horn, if I may use the word, of the Arvah's) in the Gurgaon
district, where every place is as dry as an old bone.
Again, you may find them in fields of all kinds, irrigated or
not—young mustard fields especially, if the environment be
suitable, being favourite resorts.
But whether in hills or plains, you need never hope to find
more than a straggler or two, unless there be in the immediate
neighbourhood thin forest or jungle of some kind, be it brush,
tamarisk, stunted date, grass, reed or rush.
The only exceptions that I have known to this rule have been
in parts of the country where great quantities of sugarcane are
grown ; and here, if there be any permanent forest or jungle
within 20 or 30 miles where this Francolin is common, they will
migrate to the cane for a season when it gets high enough, and
take up their quarters in it as if it was a natural jungle.
Wherever you may be, you need never remain a second day
in ignorance of the proximity of Black Partridges. By the
earliest dawn, their clear, far-reaching, cheerful call, syllablized
in a score of ways by Natives and Europeans,* rings out through
the fresh morning air ; and as soon as it is light enough to look
about, you will, by silently following the sound, have little difficulty
in discovering some, at any rate, of the vocalists, each posted
on some convenient little eminence—a clay fence, an old post, a
rock projecting from a hill side, an ant hill—any raised place, in
fact, except a bush or tree, on one of which I myself never yet
saw this bird perch.-|-
No doubt they call most during the cold weather and breeding
season, but even in the autumn the bird is not quite silent.
In March it is vociferous to a degree in the early morning; and,
though, as the sun gets well above the horizon, the concert ceases,
it may be heard occasionally, especially if separated from its mate,
* " Be quick, pay your debts," is about the best English version. "Subhan, tere
hudrut" (Oh ! Omnipotent One, thy power who shall fitly describes), the most popular
amongst Muhammadans. The Muhmmadans, by the way, have a beautiful superstition
that all birds and beasts welcome the dawn with some prayer or thanksgiving to the
Creator. There is a good deal about this in the Markaz Insan O Kheiwan, a translation,
I think, of the Ahwani Suja. But to return : Other natives render it, "jiik-jitk,
tee-tttitr." " Lehsan, plij, adrakh" (garlic, onions, ginger), is also much approved.
Adams calls it whec-ii>ha-v.>hlch-a-wlriek, &c., cVc. But as a fact the call has a semimetallic
ring, which is its leading character, and which no words can reproduce,
though I have heard natives imitate it to perfection with a sort of whistle. Mr.
Brooks says:—
" The descriptions given by some writers of the call of this bird are absurd. It
could not be spelt. It is similar to the call of the Common English Partridge, but
has five notes instead of two, the three last being rapid, while the two first are somewhat
deliberate. It is a hoarse crow followed by a chuckle of three notes. It
generally crows from some little eminence or mound, but I have frequently seen it
doing so from a detached tree in the jungle. In the latter situation it is very difficult
to approach. It sits, not on the top of the tree, but on one of the larger branches."
t But it does, at times, thus perch, as Mr. Brooks attests the fact, and as may be seen
from Mr O Greig's note quoted further on ; and Mr. Young, writing from Kullu, also
says : " I once saw this Partridge perch in a cheel tree, at Serai Chungus on the
Bhimber route to Kashmir. Not being at that time used to perching Partridges, I
shot it to make sure of the species."
calling at any hour of the day, and frequently once or twice
just as it is settling itself for the night.
As the morning thoroughly brightens out, all the birds disappear
into fields, long grass, or jungle, where they peck about,
feeding on insects of sorts—larvae, white ants and their eggs,
small coleóptera, grain and seeds of all kinds, and tender shoots
of grass, mustard, and many sorts of herbage. When in the
neighbourhood of villages, I fear that, though not so utterly
depraved as Grey Partridges, they are yet not by any means
scrupulously clean feeders ; but when shot in large jungles, far
away from human habitations, they may be eaten without hesitation
; and although neither very tasty nor gamcy, the flesh
is white and sweet, and if cooked gipsy fashion, they will be
found, with good bread sauce, a very welcome addition to the
camp bill-of-fare.
At times you may come upon a pair in the middle of a field
that have been scraping in the ground and dusting themselves
like domestic fowls ; and in damp weather, I mean during the
rains, I have found them sunning themselves on sandy ridges in
the midst of clumps of Sarpat grass, their bodies comfortably
pillowed in little hollows which they have worked out for themselves,
and one or both wings slightly opened.
They are never found in coveys, except just after the breeding
season ; the young very soon learn to shift for themselves,
and by November, I think, separate from their parents.
Hundreds may be found in the same immediate neighbourhood,
but all in pairs, and each pair acting independently.
They are monogamous, and, I suspect, pair for life ; and hence
perhaps the rarity amongst them (if indeed they ever occur)
of those furious conflicts, so common amongst the males of
most of our game birds, for the good graces of their ladies.
After all they are only birds ; and all having wives of their
own, their little rudimentary minds are incapable of grasping
the manly predilection for possessing themselves of their neighbours'
spouses.
I should notice that in different localities the habits of this
species vary rather markedly ; in some places Blacks run almost
as badly as Red-legged Partridges at home, and seem unwilling
to rise—in others they take wing freely and scarcely run at all.
Again, in some places, although there may be numbers, they
are so wary and lie so close that you rarely catch a glimpse of
one until it rises, while in other parts of the country you see
them scuttling about everywhere, and running backwards and
forwards across the read or path in front of you, as tamely as
Pheasants in many parts of Norfolk.
The following note, sent me by Mr. O. Greig, touches on
several points of interest:—
" The Francolin is not a prolific breeder. I hardly ever
remember to have seen more than three young ones in a brood.