hill-men, they will come close up to the
backs of villages, especially if there are fields of corn at hand.
I have shot them out of standing crops when the fields are situ-
ated near the jungle.”
Referring to the whirring sound they make most commonly,
but not exclusively, in the breeding-season, he says:
“We had been sitting motionless for, I suppose, half an hour,
when I was startled, all of a sudden, by the loud drumming
noise I have already described, close at hand. The sound
came from behind, and on looking over my shoulder, my
companion with a smile pointed out the drummer. An old
cock Kalij was squatting on the stump of a fallen tree, and with
its feathers all ruffled and tail spread, was causing this extra-
ordinary sound by rapidly beating its wings against its body.”
Nest.—Generally placed on the ground under a rock or bush
and composed of a few dead leaves and grass.
262 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Eggs.— Usually eight in number; varying in colour from
creamy-white to 1reddish-buff, the shell glossy and finely pitted
with minute pores. Average measurements, 1°94 by 1°44 inch.
II. NEPAL KALIJ PHEASANT. GENNAZUS LEUCOMELANUS.
Phasianus leucomelanos, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 633 (1790).
Leuplocamus leucomelanus, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of
India, 1. p. 185, pl. (1878).
Gallophasis leucomelanus, Scully, Str. F. vit. p. 345 (1879).
Genneus leucomelanus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
Pp. 300 (1893).
Adult Male-—Like the male of G. albocristatus, but the crest is
black, and the terminal bars to the feathers of the rump and
upper tail-coverts are usually narrower. Also rather smaller in
size.
Adult Female—Like the female of G. a/bocristatus, but rather
darker, especially on the under-parts, which are dark reddish-
brown or dark brown.
Range.—Mountain forests of Nepal, to an elevation of about
9,000 feet above sea-level.
The habits and nidification of this species are, of course,
very similar to those of the other Kalij Pheasants.
Dr. Scully says: “ G. Zeucome/anus is common wherever thick
forest is found, from Hitorna in the Nepal Dtin to the Valley of
Nepal; in all the wooded hills surrounding the latter, up to
an elevation of nearly 9,000 feet; and in every forest about
Noakote. It is usually seen in pairs orin parties of from three
to ten, often feeding on the ground near cultivated patches at
the borders of forest.
“The birds seem very fond of perching on trees, and it is
usually in this position that one comes across them in forcing
one’s way through forest which has a dense undergrowth. On
such occasions the Kalij first gives notice of its whereabouts by
whirring down with great velocity from its perch, and then
THE KALIJ PHEASANTS. 263
running rapidly out of sight to the shelter of some thicket. In
the winter the birds roost on trees at the foot of the hills, and
the plan for making a bag is to post oneself, about sunset, under
some trees which they are known to frequent, and await their
coming. ‘The birds are then soon heard threading their way
through the jungle towards their favourite trees, and at once
fly up and perch. When once settled for the night in this
way, they are not easily alarmed, and I have shot four or five
birds in quick succession before the rest of the party would
clear out to quieter quarters. Occasionally, too, one can get
a shot at the Kalij as they cross a hill-path through the forest,
on their way to or from some stream.
“Great numbers of the Nepal Kalij are snared and brought
into Khatmandu for sale. The birds bear confinement in the
valley very well, and I reared several chicks to maturity.”
Nest and Eggs.—Very similar to those of G. albocristatus.
III. THE BLACK-BACKED KALIJ PHEASANT. GENNAUS
MELANONOTUS.*
? Phasianus muthura, Gray, in Griff. ed. Cuv. ili. p. 27 (1829).
Luplocamus melanotus (Blyth), Hutton, J. As. Soc. Beng. xvil.
pt. 2, p. 694 (1848) ; Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. 11. pl. 19
(1872).
Gallophasis melanotus, Mitch. P. Z.S. 1858, p. 544, pl. 149,
fig. 2.
Euplocomus melanonotus, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of
India, i. p. 191, pl. (1878) ; Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and
Eggs, iil. p. 415 (1890).
* Though I still have little doubt that Latham’s ‘‘ Chittygong Phea-
sant,” on which Gray founded his Phastanus muthura, refers to the pre-
sent species, Mr. W. T. Blanford has recently called my attention to the
fact that Latham describes his bird as being as big as a Turkey, Gray of
course following suit. As there is thus some doubt as to the propriety of
using the name of G. muthura for this bird, | have thought it better to
use the much more appropriate and descriptive name of G. me/anonotus
(Blyth).
264 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Genneus muthura, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p
301 (1893).
Adult Male.—Differs from the male of G. albocristatus in hav
ing the crest d/ack, the upper-parts with a brighter purplish
gloss, and the feathers of the lower back and rump glossed
with deep purplish-blue and zez¢hout white terminal bands.
Adult Female-—Quite similar in plumage to the female of G.
leucomelanus.
Range.—Forests of Sikhim, Native Sikhim, and Western
Bootan. Perhaps found in Eastern Nepal.
Habits——Mr. Gammie furnishes the following excellent ac-
count of this species :—
“In Sikhim the Black-backed Kalij is abundant from about
1,000 up to 6,000 feet, and it is occasionally found at both
lower and higher elevations. It frequents forest and scrub,
rarely coming out to cleared land, except in the mornings and
evenings to feed, and even then seldom leaving the cover for
many yards.
‘At no time of the day is it a shy bird, but in the evenings
and early mornings it is almost as tame as a domestic fowl,
and, if feeding on the road, will leasurely walk but a few steps
out of the way of a passer-by.
“Tt appears to dislike sunshine, and scarcely leaves the
shade of trees or shrubs while the sun is up.
‘It seldom, if ever, perches in the daytime, but keeps to
the ground, unless suddenly disturbed by dogs or wild animals,
when it may take refuge in a tree as a last resource. If
alarmed by men it always runs along under the scrub if the
circumstances are favourable for that mode of escape; but if
not, it flles within twenty feet of the ground for forty or fifty
yards, and then again alights on the ground. By making a
short detour they will be found close to where they alighted.
“ Usually it is a silent bird, but when suddenly alarmed it
utters a sharply repeated ‘ koorchi, hoorchi, koorchi, as it rises
THE KALIJ PHEASANTS. 265
on the wing. When, however, the males are in the fighting
humour—which they usually are about breeding-time—their
call, as they advance towards each other, is ‘hoor hoor, waak
waak’, the former being the threatening, and the latter the
attacking note. They also at times answer each other’s calls
in the jungles.
‘In fine weather the male often makes a sharp drumming
noise by beating his wings against his sides, somewhat after
the style of the wing-flapping of a domestic cock preparatory
to crowing from some elevated place; but instead of the cock’s
few leisurely flaps, the Kalij strikes oftener and smarter, pro-
ducing a sound more like drumming than flapping.
“The natives look on the drumming of the Kalij as a sure
sign of approaching rain. It is heard at all seasons of the year,
but most frequently before the setting in of the rainy season ;
at other times generally just before a fall of rain.
‘©The food of the Kalij is varied in the extreme. It eats
almost everything in the shape of seeds, fruit, and insects, but
is particularly fond of the larvze of beetles out of cow-dung and
decayed wood, and of several of the jungle yams which bear
tubers along their vines at the axils of the leaves. When the
vine-borne tubers are exhausted, it will scratch away the soil to
get at those underground.”
Nest and Eggs.—Similar to those of G. albocristatus. ‘The
average measurement of the latter is 1°91 by 1°47 inch.
The three Himalayan species of Kalij which I have just
dealt with are very easily distinguished one from another, and
so far as I know do wo¢ intergrade, though it is possible that
where the range of G. /eucomelanus touches or overlaps (if it
does either) the habitats of G. albocristatus and G. melanono-
tus, respectively to the west and east, intermediate forms may
occur. When we consider the Burmese Pheasants, however,
the different forms of Kalij are by no means so easily dealt
with ; for, though there are three well-marked principal forms,
266 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
absolutely distinct from one another and occupying widely dif-
ferent geographical areas, there can be no doubt that, given a
large enough series of specimens from the intervening country
between the headquarters of any two, a chain of intermediate
forms would be found, and the extreme types would be shown
to grade imperceptibly into one another. For the sake of
clearness the accompanying sketch-map of Burma has been
prepared, showing the countries in which each form occurs,
the range of the three principal forms being shown by the
shaded areas marked A, B, and C, while the places where
the intermediate birds are known to occur are marked AB, -—
BA, &c., thus indicating their affinities to one or other of the
main types. ‘Thus G. cwviert is marked AB, which shows that
it is most nearly allied to G. horsfieldi (A), and less nearly
related to G. dineatus (B); while in G. oazesz, indicated by the
letters BA, the reverse obtains.
The Black-breasted Kalij (A) ranges over a large part of
Northern Burma, extending in the north to Eastern Bootan,
in the west to Chittagong, south to the Northern Arakan Hills, ©
and east as far as Bhamo.
The Vermicellated Kali (B) is met with in Pegu as far west
as the valley of the Irrawady, in Northern Tenasserim and
North-western Siam, and, according to Oates, extends up the
Irrawady Valley as far as Bhamo, though this latter state-
ment requires confirmation. .
Anderson's Kalz (C), first obtained in the Kachin Hills
east of Bhamo, has since been met with at Dargwin, and is
probably found from that place northwards along the Salween
Valley to Yun-nan, but its range is not yet defined.
It must first be stated that A does not intergrade with the
Black-backed Kalij of Sikhim and Western Bootan, and 7
the ranges of the two birds do overlap in Central Bootan,
which they probably do not, no intermediate birds have as yet
been recorded.
The Northern Arakan Hills is the most southern point
Zee
i UY, Wt ae T5
eG
00° y Uy, Mi lis 1111/1 .
BH TAN/ You vise
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=
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<-S,
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SS
—mnv ISS ~
~ KachinHills
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V7 Lilly /7, y
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Sketch- -map of the Burmese cou tries, shewing the ranges of the species
and races of the Kalij Pheasants.
268 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
where A is found, and as we go southwards along this range
we meet with the bird known as G. cuviert (AB), very nearly
allied to A, but the male has the whole of the black upper-
parts finely and irregularly pencilled with white lines, and the
female is also somewhat different. In the south of the Arakan
range, on the road between Prome and Tongnoo, G. oatest
(BA) occurs, the males being evidently much more nearly
allied to B than to A, though they resemble A in having the
feathers of the lower back and rump more or less distinctly
margined with white. The female differs from all the allied
forms in having the outer tail-feathers mostly chestnut.
It will thus be seen that in Arakan, a large tract, between
the ranges of A and B, we find two intermediate forms of Kall,
practically bridging over the great differences between typical
specimens of A and B, and no doubt with a large series of
birds from all parts of Arakan every intermediate stage could
be found, those from the north gradually merging into A and
those from the south into B.
Again, between A and C we have a male example, the type
of G. davisont (AC) from the Kachin Hills, just to the east of
Bhamo, which is perfectly intermediate in plumage between A
and C. ‘The female of this form is still unknown.
Lastly, between B and C more or less intermediate birds
are to be found in the neighbourhood of Karen-nee (BC),
south of Dargwin, but they are so nearly allied to C, that we
have thought it unnecessary to call them by a distinct name.
It will thus be seen that all the three forms, A, B, and C,
which are so perfectly distinct z¢er se, have connecting links,
which are met with in the intermediate districts joining their
various ranges, where typical examples of A, B, and C are zot
to be found.
It is always a difficult matter to deal with such intermediate
forms as those we have just described. It is quite wrong to
apply the word hybrid to them, for they are really incipient
species, occupying a tract of country where neither typical A, B,
THE KALIJ PHEASANTS, 266
nor C are met with. There will always be found some people
who disapprove of calling these intermediate forms by distinct
names, but after all it is only a matter of convenience, and
perhaps the most satisfactory plan is that which we have fol-
lowed—-viz., treating them as sub-species of the type to which
they show most affinity.
Another way of getting out of the dilemma is by the use of
trinomial nomenclature, To those who follow this objection-
able plan, G. cuviert would be known as G. horsfieldi lineatus,
and G. oatest as G. lineatus horsfieldt.
Lastly, I must remind my readers tat the female of G.
oatesi (BA) is somewhat different in plumage from both B and
A, and may be easily distinguished from all the females of the
various species of Gennceus.
I have at present only been able to examine a very limited
number of skins of these intermediate forms, as few Europeans
have visited the countries where they occur, but it is greatly
to be hoped that those who have opportunities of visiting
the Arakan Hills or Upper Salween Valley at some future
time, will endeavour to shoot and preserve all the Kalij
they come across. A good series of these intermediate
forms would be an extremely valuable and welcome addition
to the National Collection.
IV. THE BLACK-BREASTED KALIJ. GENNAUS HORSFIELDI.
Gallophasis horsfieldi, G. R. Gray, Gen. B. iii. p. 498, pl. exxvi.
(7845); Mitchell, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 544, pl. 148, fig, 2,
pl. 149, fig. 1; Sclater, in Wolf’s Zool. Sketches (2), pl.
39 (1861).
Euplocamus horsfieldi, Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. il. pl. 20
(1872) ; Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, i. p.
198, pl. (1878) ; Oates, ed. Hume’s Nests and Eggs, iii. p.
416 (1890).
Genneus horsfieldt, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus, xxii. p.
302 (1893).
276 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
Adult Male-—Entire plumage black, glossed with purplish or
steel-blue; only the feathers of the lower back, rump, and
upper tail-coverts margined with white, those of the under-parts
being only slightly pointed. Size the same as in the other
species.
Adult Female-—Like the fema/e of the last named species, but
the feathers of the under-parts usually have narrow buff shaft-
stripes, and in old examples the middle pair of tail-feathers
become uniform dark chestnut, usually contrasting rather
strongly with the olive-brown rump; the outer pairs black.
Range-—The forests of Eastern Bootan, Assam, Sylhet,
Cachar, Manipur, Hill Tipperah, Chittagong, and North Ara-
kan.
Mr. Hume tells us that “the range of this species is decidedly
lower than that of either of the other three; it is common
down in the low country along the edges of cultivation and
the banks of rivers where there is forest, only a few hundred
feet above sea-level, but it grows less plentiful, I am assured,
as you ascend the hills, and is very rarely shot at elevations
exceeding 4,000 feet.”
Mr. R. A. Clark, of the Mynadhar Tea Garden in Cachar,
says: ‘‘ These birds are very common here, keeping to well-
wooded hills and ravines. They go about in pairs, though
parties of three and four are often met with, and on one
occasion I saw a party of eleven. .
“T once witnessed a fight between a male Kalij and a Jungle
Cock (Gallus gallus) for the possession of a white-ant hill
from which the winged termites were issuing. I watched the
contest fora quarter of an hour, by which time both birds were
exhausted, when the Kalij fled, leaving the Jungle Cock in
possession. On another occasion I came across a pair of male
Kalij fighting amongst a lot of ferns; they were so taken up
with their own affairs that they did not notice my having
approached to within fifteen yards ; I let them go on for ten
THE KALI] PHEASANTS, 271
minutes, and then went up and caught both; they were quite
exhausted ; the feathers from the head and meee had all. been
knocked il and the latter was bleeding in both birds.”
Mr. Cripps writes: “‘ The northern part of the district of
Sylhet is covered with low ‘teelahs,’ or hillocks, between which
run small brooks, the whole being overgrown with dense tree-,
bamboo-, and cane-jungle, forming dark, damp retreats, such
as are the favourite resorts of this species.
“Here they scratch about amongst the fallen leaves for
insects, and towards evening and in the early morning stray
into any adjacent patches of cultivation, or are to be found
feeding about the roadside where these lie within the forests.”
Nest—A heap of dry leaves, with rather a deep cavity
scratched in the middle, placed at the foot of a tree.
Eggs.—Like those of G. albocristatus, &c., and of the usual
Kalij type. Varying in colour from pale buff to rich brownish-
buff. Average measurements, 1°85 by 1°48 inch.
SUB-SP. @ CUVIER’S KALIJ PHEASANT. GENNZUS CUVIERI.
Lophophorus cuvieri, Temm. Pl. Col. v. pl. ro [No. 1] (1820).
Genneus cuviert, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 303
(1893).
Adult Male—Like the male of G. horsfieldt, but all the
upper-parts are finely pencilled with irregular wavy white
lines.
Adult Female——Like the female of G. horsfie/dt, but all the
tail-feathers are more or less mixed with dull rufous, mottied
with black, the outer pairs only being black towards the tips.
Range.—The middle and northern Arakan Hills, extending
into Chittagong.
SUB-SP. 6. DAVISON’S KALIJ PHEASANT. GENNUS
DAVISONI.
Genneus davisont, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
304 (1893).
272 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
A somewhat Immature Male—Differs from G. cuvierd in having |
the white lines on the black feathers of the upper-parts, —
especially the mantle, coarser and more regular, and running —
more or less parallel to the margins of the feathers. The
plumage, in fact, is not unlike that of G. andersont, but the
white lines are narrower and the black interspaces broader |
than in the latter.
Range.—Kachin Hills, east of Bhamo.
Only one male example of this form is known, and the
female has still to be obtained, but will probably be found
to be intermediate in plumage between G. horsfie/di and
G. andersont, with the white shaft-stripes on the breast-feathers
rather wide, and the outer tail more or less barred with
white.
V. THE VERMICELLATED KALIJ PHEASANT. GENNAZUS
LINEATUS.
Phasianus lineatus, Vig. Phil. Mag. 1831, p. 1473 Jardine and
Selby, Ill. Orn. new series, pl. 12 (1836).
Phasianus reynauadii, Less. Bélang. Voy. Ind. Orient. p. 276,
pls. 8, 9 (1834).
Genneus lineatus, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
304 (1893).
Phasianus fasciatus, McClell. Calcutta Journ. N. H. ii. p. 146
pl. iil. (1842).
Euplocamus lineatus, Sclater and Wolf, Zool. Sketches (2), pl.
38 (1861); Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. ii. pl. 23 (1872);
Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 14 (1875); Hume and Marshall,
Game Birds of India, i. p. 205, pl. (1878); Oates, ed.
Hume’s Nests and Eggs Ind. B. il. p. 416 (1890).
Adult Male—Upper-parts finely vermicellated with alternate
black and white lines running mostly across the feathers ; long
crest and under-parts black, with some bluish gloss, the feathers
THE KALIJ PHEASANTS, 273
bordering the breast and belly with white shaft-stripes.* Total
length, 29 inches ; wing, 9°7; tail, 12; tarsus, 3°3.
Adult Female—Upper-parts olive-brown with V-shaped white
marks on the back; crest tinged with rufous; outer webs of the
secondary quills mottled with buff and black along the margin
only ; sides of the neck with triangular white spots ; throat and
fore-neck whitish ; under-parts brownish-chestnut, each feather
with a pointed white shaft-stripe; middle pair of tail-feathers
buff, mottled with black, the outer pairs reddish-brown, with
wide irregular white bars edged with black. Total length, 22°5
inches ; wing, 8°9; tail, 8°7 ; tarsus, 2°7.
Range.—From the Irrawady Valley eastwards through the
Pegu, Tonghoo, and Karen Hills ; extending southwards into
Tenasserim as far south as Tavoy, and eastwards into North-
western Siam. It is also said to extend northwards along the
Irrawady Valley as far as Bhamo.
Habits—Mr. Hume informs us: “It is not a bird of high
elevations; I have no record of its having been seen even as
high as 4,5co feet; it appears to be most numerous at from
1,000 to 3,000 feet, though it certainly occurs as high as 3,500,
and again right down to sea-level.
“Its home appears to be the thin deciduous-leaved woods,
especially those much mingled with bamboos, of the low hills.
It is rarely seen in dense evergreen forests or in grass prairies.”
Mr. Oates remarks: ‘‘This species is common throughout
the whole of Pegu east of the Irrawady.
“Tt is rare or common just in proportion as the country is
level or mountainous. In the plains or undulating portion of
Upper Pegu it will be met with in small numbers, if the ravines
and nallas are sufficiently precipitous to suit its taste; but in
these places, at the best, only one or two will be shot in a long
morning’s work. It is not till we get to the foot of the hills that
this Pheasant can be said to be common. Here the nallas,
* In some perfectly adult birds nearly all the feathers of the breast and
belly have white shaft-stripes, but this character is apparently individual,
9 T
244 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
with their pools of water and rocky beds, are particularly
favourable to it. As we mount higher, it increases in numbers
to such an extent that it is no difficult matter to knock over
half a dozen in a morning while marching, and that without
leaving the path.
‘This Pheasant is averse to all cultivation, and shuns even
the yaks, or hill gardens, of the Karens, though these may be
several miles from the nearest fay, or village. It must have
thick cover, even while feeding. In the mornings it comes
out to feed on the ridges, where the jungle is a trifle less
thick than in the valleys. At nine or ten o’clock it descends
into the valleys, and after drinking retires into some small
secondary watercourse for its mid-day siesta. At this period
of the day seven or eight may be found together if it is not the
breeding-season. When feeding, they go singly or in pairs.
Their food is very varied. Ants, both white and black, are
eagerly sought after; the former are an especial weakness of
our bird, and the only food on which it thrives in captivity.
During the hot weather Pheasants eat the fig of the Peepul
ravenously ; and I have shot birds with nothing but this food
in the stomach.
“The breeding-season begins about the 1st March, and
by the end of the month all the hens have commenced laying.
It is during this month only that the male makes that curious
noise with his wings which seems peculiar to the Kalij group.
It may be imitated very fairly by holding a pocket-handkerchief
by two opposite corners and extending the arms with a jerk.
This noise, made only by the male, is undoubtedly a challenge
to other cocks. I have frequently hidden myself near a bird
thus engaged, and on two occasions shot cock birds running
with great excitement towards the sound.
“The chickens, as soon as they are hatched, are very strong
on their legs, and run with great speed. I was fortunate
enough to capture portions of four broods. It is astonishing
in what a short time the little birds make themselves invisible.
|
THE KALIf PHEASANTS. 275
It is difficult to secure more than two out of one batch. It is
a case of pouncing on them at once or losing them. The
mother is a great coward, running away at the slightest alarm,
and thus contrasting very unfavourably with the Jungle Fowl,
which keeps running round and round the intruder with great
anxiety, till her young ones are in safety. The young ones are
very difficult to rear. From some cause or other they become
paralysed, lose the use of their legs, languish, and die. ‘This
Pheasant is not very shy ; on the contrary, it is rather tame ;
but it has the habit of sneaking quietly away, and very few birds
will be seen by one who does not know its peculiarities. It
never takes wing unless suddenly surprised, when it will skim
across the valley and alight again as soon as possible. Its
only call isa low chuckle, frequently uttered both when alarmed
and when going to roost.”
Writing from Northern Pegu, Captain Feilden says: “ An
old male is a most extraordinary-looking bird. The tail only
is seen moving through the long grass, and I invariably thought
at first that it was some new Porcupine or Badger, or some
animal. ‘The note, too, adds to the deception; it reminded
me a little of the cries of young Ferrets.”
It is curious how the habits of this species differ in different
parts of its range. The late Mr. W. Davison tells us that in
Tenasserim “they come continually into the open to feed
about rice-fields and clearings. ‘They are shy, and usually run
in preference to flying when disturbed, except when put up by
a dog, when they immediately perch. .
“They seem to prefer bamboo, or moderately thin tree-
jungle, to dense forest.”
Referring to the mode in which the Burmans capture this
Kalij by means of a decoy bird, he goes on to say:—‘“It
is, I notice, a mistake to suppose that this plan of capturing
the males can only be adopted in the breeding-season. ‘The
tame male can always be induced to ‘buzz’ by imitating the
sound from some place hidden to him. This the Burmans do
"2
\
276 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY.
by twisting very rapidly between the palm of the hands a small
stick, into a split at the top of which a piece of stiff cloth or
a stiff leaf has been transversely inserted.”
Nest.—A_ hollow scratched at the foot of a tree or ina clump
of bamboo, more or less lined with dead leaves and a few
feathers, and generally well-concealed.
Eggs.—Seven or eight in number, though as many as fifteen
are said to be found at times; they vary in colour from pale
cream to pinkish-buff; shell full of pores and without gloss.
Average measurements, 1°97 by 1°46 inch.
SUB-SP. @. OATES’ KALIJ PHEASANT. GENNAUS OATESI.
Genneus oatesi, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 306
(1893).
Adult Male—Like the male of G. dineatus, but has the
feathers of the lower back and rump fringed with white ; only
the margins of the inner webs of the middle pair of tail-feathers
white without any black markings, while the white shaft-stripes -
on the sides of the breast are reduced in number or absent.
Adult Female-—Most like the female of G. Zorsfe/di in general
plumage ; but distinguished from this and the other allied
species by having the outer tail-feathers chestnut, slightly mottled
with black.
Range.—South-eastern Arakan Hills; in the vicinity of Prome
and Thayetmyo.
VI. ANDERSON’S KALI] PHEASANT. GENN/EUS ANDERSONI.
Euplocamus andersoni, Elliot, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 1373 id.
Monogr. Phasian. ii. pl. 22 (1872) ; Anderson, Res. Zool.
Exped. Yun-nan, p. 670, pl. liil. (1878).
Euplocamus crawfurdi, Hume and Marshall (xec J. E. Gray),
Game Birds of India, i. p. 203, pl. (1878).
Genneus andersont, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
306 (1893).
Adult Male—Differs frem the male of G. neatus in having
THE KALI] PHEASANTS. . 277
the feathers of the back and wing-coverts regularly marked
with about ten alternate, black and white, concentric bands.
Total length, 28 inches ; wing, 9‘9 ; tail, 13°6; tarsus, 3°4.
Adult Female-——Differs from the female of G. Jinealus in
having the white shaft-stripes on the feathers of the under-
parts much wider, and the outer webs of the secondary quills
with irregular oblique buff bars, xeaching to the shaft. Total
length, 23°5 inches; wing, 9°3; tail, 9°7; tarsus, 3°r.
Range.—Kachin Hills east of Bhaimo and the Salween
Valley as far south as Dargwin.
Very few examples of this fine Kalij have been procured, but
it is not improbable that, when specimens (if such occur, as no
doubt they do) are obtained from the intermediate parts of
South China which lie between Yun-nan and Fo-kien, we may
find that this form gradually grades into the Silver Kalij
Pheasant.
VII. THE SILVER KALIJ PHEASANT, GENN/US NYCTHEMERUS.
White China Pheasant, Albin, Nat. Hist. B. iil. p. 35, pl.
XXXVIl. (1740).
Black and White Chinese Pheasant, Edwards, Nat. Hist. B. ii.
pl. 66 (1747).
Phasianus nycthemerus, Linn. S.N. i. p. 272 (1766).
Euplocomus nycthemerus, J. E. Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. u. pl. 38,
fig. 2 (1834); Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 17 (1859); Elliot,
Monogr. Phasian. ii. pl. 21 (1872); David and Oustalet,
Ois. Chine, p. 416 (1877).
Genneus nycthemerus, Ozilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
Pp. 307 (1893).
Adult Male—Top of the head, long crest, and under-parts
black, glossed with purple; upper-parts white, most of the
feathers with five or six narrow, regular, black, concentric lines,
fewer and less regular on the wing-coverts and quills ; some of
the feathers of the sides of the breast with white shaft-stripes,
others with the whole of the outer webs white; tail longer
278 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY,
than in the other species, the middle pair of feathers pure
white, the outer pairs with oblique black lines. Total length,
40 inches; wing, 10°5; tail, 24 ; tarsus, 3°6.
Adult Female.—Crest blackish-brown ; upper- and wxder-parts
and middle pair of tail-feathers olive-brown, finely mottled with
dusky lines; throat brownish-white ; ower tail-feathers black,
with zrregular oblique white lines. Total length, 20°5 inches ;
wing, 9'1; tail, 9°8 ; tarsus, 3°2.
Range.—South China, -Fo-kien and Che-kiang.
Habits.—According to Abbé David, the Silver Pheasant is
becoming very rare in a wild state, and is only found in South
China, towards the north of Fo-kien and perhaps in Che-kiang.
He says that most of the Golden and Silver Pheasants that one
sees at Shanghai come from Japan, where these two Chinese
species are reared in captivity. ‘The Silver Pheasant is known
in China by the names of Ing-ky (Silver Fowl) and Paéky
(White Fowl). Very little indeed is known of the habits of
this extremely fine species in a wild state, though it has long
been one of the commonest aviary birds. The males are un-
fortunately so extremely pugnacious and such big heavy birds
that they fight with, and often kill, any other male Pheasant living
in the same aviary, and for this reason must be kept separate.
Nest.—Like that of the other species.
Eggs.—Broad ovals; creamy-buff to brownish-buff, finely
pitted_all over and slightly glossed. Average measurements,
2-¢ by 1°6, mches.
VIII. SWINHOE’S KALIJ PHEASANT. GENNUS SWINHOII.
Euplocamus swinhow, Gould, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 284; id. B.
Asia, vii. pl. 16 (1864) ; Sclater, in Wolf’s Zool. Sketches
(2), pl. 37 (1867); Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. 11. pl. 25 (1872);
David and Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p. 417, pl. 102 (1877).
Gennaus swinhoit, Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p.
309 (1893).
Adult Male.—Feathered parts of the head, chin, and throat
+
THE KALIJ PHEASANTS, 279
black; crest, mantle, and middle pair of tail-feathers pure cwhite ;
scapulars dark crimson with bronzy-red reflections; rest of
upper- and under-parts and outer tail-feathers black, glossed
with purplish-blue, especially on the chest and breast. Total
leneth, 29°5-inches ; wing, 9°5; tail, 16; tarsus, 3°8.
Adult Female.—Crest rather short; head, back, and wing-
coverts reddish-brown, the former with rufous-buff shaft-
stripes to the feathers, the latter with the middle of each
feather black and a triangular yellowish-buff spot near the tip ;
rest of upper-parts black, closely mottled with buff; inner webs
of primary quills with zzde alternate bars of chestnut and black ;
throat whitish-brown; chest and breast pale brown and marked
like the back ; rest of under-parts rufous-buff irregularly mottled
with black ; outer tail-feathers dark chestnut with some black
mottling. Total length, 19°6 inches; wing, 9‘1 ; tail, 7°9 ; tar-
SUS, 3°5.
Range.—Mountain forests of Formosa.
This species was discovered by the late Mr. R. Swinhoe,
for many years H.M. Consul in Formosa, who gives the follow-
ing account :—
Habits.—‘“‘I was informed by my hunters that a second
species of Pheasant, which was denominated by the Chinese
colonists Wa-koé, was found in the interior mountains ; that
it was a true jungle bird, frequenting the wild hill-ranges of the
aborigines, and rarely descending to the lower hills that border
on the Chinese territory, and that in the evening and early
morning the male was in the habit of showing himself on an
exposed branch or roof of a savage’s hut, uttering his crowing
defiant note, while he strutted and threw up his tail like a
rooster. I offered rewards and encouraged my men to do
their utmost to procure me specimens of this bird, and I was
so far successful that I managed to obtain a pair, but in my
trip to the interior it was in vain that I sought to get a view of
it in its native haunts, and to make acquaintance with it in a
state of nature,” |
250 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Later on he writes: ‘This bird is rare, and extremely diffi-
cult to procure, as the mountain travelling here is far from safe.
My chief bird-hunter was nearly murdered and robbed of fifty
pounds the other day while in search of Deer and this Phea-
sant.”
This species is now frequently brought to this country alive,
and the male is one of the handsomest of aviary Pheasants.
Eggs—Oval, somewhat pointed at the smaller end ; buff-
cream colour, very minutely dotted with white. Measure-
ments, 2°4 by 1°7 inches.
THE KOKLASS PHEASANTS. GENUS PUCRASIA.
Pucrasia, G. R. Gray, List Gen. B. 2nd ed. p. 79 (1841).
Type, P. macrolopha (Lesson).
Tail composed of stxteen feathers, long and wedge-shaped,
the middle pair of feathers rather the longest and about twice
as long as the outer pair. Upper tail-coverts very long, more
than half the length of the tail.
First primary flight-feather considerably shorter than the
second, which is about equal to the eighth ; fourth somewhat
the longest.
Sides of the head feathered ; feathers of the body long and
pointed.
Male with an elongate crest (short in the female); the
feathers behind the ear-coverts greatly elongate, surpassing the
crest in length, and the feet armed with a fairly strong pair of
spurs.
The Koklass Pheasants may be conveniently divided into
two groups:
A. Basal part of the outer tail-feathers mostly black or black
and chestnut, ever grey (species 1 to 4, pp. 281-285).
B. Basal part of the outer tail-feathers grey (species 5, 6,
pp: 285, 286).
PLATE ogg
COMMON KOKLASS PHEASANT.
THE KOKLASS PHEASANTS. 281
A. Basal part of the outer tail-feathers mostly black or black
and chestnut, never grey.
I. THE COMMON KOKLASS PHEASANT. PUCRASIA
MACROLOPHA.
Satyra macrolopha, Less. Dict. Sci. Nat. lix. p. 196 (1829).
Phastanus pucrasia, J. EB. Gray, Il. Ind. Zool. i. pl. 40 (1830-
32); Gould, Cent. B. Himal. pls. 69, 70 (1832).
Pucrasia macrolopha, G. R. Gray, List Gall. Brit. Mus. p. 31
(1844); Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 26 (1854); Elliot, Monogr.
Phasian. i. pl. 28 (1872); Hume and Marshall, Game
Birds of India, i. p. 159, pl. (1878); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B.
Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 311 (1893).
(Plate XXZ.)
Adult Male—A long buff occipital crest ; a large white patch
on each side of the neck ; rest of head and neck black, glossed
with dark green, the feathers behind the ear-coverts being enor-
mously elongate and longer than the crest; general colour of
the upper-parts and sides grey, brownish on the wings, most of
the feathers with black shaft-stripes ; middle of the chest and
under-parts dark chestnut ; outer ¢atl-feathers black, shading into
rufous on the basal half of the outer web, and tipped with white.
Total length, 23 inches; wing, 9°4; tail, 9°5; tarsus, 2°6.
Adult Female-——General colour above black, including a
short crest, mottled with sandy-buff, most of the feathers with
well-marked pale reddish-buff shaft-stripes ; chin and throat
whitish ; under-parts pale rufous, edged and mottled on the
breast and sides with black; outer tail-feathers mostly black,
chestnut towards the base, and tipped with white. Total
length, 19°6 inches ; wing, 8°7; tail, 7°0; tarsus, 2°2.
Range.—Forests of the Western Himalayas from Kumaon to
Chamba.
Habits.— Wilson says of the Koklass :
“ This is another forest Pheasant common to the whole of
the wooded regions, from an elevation of about 4,000 feet to
282 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
nearly the extreme limits of forest, but is most abundant in the
lower and intermediate ranges. In the lower ranges its favourite
haunts are in wooded ravines; but it is found on nearly all hill-
sides which are covered with trees or bushes, from the summit
of the ridges to about half way down. Farther in the interior
it is found scattered in all parts, from near the foot of the hills
to the top, or as far as the forest reaches, seeming most partial
to the deep sloping forests composed of oak, chestnut, and
morenda-pine, with box, yew, and other trees intermingled, and
a thick underwood of ringal.
“The Koklass is of a rather retired and solitary disposition.
It is generally found singly or in pairs ; and, except the brood
of young birds, which keep pretty well collected till near the
end of winter, they seldom congregate much together. When
numerous, several are often put up at no great distance from
each other, as if they were members of one lot; but when more
thinly scattered, it is seldom that more than two old birds are
found together ; and at whatever season, when one is found,
its mate may, almost to a certainty, be found somewhere near.
This would lead one to imagine that many pairs do not sepa-
rate after the business of incubation is over, but keep paired for
several successive years.
‘“‘Tn forests where there is little grass or underwood, they get
up as soon as aware of the approach of anyone near, or run
quickly along the ground to some distance; but where there is
much cover they lie very close, and will not get up till forced
by dogs or beaters. When put up by dogs they often fly up
into a tree close by, which they rarely do when flushed by
beaters or the sportsman himself, then flying a long way, and
generally alighting on the ground. ‘Their flight is rapid in the
extreme, and after a few whirs, they sometimes shoot down
like lightning. ‘They now and then utter a few low chuckles
before getting up, and occasionally rise with a low screeching
chatter, and sometimes silently. The males often crow at day-
break, and occasionally at all hours,
—
a
.
THE KOKLASS PHEASANTS. 283
“In the remote forests of the interior, on the report of a
gun, all which are within half a mile or so, will often crow after
each report. They also often crow after a clap of thunder or
any loud and sudden noise; this peculiarity seems to be con-
fined to those in dark shady woods in the interior, as I never
noticed it on the lower hills.
“The Koklass feeds principally on leaves and buds; it also
eats roots, grubs, acorns, seeds and berries, moss and flowers.
It will not readily eat grain, and is more difficult to rear in
confinement than the Jewar or Moonal. It roosts in trees
generally, but at times on low bushes or on the ground.
“In the lower regions this bird should be sought for from
about the middle of the hill upwards; oak forests, where the
ground is rocky and uneven, are the most likely places to find
it. Dogs are requisite to ensure sport, and are much to be
preferred to beaters, as birds which, if flushed by the latter,
would go far out of all reach, will often fly into the trees close
above the dogs, and may be approached quite close, seeming
to pay more attention to the movements of the dogs than to the
presence of the sportsman. In the interior they will be found
with the Moonal in all forests, but always keep in the wood,
and do not, like it, resort to the borders. ‘They are worth
shooting, if but for the table, as the flesh is, perhaps, the best
of the Hill Pheasants.”
Captain Baldwin writes:—‘“The sportsman, on awaken-
ing in the early morning, when encamped on the uplands to
hunt Zzar, will hear the harsh ‘ Kokkok pokrass’ cry of this
bird on all sides, and Pucrasia macrolopha, when heralding the
dawn of day in this manner, is generally sitting on one of the
lower boughs of a cypress-tree.”
Nest.—A hole scraped in the ground, and sheltered by a tuft
of grass or bush or rock, met with at elevations of from 5,000
tO 11,000 feet.
Eggs.—Oval, somewhat pointed towards the small end ; rich
buff, finely or coarsely marked with brownish-red. They vary
284 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
much in size: 1°85 to 2°29 by 1°39 to 1°57 inches. Average
measurements, 2°08 by 1°47 inches.
SUB-SP. @. BIDDULPH’S KOKLASS PHEASANT. PUCRASIA
BIDDULPHI.
Pucrasia biddulphi, Marshall, Ibis, 1879, p. 461 ; Ogilvie-Grant,
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 313 (1893).
Adult Male.—Differs from P. macrolopha in having the dark
chestnut of the fore-neck extending more or less completely
round the neck; the chestnut of the under-parts much darker
and mixed with black.
Adult Female.—Like the female of P. macrolopha.
Range.—North-western Himalayas ; Cashmere.
II. THE NEPAL KOKLASS PHEASANT. PUCRASIA NIPALENSIS,
Tragopan pucrasia, Temm. (nec J. E. Gray), Pl. Col. v. pl. 15
[No. 545] (1834).
Pucrasia nipalensis, Gould, P. Z. S. 1854, p. 100; id. B. Asia,
vii. pl. 28 (1854); Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of
India, i. p. 165, pl. (1878); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit.
Mus. xxii. p. 314 (1893).
Pucrasia duvaucelt, Elliot, Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 29 (1872).
Adult Male.—Differs from P. macrolopha in having the feathers
of the mantle, sides, and flanks black, narrowly margined with
grey; black being the predominating colour of the upper-parts
and sides of the body.
Adult Female.—Like the female of P. macrolopha, but rather _
richer in general colouring, especially on the under-parts.
Range.—Forests of the Central Himalayas ; Western Nepal.
Practically nothing is known of the habits of this species and,
so far as we are aware, it has never been shot by any Euro-
pean,
THE KOKLASS PHEASANTS. 285
HI. THE CHESTNUI-MANTLED KOKLASS PHEASANT. PUCRASIA
CASTANEA,
LPucrasia castanea, Gould, P. Z. S. 1854, p. 99; id. B. Asia,
vil. pl. 27 (1854) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii.
P- 314 (1893).
Adult Male.—LEasily recognised from P. macrolopha by having
the nape and upper-part of the mantle deep chestnut, like the rest
of the under-parts.
Adult Female.—Has not yet been described.
Range.—Rather uncertain, but probably Northern Afghani-
stan and Kafiristan.
I have begged several of the officers about to take part in
the present disturbances at Chitral to look out for this fine
bird ; whether they will have any opportunity of obtaining speci-
mens remains to be seen, but I sincerely hope that they may.
IV. MEYER’S KOKLASS PHEASANT. PUCRASIA MEYERI.
Pucrasia meyert, Madarasz, Ibis, 1886, p. 145; Ogilvie-Grant,
Cate. Brit. Mus. xxi. p. 315 (1893).
Adult Male.—Distinguished from the male of P. macrolopha
by having a zll-marked yellow nuchal collar like that of the
next species, P. xanthospila, from which it differs in the colour
of the outer tail-feathers, which are mostly rufous.
Adult Female.—Like the femade of the next species, ?. xantho-
spita, but the outer tail-feathers are mostly rufous.
Range.—Yer-ka-lo on the Upper Mékong to Central Tibet.
B. Basal part of the outer tailfeathers grey.
Vv. THE YELLOW-NECKED KOKLASS PHEASANT. PUCRASIA
XANTHOSPILA.
Pucrasia xanthospila, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 259, pl. xx.;
Milne-Edwards, N. Arch. Mus. Bull. i. p. 14, pl. 1, figs. 3
and 4 (1865); Gould, B. Asia, vii. pl. 24 (1869) ; Elliot,
Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 30 (1872) ; David and Oustalet,
Ois. Chine, p. 407, pl. 104 (1877); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. b.
Dries. XXH.-p: 315 (1893).
286 LLOYD’S NATURAL HISTORY.
Pucrasta xanthospila, var. ruficollis, David and Oustalet, Ois.
Chine, p. 408 (1877).
Adult Male.—Like P. macrolopha, and especially P. meyeri, in
general appearance, but the arrangement of the colours on the
upper-parts, sides, and flanks is reversed, the sha/¢t-stripes and
margins of the feathers being grey and divided from one
another by a dlack band ; a yellowish-buff or rufous-buff nuchal
collar ; outer tail-feathers gvey, with several black bands, the
widest near the tip.
Adult Female.—Easily distinguished from the female of P.
macrolopha by the grey outer tail-feathers, barred with black.
Range.— Mountain forests of North-western China, extending
into Manchuria and Eastern Tibet.
Habits——According to Abbé David the Yellow-necked Kok-
lass, or Sowg-ky (Pine-Fowl), is found in small numbers in
the wooded mountains of North-west China, and extends to
Manchuria and Eastern Tibet. They never stray far from the
underwood and jungle, where they are found solitary or in
couples, feeding on grain and various vegetation, especially
conifers. Their habits are like those of the True Pheasants,
and they are excellent eating, being much superior to the
other birds of the Pheasant-tribe met with in that part of
China.
VI. DARWIN’S KOKLASS PHEASANT, PUCRASIA DARWINI.
Pucrasia darwint, Swinhoe, P. Z.-S; 1872, p. 5523 Elliot,
Monogr. Phasian. i. pl. 30 ds (1872); Gould, B. Asia,
vii. pl. 25 (1875) ; David and Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p. 409
(1877) ; Ogilvie-Grant,- Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxi) po 3a6
(1893).
Adult Male. —Distinguished from the male of P. xanthospila
by having no yellowish-buff or rufous-buff collar, and the ground-
colour of the sides and flanks pale reddish-buff, though the dis-
position of the black marking on these parts and the mantle is
perfectly similar.
THE KOKLASS PHEASANTS. 287
Adult Female.—Much like the female of P. xanthospila, but the
black bars on the outer tail-feathers are incomplete and repre-
sented by black spots on the shaft.
Range.— Mountain forest of Eastern China, Ngan-whi, Che-
kiang, and Fo-kien.
Habits.—This very distinct Koklass is a resident in the above-
‘ mentioned mountains, and is pretty common in Fo-kien. Like
the Yellow-necked Koklass, it is called Song-ky (Pine-F owl) by
the natives and is met with as a rule singly in the steep
wooded mountains. Its food and habits are quite similar to
those of its ally.
END OF VOL. I.
Pee NADL 2X.
p. 128, add :—
XXXHa@. DYBOWSKI’S FRANCOLIN. FRANCOLINUS DYBOWSKII.
Erancolinus dybowskit, Oust. Le Nat. (2), xiv. p. 232 (1893).
Adult.—Said by Dr. Oustalet to be allied to / gedgit and
F. hartlaubi, but to have buff bands on the outer web and on
the margin of the inner web of the primaries ; the forehead
dusky, and the lores white.
Range.— Bangui, Upper Congo.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX;
acatoptricus, Tetrao. 48.
Acomus, 240.
erythrophthalmus. 240.
inornatus. 241, 242.
pyronotus, 242.
adansoni, Excalfactoria. 197.
adansonii, Coturnix. 197.
Perdixs, 1:26.
Adanson’s Painted Quail. 197.
adspersa, Scleroptera. 124.
adspersus, Francolinus, 124.
afer, Francolinus, 117.
Pternistes. 137.
Tetrao. 037.
African Painted Sand-Grouse. 24.
African Spur-Fowl. 78.
Stone Pheasant. 199.
africanus, Francolinus. I17.
Ahanta Francolin, 133.
ahantensis, Francolinus. 133.
albocristatus, Euplocamus. 258
Gallophasis. 258, 262, 264, 271.
Genneus. 258.
Phasianus. 258.
albogularis, Francolinus. 115.
albus, Lagopus. 36.
Tetrao. 36.
alchata, Pterocles. 8.
Pteroclurus. 8.
Tetrao. 8.
alchatus, Pteroclurus. 2, 3, 8,
14
Alectrophasis pyronota. 242.
alleni, Lagopus. 38.
alpina, Chourtka, 90.
Lagopus. 43.
Altai Snow-Cock. 86.
altaicus, Perdix, 86.
Tetraogallus. 86.
altumi, Francolinus. 131.
American Capercailzies. 58.
Grouse. 59.
Partridges. 78.
americana, Cupidonia. 64.
americanus, Tympanuchus. 62, 65,
66
Ammoperdix.
99.
bonhami. 99, IOI.
heyi. I01.
andersoni, Euplocamus. 270.
Gennzus. 276.
Anderson’s Kalij. 266, 276.
Aracan Tree-Partridge. 165.
Arboricola. I
60, I6I.
ardens. 164.
atrigularis.
163, 166.
bambusze. 203.
brunneipectus. 169, 173.
charltoni. 174.
chloropus.
crudigularis.
£72.
164.
erythrophrys. I7I.
gingica. 166.
hyperythra. 170, I7I.
intermedia. 165.
javanica. 167.
mandellii. 167.
orientalis. 171.
rubrirostris. 168.
rufigularis, 165, 166, 173.
sumatrana. 172.
torqueola. 160, 165.
Arborophila mandellii. 167.
sumatrana.
172)
ardens, Arboricola. 164.
arenarius, Pterocles. II, 13, 15.
Metrae. 75.
argoondah, Coturnix. 155.
Perdicula.
153; 155.
argus, Argusianus, 199.
Argus Pheasants. 79, 199.
Argusianus. 79.
argus. 199.
atkhensis, Lagopus rupestris. 42.
auritum, Crossoptilon. $82, 248,
252, 254;
255, 257.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 289
auritus, Phasianus. 255.
Australian Quail. 187, 190.
australis, Excalfactoria. 196.
Synoicus. 190, 192.
ashantensis, Francolinus. 134.
asiatica, Perdicula. 153.
Becdix. £53; F55-
atrigularis, Arboricola. 163, 166.
Bamboo Partridges. 78,
Bamboo-Pheasant. 202,
Chinese. 203.
Formosan. 204.
Fytch’s. 202.
bambusz, Arboricola.
Bambusicola. 78, 202.
fytchii, 202.
hopkinsoni. 202.
hyperythra. 170.
sonorivox. 204.
thoracica. 202, 203.
203.
Barbary Red-legged Partridge. 97.
barbata, Perdix. 97, 149.
Bare-throated Francolins. 135.
Bearded Partridge. 149.
betulina, Bonasa. 75.
betulinus, Tetrao. 74.
biddulphi, Pucrasia. 284,
Biddulph’s Koklass Pheasant. 284.
bicalcarata, Galloperdix. 210.
bicalcaratus, Francolinus, 126,
Perdix. 210,
Tetrao. 126,
bicinctus, Ginas. 24.
teroeles, +21.
_ Black and White Chinese Pheasant.
PTT
Black-backed Kalij Pheasant. 263.
Black-bellied Sand-Grouse. I1, 15.
Black-breasted Kalij. 266, 269.
Black-breasted Quail. 185.
Black-cock. 36, 41.
Black Crestless Fire-Back. 242.
Black Grouse. 45, 52, 53.
Caucasian. 46, 48.
Black-headed Red-legged Partridge.
08.
Black-throated Tree-Partridge. 163.
Black Wood-Partridge. 178, 179.
blewitti, Microperdix, 158.
Blewitt’s Painted Bush-Quail. 158.
= Blood Pheasant. 212, 214, 215.
Geoffroy’s, 218.
)
Blood Pheasant, Northern. 2109.
Blue Grouse. 59.
blythi, Ceriornis. 228,
Tragopan. 228.
Blyth’s Horned Pheasant. 228.
boehmi, Pternistes. 138.
Boehm’s Bare-throated Francolin,
138.
Bonasa. 71,
betulina. 75.
sabiniil. 72.
umbelloides. 72.
umbellus. 71.
umbellus sabini, 71.
umbellus togata, 71,
umbellus umbelloides. 71.
Bonasia sylvestris. 74.
bonasia, Tetrao, 74.
Metrastes;; 745) 75.
bonhami, Ammoperdix.
Caccabis. 99.
Perdix. 909:
Bonham’s Seesee Partridge. 99.
Bornean Crestless Fire-Back. 242,
246.
Bornean Ferruginous Wood-Part-
ridge. 176.
borneensis, Caloperdix. 176.
Bridled Sand-Grouse. 16.
Brown-breasted Tree-Partridge.
169.
brunneipectus, Arboricola. 169,
173.
buckleyi, Francolinus. 112.
bulweri, Lobiophasis, 248, 249,
250.
Bulwer’s Wattled Pheasant. 249.
Bush-Quail, Blewitt’s Painted. 158.
fungles” (553:
Manipur Painted. 159.
Painted. 156.
Ieck=5 9155:
Biittikofer’s Francolin. 121.
99, IOI.
Cabanis’ Bare-throated Francolin.
IAI.
caboti, Ceriornis, 229.
Tragopan. 229.
Cabot’s Horned Pheasant. 226.
Caccabis. 90.
bonhami. 99.
chukar,. 81, 91, 92, 95, 200.
heyii. 101.
299 ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Caccabis magna. 95.
melanocephala. 98,
petrosa. 97.
rufa. 95, 96, 98.
rufa hispanica. 96.
saxatilis. 90, 9I, 92.
caineana, Coturnix. 193,
Caloperdix. 175.
borneensis. 176.
oculea, 175, 176, 177.
sumatrana. 176.
cambayensis, Perdix. 153.
Canace canadensis. 54, 56, 58.
franklini. 56.
fuliginosus. 60.
obscurus. 60.
Canachites. 54.
canadensis, 54, 55.
franklini. 56.
Canada Grouse. 54, 56, 58.
canadensis, Canace, 54, 56, 58.
Canachites. 54, 55.
Dendragapus. 55.
Tetrao. 54.
Canadian Grouse. 54.
Cape
136.
Cape Francolin. 129.
Quail. 183.
capensis, Coturnix. ISI, 183.
Francolinus. 129, 139-
ietrao: 120:
Capercailzie. 48, 49, 53-
American, 58.
Dusky. 58, 59, 61.
Kamtschatkan. 54.
Richardson’s. 61.
Slender-billed. 53.
Sooty. 60.
Ural 52:
Caspian Snow-Cock. 89.
caspius, Tetrao. 89, 90.
Tetraogallus. 89.
castanea, “Pucrasia. 285.
castaneicaudatus, Lobiophasis. 249.
castaneicollis, Francolinus. 118.
Caucasian Black Grouse. 46, 48.
Caucasian Snow-Cock. 90.
caucasica, Megaloperdix, 90.
Tetrao, 90.
caucasicus, Tetraogallus. 90.
Centrocercus. 66.
urophasianus. 66, 67.
Bare- throated Francolin.
Ceriornis blythi. 228.
caboti. 220.
melanocephala, 224.
modestus. 229.
satyra. 220.
temmincki, 227.
cervinus, Synoicus, 190.
Ceylon Spur-Fowl. 210.
Chalcophasis sclateri. 240.
challayei, Tetraogallus. $9.
Chamba Moonal Pheasant. 237.
chambanus, Lophophorus. 232,
237512 toe
charltoni, Arboricola. 174.
Perdix, 0672:
Tropicoperdix. 173, 174.
Charlton’s Wood-Partridge. 173.
Chestnut-mantled Koklass Pheas-
ant. 285.
Chestnut-naped Francolin. 118.
chinensis, Excalfactoria. 193, 194,
196, 198.
Francolinus. 107, 205.
Tetrao. 107; 193.
Chinese Bamboo-Pheasant. 203.
Chinese Francolin. 107, 205.
Quail. 193.
chloropus, Arboricola. 172.
Tropicoperdix, 172.
Chourtka alpina, 90.
chucar, Perdix))-o1.
chukar, Caccabis, 81, 91, 92, 95,
200.
Chukar, Red-legged. 91,
Chukor, 81, 200.
cinerea, Perdix. 143, 149.
Starna. 148, 149.
clamator, Francolinus, 129.
clappertoni, Francolinus, 126, 127,
128.
Perdix.. “120:
Clapperton’s Francolin. 126.
Close-barred Francolin. 124,
Sand-Grouse. 20,
Cock, Jungle. 270.
mage. 59.
Snow, 83.
ccerulescens, Crossoptilon. 255.
Columbe, 1.
Columba pheonota, 20.
Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse.
69.
columbianus, Pedicecetes. 69.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
columbianus, Phasianus. 69,
Common Koklass Pheasant. 281,
Moonal Pheasant. 231.
Partridge. 143, 147, 203.
Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse, 12.
Ptarmigan, 38.
Red-legged Partridge. 96.
Tree-Partridge. 160,
communis, Coturnix, 18o.
coqui, Francolinus. 111, 112.
Rerdix, 111.
coromandelica, Coturnix, 185.
Perdix. 185.
Corn-Crake. 5.
cornutus, Phasianus, 220,
coronatus, Pterocles. 15.
Coronetted Sand-Grouse. 18,
Coturnix. 79, 179.
adansonil, 197.
argoondah, 155.
caineana, 193.
capensis. 181, 183,
communis. 180,
coromandelica,
crucigera, 187.
dactylisonans,
delegorguei,
emini, 197.
erythrorhyncha. 150.
flavipes. 193.
fornasini. 187.
histrionica. 187.
japonica, 181, 184, 187,
novee-zealandize. 188.
pectoralis. 187, 188,
pentah, 153.
raalteni, 192.
textilis, “185.
vulgaris. 180.
vulgaris japonica,
coturnix, Coturnix,
185.
180,
187,
184.
179, 180, 184,
187,
Perdix. 180.
Tetrao. 180.
cranchii, Perdix. 138.
Pternistes. 138.
Cranch’s Bare-throated Francolin.
138.
crawfurdi, Euplocamus.
Crested Wood-Partridges.
276.
177.
Crestless Fire-Backed Pheasants.
240, 243.
rex crex, 5.
291
Crimson-headed Wood-Partridges,
174.
Crimson Horned Pheasant. 220.
cristatus, Phasianus. 177.
Crossoptilon. 251.
auritum. 82, 248, 252, 254, 256,
257.
Coenulescens: 255.
drouynii. 252.
harmani, 257.
leucurum. 253.
manchuricum. 254.
mantchuricum, 254.
tibetanum. 251, 253.
crucigera, Coturnix. 187.
crudigularis, Arboricola. 164.
Oreoperdix. 164.
cruentus, Ithagenes. 214, 215, 219.
Phasianus, 215, 237.
Cryptonyx dussumieri. 179.
ferrugineus. 179.
niger, 179.
cupido, Cupidonia. 62.
Tetrao. 62, 65.
Tympanuchus, 61, 65.
Cupidonia americana. 62.
cupido. 62, 65.
pallidicinctus. 65.
curvirostris, Tetrao. 142.
Phasianus. 237.
cuvieri, Genneeus.
271,
Lophophorus. 271.
Cuvier’s Kalij Pheasant, 271.
266, 268, 269,
dactylisonans, Coturnix. 180,
damascena, Perdix. 148.
darwini, Pucrasia. 287.
Darwin’s Koklass Pheasant,
daurica, Perdix. 149.
dauurica, Tetrao. 149.
davisoni, Genneus. 268, 271.
Davison’s Kalij Pheasant. 271.
decoratus, Pterocles. 16.
delegorguei, Coturnix. 187.
Delegorgue’s Quail. 187.
De l’Huy’s Moonal Pheasant, 238.
Dendragapus, 45, 58.
canadensis. 55.
franklinil. 56.
fuliginosus. 59, 60, 61.
obscurus. 58, 61.
obscurus fuliginosus, 60.
U 2
287.
292
Dendragapus obscurus richardsonii.
61.
richardsoni. O61.
desgodinsi, Tetraophasis. 83,
diardi, Euplocomus. 247.
Lophura, 247.
Diardigallus fasciolatus. 247,
prelatus. 247.
Diard’s Crested Fire-Back. 247.
diemenensis, Synoicus. 190,
Double-banded Sand-Grouse. 21.
Double-spurred Francolin, 126.
drouynii, Crossoptilon. 252.
dulitensis, Rhizothera. 142.
Dusky Capercailzie. 58, 59, 61.
Pheasant-Grouse. 81.
dussumieri, Cryptonyx. 179.
Eared Pheasant. 82, 248, 251.
Harman’s, 257.
Hodgson’s, 252.
Manchurian. 254.
Pallas’, 255.
White-tailed. 253.
Eastern Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse,
218,
elgonensis, Francolinus. 122.
Elgon Francolin, 122.
emini, Coturnix. 197.
erckeli, Francolinus.
erckelii, Perdix. 135..
Erckel’s Francolin. 135.
erythrophrys, Arboricola, 171.
124, 135.
erythrophthalmus, Acomus, 240,
241.
Euplocamus, 241, 242.
Phasianus, 241.
erythrorhyncha, Microperdix. 156,
158.
Perdicula. 156.
erythrorhynchus, Ptilopachus. 200.
Euplocamus albocristatus, 258.
andersoni, 276.
crawfurdi, 276,
diardi. 247.
erythrophthalmus,
horsfieldi. 269.
ignitus. 244.
leucomelanus.
lineatus. 272.
melanonotus. 263.
nobilis. 246.
nycthemerus. 277.
241, 242.
262.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Euplocamus sumatrantis. 244.
swinhoil, 278.
Euplocomus prelatus. 247.
pyronotus. 242;
vieilloti, 244.
Excalfactoria. 193, 248.
adansonii. 197.
australis, 196,
chinensis. 193, 194, 196, 198.
lineata, 194, 196, 198.
minima. 193, 194.
exustus, Pterocles. 12.
Pteroclurus. 1,2, 12,.23,
Falcipennis, 57.
hartlaubi. 57.
falcipennis, Falcipennis. 57.
Tetrao. 57.
fasciata, Tringa. 22.
fasciatus, Phasianus.
Pterocles. 22.
fasciolatus, Diardigallus. 247.
ferrugineus, Cryptonyx. 179.
Ferruginous Wood-Partridges, 175.
finschi, Francolinus, 118.
Finsch’s Francolin. 118.
Fire-Back, Black Crestless. 242.
Bornean Crested. 246.
Bornean Crestless. 242.
Diard’s Crested. 247.
Malayan Crested. 244.
Malayan Crestless. 241.
fischeri, Francolinus. 132.
Fischer’s Francolin. 132.
flavipes, Coturnix. 193.
Formosan Bamboo-Pheasant.
272,
204.
Tree-Partridge. 164.
fornasini, Coturnix. 187,
Francolin. 101.
Ahanta. 133.
Bare-throated. 135.
Boehm’s Bare-throated. 138.
Biittikofer’s. 121.
Cabanis’ Bare-throated.
Cape. 129:
Cape Bare-throated. 136.
Chestnut-naped, 118.
Chinese; fG7,0205:
Clapperton’s. 126.
Close-barred, 124.
Coqui. III.
Cranch’s Bare-throated.
Double-spurred, 126,
141,
138;-
ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 293
Francolin, Dybowski’s, 287. Francolinus castaneicollis, 118.
Elgon, ~ 122,
Erckel’s. 135.
Finsch’s. 118.
Fischer’s. 132.
Gariep. 120,
Gedge’s. 127.
Grant's. 114,
Gray’s Bare-throated, 140,
Grey, 108.
Grey-striped. 125,
Harris’s. 115.
Hartlaub’s, 127.
Heuglin’s Double-spurred, 128.
Hildebrandt’s. 131.
Hubbard’s, 112.
Humboldt’s Bare-throated. 136,
Indian Swamp. 122, 123.
Jackson’s, 134.
Johnston’s. 132,
Kirk’st 114.
Latham’s, 108.
Levaillant’s, 110.
Long-billed. 141, 142.
Natal. 130.
Painted, 106,
Pearl-breasted. 117.
Reichenow’s Bare-throated. 140,
Ring-necked. 112.
Riippell’s. 116.
Scaled. 132.
Schlegel’s. 112,
Schuett’s. 133.
Sclater’s Bare-throated. 137.
Sharpe’s. 116, 128,
Shelley’s. 121,
Smith’s. 113.
Spotted. 114.
Swainson’s Bare-throated, 139.
Wie 117.
White-throated. 115.
Francolinus, 101, 135.
adspersus. 124.
afer. 17.
africanus. I17.
ahantensis. 133.
albigularis. 115.
albogularis. I15,
altumi, 131.
ashantensis, 134.
bicalcaratus. 126.
buckleyi, 112.
capensis. 129, 139.
chinensis. 107, 205,
clamator. 129.
clappertoni. 126, 127, 128.
coqui. III, 112.
dybowskii, 287.
elgonensis. 122.
CECE, = 124035.
francolinus. 101, 106,
finschi. 118,
fischeri, 132.
gariepensis, 120, 121,
gedgii. 127,
granti, (Pi4, 115.
griseostriatus. 125,
gularis, 122, 123.
gutturalis. 116.
hartlaubi. 1275 126:
hildebrandti. 132.
hubbardi. 112.
humboldti, 136.
jacksoni. 134.
johnstoni, 132.
jugularis, 121.
kiki, PIA, 115.
lathami. 108,
leucoparzeus, 137.
leucoscepus. 140.
levaillanti. 119,
longirostris, 142.
maculatus. 107.
modestus. 133.
natalensis. 130.
nivosus. 209.
nudicollis. 136.
ochrogaster, II4.
peli. 108.
petiti. 133.
phayrei. 107.
pictus. 106, 107.
pileatus. 113.
pondicerianus, 108.
psilolemus, I15.
rueppellii. 128.
schlegelii. 112.
schoanus. II4.
schuetti. 133.
sepheena. 113, 114, I15.
sharpii. 116, 128.
shelleyi. 121, 122.
spadiceus. 206.
spilogaster. 114.
spilolemus, II5, 116.
254
Francolinus squamatus. 132, 133.
streptophorus, 112, 113.
stuhlmanni. IIT.
subtorquatus, III.
swainsoni. 139.
uluensis. 117.
francolinus, Francolinus, 101, 106.
franklini, Canace. 56.
Canachites. 56.
Tetrao. 56.
franklinii, Dendragapus. 56.
Franklin’s Grouse. 56.
fuliginosus, Canace. 60.
Dendragapus. 59, 60, OT.
fusca, Perdix. 199.
fuscus, Ptilopachus. 199, 206.
fytchii, Bambusicola. 202.
Fytch’s Bamboo-Pheasant. 202.
Gallinz.
Galloperdix. 78, 205.
bicalcarata. 210.
2006.
208, 209.
209.
1G:
lunulata.
lunulatus.
Junulosa,
spadicea. 206.
spadiceus. 206.
Gallophasis albocristatus.
264, 271.
horsfieldi. 269, 271.
leucomelanus. 262.
melanotus. 263.
258, 262,
Gallus gallus. 270.
macartneyi. 246.
gallus, Gallus. 270.
Game-Birds. I, 47.
gardneri, Phasianus. 215.
Gariep Francolin. 120.
gariepensis, Francolinus. 120,121
Gedge’s Francolin. 127.
gedgii, Francolinus. 127.
Genneus. 258.
albocristatus. 258.
andersoni. 276.
cuvierl. 266, 268, 269, 271.
davisoni. 268, 271.
horsfieldi. 266, 269.
horsfieldi lineatus. 269.
leucomelanus. 262, 265.
lineatus. 248, 266, 272, 276,
277.
melanonotus. 263.
muthura. 264.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Gennceus nycthemerus.
258-727
oatesi. 266, 268, 269, 276.
swinhoii. 278,
geoffroyi, Ithagenes. 218.
Ithaginis, 219.
Geoffroy’s Blood Pheasant. 218.
gingica, Arboricola, 166.
gingicus, Tetrao, 166.
granti, Francolinus. 114, I15.
Grant’s Francolin. 114,
Gray’s Bare-throated Francolin,
140,
Grey-bellied Hazel-Hen. 77.
Tragopan, 228.
Grey Francolin. 108,
Grey-striped Francolin. 125.
Grey Swamp-Quail. 192.
griseiventris, Tetrastes. 77.
griseogularis, Perdix. 99.
griseostriatus, Francolinus. 125.
Grouse. 26.
American. 59.
Black. oS 47, 52, 53
Blue. 9.
54, 56, 58.
Canada.
Canadian,
Columbian Sharp- -tailed. 69.
Franklin’s. 56.
Hazels 75979:
Pheasant. 81.
Pine. 59.
Pinnated. 61.
Red. 25, 27, 29, 42, 47.
Ruffed: 71, 73.
Sage. 66.
Sand.. 1,3,26.
Sharp-tailed. 68.
Sharp-winged. 57.
Willow. 26, 27, 29, 36, 44, 52,
85.
Guinea-Fowls, 199.
gularis, Francolinus, 122.
Ortygornis. 122.
Perdix,. | £22.
gutturalis, Francolinus. 116.
Perdix. 116.
Pterocles; “19722.
Hzematortyx. 174.
sanguiniceps. 174.
Hainan Tree-Partridge. 164.
hamiltoni, Phasianus, 258.
hardwickii, Perdix. 208.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX,
harmani, Crossoptilon. 257.
Hlarman’s Eared-Pheasant.
Harris’s Francolin, 115,
hartlaubi, Falcipennis. 57.
Francolinus. 127, 128.
Hartlaub’s Francolin. 127,
hastingsi, Tragopan. 224,
Hawk-Eagle, Nepal. 225.
Hazel-Grouse. 75, 79.
Hazel-Hen. 48, 74.
Grey-Bellied. 77,
Severtzov’s. 77.
Heath Hen. 65.
hemileucurus, Lagopus. 43.
THIemipodes. 26, 43.
Hen, Prairie, 59, 62.
henrici, Tetraogallus. 85,
hepburnii, Perdix. 106.
Heuglin’s Double-spurred Franco-
257.
lim. 128.
heyi, Ammoperdix, IOI.
Caccabis. rol.
Perdix. 101.
Hey’s Seesee Partridge. 101.
hildebrandti, Francolinus. 132.
Hildebrandt’s Francolin. 131.
Himalayan Snow-Cock. 86.
himalayensis, Tetraogallus.
89.
histrionica, Coturnix.
hodgsoniz, Perdix.
Sacfa, 150.
Hodgson’s Eared- Pheasant.
hopkinsoni, Bambusicola,
Horned Indian Pheasant.
Horned Pheasant. 220,
Blyth’s, 228.
Cabot’s. 2209.
Temminck’s. 227.
horsfieldi, Euplocamus. 269.
Gallophasis. 269, 271.
Genneeus. 266, 269.
Horsfield’s Tree-Partridge. 171.
Hose’s Long-billed Francolin. 142.
83, 86,
187,
ESO, 51,
2e2
202.
220,
hubbardi, Francolinus. I12.
Hubbard’s Francolin. 112.
humboldti, Francolinus. 136.
Pternistes. 136,
Humboldt’s Bare-throated Franco-
lin, 136.
hybridus, Tetrao. 52.
nyperborea, Lagopus. 43.
hyperboreus, Lagopus. 43.
295
hyperythra, Arboricola, 170, 171,
Bambusicola. 170,
icterorhynchus, Francolinus. 128,
ignita, Lophura. 246, 247,
ignitus, Euplocomus, 244.
Phasianus. 244, 246.
impejanus, Phasianus, 237,
Impeyan Moonal Pheasant.
impeyanus, Lophophorus.
222-1200, 227.
Indian Bush-Quails, 153,
Indian Painted Sand-Grouse, 22.
Indian Spur-Fowl. 78.
Indian Swamp Francolin. 122.
infuscatus, Pternistes. 141,
inornatus, Acomus. 241, 242.
intermedia, Arboricola, 165.
Island Painted Quail, 196.
227
231,
Ithagenes, 214.
cruentus. 214, 215, 219.
geoffroyi. 218, 219.
Ithaginis madagascariensis. 206.
sinensis, 219.
jacksoni, Francolinus, 134,
Jackson’s Francolin. 134.
Japanese Quail, 184.
japonica, Coturnix, 181, 184, 187.
javanica, Arboricola, 167.
javanicus, Tetrao. 167,
Javan Partridge. 167,
Javan Tree-Partridge. 167.
johnstoni, Francolinus. 132.
Johnston’s Francolin. 132.
jugularis, Francolinus. 121,
Jungle Bush-Quail. 153.
Jungle Cock. 269.
Kalij Pheasant. 258.
Anderson’s, 266, 276.
Black-backed. 262.
Black-breasted. 266, 269.
Cuvier’s, 271.
Davison’s, 271.
Oates’, 276.
Silvers ©2777.
Vermicellated, 266, 272.
Kamtschatkan Capercailzie. 54.
kamtschaticus, Tetrao. 54.
kennicotti, Pediocetes. 68, 60.
kirki, Francolinus, 114, 115.
Kirk’s Francolin. 114.
296
81, 280, 282.
285.
Koklass Pheasant.
Chestnut-mantled.
Lagopus. 26, 34, 45.
albus. 36.
alleni. 38.
alpina. 43.
hemileucurus. 43.
hyperborea. 43.
hyperboreus. 43.
lagopus. 26, 36.
leucurus. 44.
mutus. 36, 38, 44.
scoticus. 27, 36, 38.
rupestris. 39, 42, 44.
rupestris atkhensis. 42.
rupestris nelsoni. 42.
rupestris reinhardti. 42.
welchi. 42.
lagopus, Lagopus. 26, 36.
Tetrao, 36, 38.
La Perdrix rouge de Madagascar.
206.
La Petite Caille de l’Isle de Lucon.
196.
lathami, Francolinus. 108.
Satyra. 220.
Latham’s Chittygong Pheasant. 263.
Francolin. 108.
Le Perdrix de Gingi.
Lerwa. 79.
lerwa. 79, 80.
nivicola, 80,
lerwa, Lerwa. 79, 80.
Lesser Prairie Hen. 65.
leucomelanos, Phasianus.
leucomelanus, Euplocamus.
Gallophasis, 262.
Gennzus, 262, 265.
leucoparzeus, Francolinus. 137.
Pternistes. 137.
leucoscepus, Francolinus. 140.
Pternistes. 140.
leucurum, Crossoptilon, 253.
leucurus, Lagopus. 44.
Tetrao. 44.
levaillanti, Francolinus. 119.
levaillantii, Perdix. 119, 120,
166,
262.
262,
Levaillant’s Francolin, 119.
Vhuysii, Lophophorus, 238.
lichtensteini, Pterocles, 20, 22.
‘ineata, Excalfactoria. 194, 196,
198.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Lineated Kalij Pheasant. 248.
lineatus, Euplocamus. 272.
Gennzus, 248, 266, 269, 272,
2705 277
horsfieldi, Gennzeus. 269.
Oriolus. 196.
Phasianus. 272.
Lobiophasis bulweri. 248, 250,
castaneicaudatus, 249, 250.
Long-billed Francolins. 141, 142.
longirostris, Francolinus. 142.
Perdix. 142.
Rhizothera. 141,
Lophophorus. 230, 238.
chambanus. 232, 237, 238.
cuvierl, 27:8:
impeyanus, 231, 232, 236, 237.
Phuysii. 238.
mantoui. 236.
obscura, 236.
obscurus. 81, 236.
sclateri. 230, 240.
refulgens, 230, 231, 236.
Lophura diardi. 247,
ignita, 246, 247.
rufa, 243, 244, 247.
lucani, Pternistes. 138.
lunulata, Galloperdix. 206,
Perdix. 208.
lunulatus, Galloperdix. 208, 209.
lunulosa, Galloperdix. 209.
Lyrurus. 45.
mlokosiewiczi. 46, 48.
tetrix. 36, 45, 49, 50, 56.
macartneyi, Gallus. 246.
macrolopha, Pucrasia. 280, 281,
283, 284.
Satyra. 281.
maculatus, Francolinus. 107.
Perdix, “X07.
Madagascar Partridges. I51, 152.
madagascariensis, Ithaginis. 206.
Margaroperdix. I51, 152.
Tetrao. %107,>1§2.
magna, Caccabis. 95.
Malacortyx superciliaris.
Malacoturnix superciliosus.
Malayan Crested Fire-Back.
Crestless Fire-Back, 241.
Manchurian Eared-Pheasant.
mandellii, Arboricola. 167,
Arborophila. 167.
oi.
213:
244.
254°
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Mandelli’s Tree-Partridge. 167.
manillensis, Tetrao. 196.
manipurensis, Microperdix. 159,
Berdicula: —-159.
Manipur Painted
159.
Bush-Quail.
mantchuricum, Crossoptilon. 254.
mantoui, Lophophorus. 236.
Margaroperdix, I51.
madagascariensis.
striatus. 152.
Masked Sand-Grouse. 20.
medius, Tetrao. 48.
Megaloperdix caucasica. 90.
raddei. 89.
megapodia, Perdix, 161.
melanocephala, Caccabis. 98.
Ceriornis. 224.
Perdix. 08.
Satyra. < 224.
melanocephalus, Phasianus. 224.
Tragopan. 224.
melanonotus, Euplocomus, 263.
Genneus. 263.
Melanoperdix. 178.
nigra, 179.
melanotus, Gallophasis. 263.
Meleagris satyra, 220.
meyerl, Pucrasia. 285.
Meyer’s Koklass Pheasant. 285.
Microperdix. 156.
blewitti. 158.
erythrorhyncha. 156, 158.
manipurensis. 159.
Migratory Partridge. 149.
Quail. 180.
minima, Excalfactoria.
mlokosiewiczi, Lyrurus,
Tetrao. 48.
modestus, Ceriornis, 229,
Francolinus. 133.
montana, Perdix, 147.
Moonal Pheasant. 230.
Chamba. 237.
De l’Huy’s. 238.
Impeyan. 237.
Sclater’s. 240.
Mountain Pheasant-Quail. 213.
Mrs, Hodgson’s Partridge. 150.
muthura, Gennceus. 264.
Phasianus. 263, 264.
mutus, Lagopus. 36, 38, 44-
Tetrao. 38.
ESE, 152:
193, 194.
46, 48.
297
Namaqua Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse.
II.
namaqua, Pterocles, 11.
Pteroclurus. 11.
Wetrao., =.
namaquus, Pteroclurus. 11.
Natal Francolin. 130.
natalensis, Francolinus. 130.
nelsoni, Lagopus rupestris. 42,
Nepal Hawk-Eagle. 225.
Nepal Kalij Pheasant. 202.
Nepal Koklass Pheasant. 284.
nepaulensis, Satyra. 220.
New Britain Painted Quail. 197.
New Zealand Quail. 188.
niger, Cryptonyx. 179.
nigra, Melanoperdix. 179.
nipalensis, Pucrasia. 284.
nivicola, Lerwa. §8o.
nivosus, Francolinus. 209.
nobilis, Euplocomus. 246.
Northern Blood Pheasant. 2109.
northize, Polyplectron, 206.
novee-zealandiz, Coturnix. 188.
nudicollis, Francolinus. 136.
Btemistes. 135,136; 137.
Tetrao. 136.
nycthemerus, Euplocomus. 277,
Gennezus. 258, 277.
Phasianus. 277.
oatesi, Genneus. 266, 268, 269.
276.
Oates’ Kalij Pheasant. 276:
obscura, Lophophorus. 236.
obscurus, Canace. 60.
Dendragapus. 58, 61.
fuliginosus, Dendragapus. 60.
Lophophorus. $81, 236.
richardsonil, Dendragapus. 61.
Tetrao. 58.
Tetraophasis. 81, 82.
ochrogaster, Francolinus. 114.
oculea, Caloperdix. 175, 176, 177.
Perdix. 175.
Odontophorine. 78.
(Enas bicinctus. 24.
olivacea, Perdix. 161.
Ophrysia. 212.
superciliosa. 212, 213.
Oreoperdix crudigularis. 164.
orientalis, Arboricola, 171,
Perdix. 109, 171.
Oriolus lineatus,
298
196,
Ortygornis gularis. 122.
pondicerianus. 109,
Painted Bush-Quails. 156.
Painted Francolin. 106.
Painted Quails. 193, 248.
Painted Spur-Fowl. 208.
Pallas’ Eared-Pheasant. 255.
Sand-Grouse, 2.
Three-toed Sand-Grouse. 3.
pallidicinctus, Cupidonia, 65.
paradoxa, Tetrao. 3.
paradoxus, Syrrhaptes. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7,
Q.
Partridge. 73, 78.
American, 78.
Bamboo, 78.
Bearded. 149.
Bonham’s Seesee. 99.
Common. 143, 147, 203.
Javan. 167.
Madagascar. I5I, 152.
Migratory. 148.
Mrs, Hodgson’s. 150.
Prjevalsky’s. I5I1.
Red-legged. 90.
Rock Red-legged. 90.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Perdix altaicus. 86.
asiatica, 153, 155.
barbata. 97, 149.
bicalcaratus. 210.
bonhami. 99.
cambayensis. 153.
charltoni. 173.
chucar. 91.
cinerea. 143, 149.
clappertoni. 126,
coqui. III.
coromandelica, 185,
coturnix. 180,
cranchii, 138.
damascena. 148.
daurica, > “140:
erckelli, 135.
fusca. 199,
griseogularis. 99,
gularis. 122.
gutturalis, 116.
hardwickii. 208.
hepburnii. 106.
heyi. IOI.
hodgsoniz,
levaillantii. 119, 120,
longirostris, 142,
lunulata. 208.
150, 152.
Seesee. 99. maculatus. 107.
Snow. 79, 80. megapodia. I6I.
Tree, 160. melanocephala. 98.
True. 142: montana. 147.
Wood. 172. oculeay = 175:
parvirostris, Tetrao. 53, 54. olivacea. I6I.
Pearl-breasted Francolin. 117. orientalis. 109, I7I,
pectoralei, Coturnix. 187, 188. perdix. 143, 203.
Pedioczetes kennicotti. 68, 69. personata. I71.
Pediceczetes columbianus, 69. petrosa. 97.
phasianellus. 68, 69, 70. picta, 106,
phasianellus campestris, 69. punctulata. 138.
peli, Francolinus. 108. raaltenii. 192,
Peloperdix rubrirostris. 168. robusta. 143.
—pennanti, Satyra, 220. rubra. 96.
pentah, Coturnix. 153. rubricollis, 140.
Perdicine. 78. rupestris dauurica, 149.
Perdicula. 153. saxatilis, 90,
argoondah. 153, 155. senegalensis. 126.
asiatica. 153. sephena., II3,
erythrorhyncha. 156. sifanica. I5I.
manipurensis. 159. sphenura, 203.
rubicola, 153. striatus. 152.
Perdix. .143. swainsoni. 139.
adansonii. 126, thoracica. 203.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Perdix torqueola. 160.
vaillanti. 119.
ventralis. 199.
zeylonensis. 210,
perdix, Perdix. 143, 203.
Tetrao. 143, 149.
peregrina, Starna. 148,
perlatus, Tetrao, 107.
personata, Perdix. 171.
personatus, Pterocles. 2
petiti, Francolinus. 133.
petrosa, Caccabis. 97.
Perdix, 97.
petrosus, Tetrao. 97,
pheeonota, Columba, 20,
phasianellus, Pedicecetes.
70.
Tetrao. 68.
phasianellus campestris, Pedicecetes.
O.
68, 69,
9.
Phasianids. 78, 199.
Phasianus. 78, 199.
albocristatus. 258,
auritus. 255.
columbianus. 69,
cornutus. 220,
cristatus. 177.
cruentus. 215,
curvirostris, 237.
erythrophthalmus.
fasciatus. 272.
gardneri. 215.
hamiltoni. 258.
ignitus. 244, 246.
impejanus. 237.
leucomelanos. 262,
lineatus. 272.
melanocephalus.
muthura. 263.
nycthemerus. 277.
pucrasia. 28.
purpureus. 241.
reynaudii. 272.
roulroul, 177.
rufus. 244.
tibetanus. 252.
phayrei, Francolinus. 107.
Pheasant. 48, 52, 78, 199.
African Stone. 199.
Argus, 79, 199.
Bamboo. 202.
Biddulph’s Koklass. 284.
Black and White Chinese. 277.
241.
224,
299
Pheasant, Blood. 212.
Common Koklass. 281.
Common Moonal. 231.
Crestless Fire-backed, 240, 243.
Crimson Horned. 220.
Darwin’s Koklass. 287,
Eared, 82, 248, 251.
Horned. 220.
Horned Indian. 220,
Kalij. 258.
Koklass. 280.
Latham’s Chittygong. 263.
Lineated Kalij. 248.
Meyer’s Koklass. 285.
Moonal. 230.
Nepal Kalij. 262,
Nepal Koklass. 284.
Stone, 199.
Swinhoe’s Kalij. 278.
Wattled. 248.
Western Horned. 224.
White China, 277.
White-crested Kalij. 258.
Yellow-necked Koklass.
Pheasant-Grouse, 81.
Dusky. 81.
Széchenyi’s. 83.
Pheasant-Quail. 212.
Mountain. 213.
picta, Perdix. 106.
pictus, Francolinus.
pileatus, Francolinus.
Pine Grouse. 59.
Pine-Hen, 59.
Pinnated Grouse. 61.
pintadeanus, Tetrao. 107.
Pin-tailed Four-toed Sand-Grouse.
286,
106, IO7.
113.
"7,
Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse. 2, II,
Common, 12.
plumbeus, Synoecus. 192.
Polyplectron northiz. 206.
pondicerianus, Francolinus. 108.
Ortygornis. 109.
Tetrao. 108.
porphyrio, Tetrao. 177.
prelatus, Diardigallus. 247.
Euplocomus. 247.
Prairie Hen. 62.
Prince Henry’s Snow-Cock. 85.
Prjevalsky’s Red-legged Partridge.
5.
psilolemus, Francolinus. I15.
300 ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Ptarmigan. 26, 27, 29, 36, 39, 44. - Pucrasia darwini. ' 286,
Common. 38. macrolopha. 81, 280, 281, 283,
Rock. 42. 284.
Spitsbergen. 43. meyeri. 285.
White-tailed. 44. nipalensis. 284.
Pternistes, 135. ruficollis, 286.
atet, - 037. xanthospila. 285, 286.
boehmi. 138. pucrasia, Phasianus, 281.
cranchii. 138. Tragopan. 284.
humboldti. 136. punctulata, Perdix. 138.
infuscatus. I4I. purpureus, Phasianus. 241.
leucopareeus. 137. pyrenaicus, Pterocles. Io.
leucoscepus. 140. Pteroclurus. 8, 10, IT.
lucani. 138. pyronota, Alectrophasis. 242.
nudicollis. 135, 136, 137. pyronotus, Acomus. 242.
rubricollis. 137, 140. Euplocomus. 242.
rufopictus. 140.
sclateni. 1377. quadricinctus, Pterocles. 24.
swainsoni. 139. Quail. 78, 79, 179.
Pterocles. 15. Adanson’s Painted. 197.
alchata. 8. Australian. 187, 190.
arenaritis. “Dil 3,05. Black-breasted. 185.
bicinctus. 21. Cape.) 183:
coronatus. 15, 18. Chinese, 193.
decoratus. 16. Delegorgue’s. 187.
exustus. 12: Indian Bush. 153.
fasciatus. 22. Island Painted. 196.
gutturalis. 19, 22. Japanese. 184.
lichtensteini. 20, 22. Migratory. 180.
namaqua. II. New Britain Painted. 197,
personatus. 20, . New Zealand. 188.
pyrenaicus. 10. Painted. 193, 248.
quadricinctus, 24. Pheasant. 212.
senegalus. 14. Rain. 185.
tricinctus. 24. Swamp. 190.
variegatus. 17.
Pterocletes. 1. raalteni, Coturnix. 192,
Pteroclidse. 1, 3. Synoecus. 191, 192.
Pteroclurus, 7. raaltenii, Perdix. 192.
alchatus. . 2, 3, 8, 14. . Raalten’s Swamp-Quail, 192.
exustus, 1, 2, 12, 23. raddei, Megaloperdix. 8g.
namaqua. II. Rain-Quail. 185.
namaquus. II. Red-billed Tree-Partridge. 168.
pyrenaicus. 8, 10, II. Red-crested Wood-Partridge. 177,
senegallus. 14, 18. 216.
Ptilopachus. 199. Red Grouse. 25, 27, 29, 36, 42,
erythrorhynchus. 200, 47.
fuscus. 199. Red-legged Partridge. 90,
Ptilopachys. 78. Barbary. 97.
fuscus. 200, Black-headed. 98.
Pucrasia. 280. Chukar, 91.
biddulphi. 284. Common. 95.
castanea, 285. Prjevalsky’s, 95.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 301
Red Spur-Fowl. 206.
refulgens, Lophophorus,
236.
Reichenow’s Bare-throated Fran-
colin. 140,
reinhardti, Lagopus rupestris. 42,
reynaudii, Phasianus. 272.
Rhizothera. 141.
dulitensis. 142.
longirostris. 141.
richardsoni, Dendragapus. 61,
richardson, Tetrao. 61.
Richardson’s Capercailzie. 61.
Ring-necked Francolin. 112.
Ripa. 36.
robusta, Perdix. 143.
Rock Bush-Quail, 155.
Rock Ptarmigan, 42.
Rock Red-legged Partridge, 90.
Rollulus. 177.
roulroul. 177, 216,
superciliosus. 213.
roulroul, Phasianus. 177.
Rollulus. 177.
rubicola, Perdicula. 153.
rubra, Perdix. 96.
rubricollis, Perdix. 140.
Pternistes. 137, 140.
metrao.. 127,
rubrirostris, Arboricola. 168.
Peloperdix, 168.
rueppellii, Francolinus. 128,
rufa, Caccabis. 95, 98.
Lophura. 243, 244, 247.
rufa hispanica, Caccabis. 96.
Rufted Grouse. 71, 73.
ruficollis, Pucrasia. 286.
rufigularis, Arboricola.
13:
rufopictus, Pternistes. 140.
Rufous-throated Tree-Partridge.
165.
rufus, Phasianus. 244.
Metrao, 96.
rupestris, Lagopus.
Tetrao. 42.
rupestris atkhensis, Lagopus. 42.
rupestris dauurica, Perdix, 149.
Starna, 149.
rupestris nelsoni, Lagopus. 42,
rupestris reinhardti, Lagopus.
230, 231,
165, 166,
39, 42, 44.
42.
Riippell’s Francolin. 116.
sabinii, Bonasa, 72.
Metrao, 71.
Sacfa hodgsoniz. 150
Sage Cock. 59.
Sage Grouse. 66,
saliceti, Tetrao. 36.
Sand-Grouse. I, 3, 26.
African Painted. 24.
Black-bellied. 11, 15.
Bridled. 16.
Close-barred. 20.
Coronetted. 18.
Double-banded. 21
Eastern Pin-tailed. 2, 8.
Indian Painted. 22.
Masked. 20.
Namaqua Pin-tailed. 11.
Pallas’, 2.
Pallas’ Three-toed. 3.
Pin-tailed. 2.
Pin-tailed Four-toed. 7.
Short-tailed. 15.
Smith’s Chestnut-vented. — 19.
Spotted. 18.
Spotted Pin-tailed. 14.
Three-toed. 3.
Variegated. 17.
Western Pin-tailed. 8, Io.
sanguiniceps, Hzematortyx. 174.
Satyralathami. 220,
macrolopha. 281.
melanocephala. 224.
nepaulensis. 220.
pennanti. 220.
temmincki, 227.
satyra, Ceriornis. 220.
Meleagris. 220.
Tragopan. 220, 224, 225, 227.
satyrus, Tragopan. 220.
saxatilis, Caccabis. 90, 91, 92.
Perdix, 90.
Scaled Francolin, 132.
schlegeli, Francolinus. 112.
Schlegel’s Francolin. 112.
schoanus, Francolinus. 114.
schuetti, Francolinus. 133.
Schuett’s Francolin. 133.
sclateri, Chalcophasis. 240.
Lophophorus. 230, 240.
Pternistes. 137.
Sclater’s Bare-throated Francolin.
137.
Sclater’s Moonal Pheasant. 240.
302
Scleroptera adspersa. 124.
scoticus, Lagopus. 27, 36, 38.
Tetrao: 27:
Seesee Partridges. 99.
Heys, “101.
senegalensis, Perdix. 126.
senegallus, Pteroclurus. 14, 18.
Tetrao. 14.
sephena, Francolinus. 113, 114,
Tis.
Perdix,” “113;
Severtzov’s Hazel-Hen. 77.
Sharpe’s Francolin. 116, 128.
sharpii, Francolinus, 116, 128.
Sharp-tailed Grouse, 68.
Sharp-winged Grouse. 57+
shelleyi, Francolinus. 121, 122.
Shelley’s Francolin, 121.
Short-tailed Sand-Grouse. 15.
sifanica, Perdix. 151.
Silver Kalij Pheasant. 277.
sinensis, Ithagenes. 219.
Slender-billed Capercailzie, 53.
Smith’s Chestnut - vented Sand-
Grouse. 19.
Smith’s Francolin. 113.
Snow-Cock. 83.
Altai. 86.
Caspian. 89.
Caucasian. 90.
Himalayan. 86. |
Prince Henry’s. 85.
Tibetan. 84.
Snow Partridges. 79, 80.
Sonnerat’s Tree-Partridge. 166.
sonorivox, Bambusicola. 204.
Sooty Capercailzie. 60.
sordidus, Synoicus. 190, I9I.
spadicea, Galloperdix. 206.
spadiceus, Francolinus. 206.
Tetrao. 206.
sphenura, Perdix. .203.
spilogaster, Francolinus. 114.
spilolemus, Francolinus. 115, 116.
Spitsbergen Ptarmigan. 43.
Spotted Francolin. 114.
Spotted Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse. 14,
Spotted Sand-Grouse. 18.
Spur-Fowl. 205.
African. 78.
Ceylon. 210.
gnodian. 78.
Painted. 208.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Spur-Fowl, Red. 206,
squamatus, Francolinus.
Starna cinerea, 148, 149.
peregrina. 148,
rupestris dauurica.
Stone Pheasants.
132, 133.
149.
199.
streptophorus, Francolinus, 112,
113;
striatus, Margaroperdix, 152.
Perdix: ¢ -r52:
stuhlmanni, Francolinus. III.
subtorquatus, Francolinus, III.
sumatrana, Arboricola, 172.
Arborophila. 172.
Caloperdix. 176.
Sumatran Ferruginous Wood-Part-
ndge. ) 176,
Sumatran Tree-Partridge. 172.
sumatranus, Euplocomus, 244.
superciliaris, Malacortyx. 213.
superciliosa, Ophrysia. 212, 213.
superciliosus, Malacoturnix.
Rollulus. 213.
swainsoni, Francolinus. _ 139.
Perdix: 21 39.
Pternistes, 139.
Swainson’s Bare-throated Franco-
lin, .439:
Swamp-Quail, 190, 192.
Raalten’s. 192.
Swinhoe’s Kalij Pheasant. 278.
swinholi, Euplocamus. 278.
Genneus, 278.
sylvestris, Bonasia. 74,
Syneecus. 79, 190.
plumbeus, 192.
raelteni, :191, 192.
Synoicus, 190.
australis. 190, 192,
cervinus. 190.
diemenensis. 190.
sordidus. 190, IQI,
Syrrhaptes. 3, 7.
paradoxus. 2, 3/4,°b, 7,00:
tibetanus. 6.
széchenyii, Tetraophasis, $3.
Széchenyi’s Pheasant-Grouse, 83.
213:
taigoor, Turnix. 43.
tauricus, Tetraogallus, 89.
temmincki, Ceriornis. 227.
Tragopan. 227, 230.
temminckil, Satyra, 227.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Temminck’s Horned Pheasant.
227,
Tetrao. 49.
acatoptricus. 48.
aler. 137:
albus. 36.
alchata, 8.
arenarius. 15,
betulinus, 74.
bicalcaratus, 126.
bonasia. 74,
canadensis. 54.
capensis. 129.
caspius. 89, 90,
caucasica. 90.
chinensis, 107, 193.
coturnix. 180.
cupido. 62, 65.
curvirostris. 142.
dauurica. 149,
falcipennis. 57.
franklini. 56,
gingicus. 166,
hybridus. 52.
javanicus, 167,
kamtschaticus, 54.
lagopus. 36, 38.
leucurus, 44.
madagascariensis,
manillensis. 196.
medius. 48.
mlokosiewiczi, 48.
mutus, 38.
namaqua, II.
nudicollis, 136,
obscurus. 58,
paradoxa, 3.
parvirostris. 53, 54.
perdix. 143, 149.
perlatus. 107,
petrosus, 97.
phasianellus. 68,
pintadeanus. 107.
pondicerianus. 108,
porphyrio, 177.
richardsonil. O61,
rubricollis, 137.
rufus. 95.
tupestris, 42.
sabimi.- 71.
Saliceti. . 36.
scoticus. 27.
senegallus. 14.
LOZ 152.
393
Tetrao spadiceus. 206.
tetrixy, 45.
togatus. 7I.
umbelloides, 71,
umbellus. 71.
uralensis. 52.
urogalloides. 53.
urogallus. 49, 52, 53.
urophasianus, 66.
Vitidis.., 177.
Tetraogallus. 80, 83.
altaicus. 86.
casplus, C9.
caucasicus. 90.
challayei. 89.
lhenrict., “85;
himalayensis. 83, 86, 89.
tauricus, 89.
tibetanus. 84, 85, 86.
Tetraonide. 26.
Tetraophasis. 81.
desgodinsi. 83.
obscurus. 81, 82,
széchenyii. 83.
Tetrastes, 74.
bonasia. 74, 75.
griseiventris. 77.
Tetrix uralensis, 50.
tetrix, Lyrurus. 36, 45, 49, 50, 56.
Tetrao. 44.
textilis, Coturnix. 185,
thoracica, Bambusicola.
Ferdix,-203:
Three-toed Sand-Grouse. 3.
Tibetan Snow-Cock. 84.
Tibetan Three-toed Sand-Grouse. 6,
tibetanum, Crossoptilon, 251, 253.
tibetanus, Crossoptilon. 252.
Phasianus, 252.
Syrrhaptes. 6.
Tetraogallus. 84, 85, 86.
togatus, Tetrao. 71.
torqueola, Arboricola.
Perdix.: “160:
Tragopan, 220.
blythi. 228.
caboti. 229,
hastingsi, 224,
melanocephalum. 224.
melanocephalus, 224.
202, 203.
100, 165.
pucrasia, 284.
satyra. 220, 224, 225, 227.
Satyrus. 220,
304 ALPHABETICAL INDEX
Tragopan temmincki. 227, 230.
Tragopan, Grey-bellied. 228.
Treacher’s Tree-Partridge. 170.
Tree-Partridge. 160.
Aracan. 165.
Black-throated. 163.
Brown-breasted. 169.
Common. 160.
Formosan. 164.
Hainan. 164.
Horsfield’s. 171.
Javan. 167.
Mandelli’s. 167.
Red-billed. 168.
Rufous-throated. 165.
Sonnerat’s. 166.
Sumatran. 172.
Whitehead’s. 171.
tricinctus, Peterocles. 24.
Tringa fasciata, 22.
Tropicoperdix. 161, 172,
charltoni. 173,174.
chloropus. 172.
True Game-Birds. 1, 25.
True Partridges. 143.
Turkeys. 199.
Turnix taigoor. 43.
Tympanuchus. 61.
americanus. 62, 65, 66.
cupido. 61, 65.
pallidicinctus. 65, 66.
Ulu Francolin, 117.
uluensis, Francolinus. 117.
umbelloides, Bonasa. 72.
Tetrao. 71.
umbellus, Bonasa. 71.
Tetrao. 71.
umbellus sabini, Bonasa. 71.
umbellus togata, Bonasa. 71.
umbellus umbelloides, Bonasa.
71.
Ural Capercailzie. 52.
uralensis, Tetrix. 50, 52.
urogalloides, Tetrao. 53.
urogallus, Tetrao. 49, 52, 53.
urophasianus, Centrocercus. 66, 67.
Tetrao. 66.
vaillanti, Perdix. 119.
Variegated Sand-Grouse. 17.
variegatus, Pterocles. 17.
ventralis, Perdix. 199
Vermicellated Kalij Pheasant.. 266,
272,
vieilloti, Euplocomus. 244.
viridis, Tetrao. 177.
vulgaris, Coturnix. 180.
vulgaris japonica, Coturnix. 184.
Wading Birds. 26.
Wattled Pheasant. 248.
Bulwer’s. 249.
welchi, Lagopus, 42.
Western Horned Pheasant. 224.
Western Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse.
8, 10.
White China Pheasant. 277.
White-crested Kalij Pheasant. 258.
Whitehead’s Tree-Partridge. 171.
White-tailed Eared-Pheasant. 253.
White-tailed Ptarmigan. 44.
White-throated Francolin. 115.
Willow Grouse. 26, 27, 29, 36, 44,
52.05.
Wood-Partridge. 172.
Black.~__178, 170:
Bornean Ferruginous, 170.
Charlton’s. 173.
Crested. 177.
Crimson-headed. 174.
Ferruginous. 175.
Red-crested. 177, 216.
Sumatran Ferruginous. 176.
xanthospila, Pucrasia. 285, 286.
Yellow-necked Koklass Pheasant.
286
zeylonensis, Perdix. 210.
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