birds were extremely plentiful in August last, running about on the open 'pat/ or
among the stunted tamarisk bushes." p '
t h i X ' p e m i i x U l i S S P C C i C S i 3 ^ u ^ d o n the third of the plates of eggs which follow
THE CORONETTED SAND-GROUSE. (Vol. I., p. 57.)—
T stupidly said that I could find nothing recorded of the habits of this species,
when in reality years ago I had put the following on record :•—
"Sir William Merewethcr tells me that the flight and cry of P. cotonalus are
both quite different from those of all the other species. They have a curious fluttering
flight, and appear often to hover in the air, especially before settling, and their
cry is a twittering one."
Mr. Tufnell writes that he procured several specimens of this species when at
Vilakri, in Beluchislan.
The occasional range of this species within our limits is considerably more extensive
than I suspected. Lieut. W. W. Lean writes to me, under date the 7LH of
October:—
" Two males of the Coronetted Sand-Grouse were shot within three miles of this
post, (Fort Jumrood, near the mouth of the Khyber Pass,) this morning by Dr.
Julian Smith. The flock (some twenty in number) was first seen flying from the
direction of the Khyber, uttering their peculiar cry. Suddenly they separated, preparatory
to alighting along a nullah, which crosses a very stony plain, to drink.
" The largest of the two birds measures 12 inches in length and 23-25 in expanse,
and weighs 23 rupees say 8£ ozs.
" The colouring of the plate is, as you say, defective. The occiput is really cinnamon
and not burnt sienna. The blue grey superciliary stripe forms a complete ring,
a little white intervening between it and the eye. The orange of the plate should be
more of a yellow ochre, which goes rather lower down than is shown in the plate,
and is continued on across the back of the neck, thus forming a ring. The yellow
tinge of the plate is replaced by stone grey or rather a mixture of cinnamon and
giey stone, and the burnt sienna and sepia shades are replaced by stone and brown.
"The neck is not thick, but dove-like, in fact in shape exactly like that of the
male Spotted Sand-Grouse as depicted in the plate.
" I cau only find small seeds and gravel in their crops/'
Since I wrote Mr. II. E. Barnes found one or two nests of this species near Chaman
(South Afghanistan) ; they contained three (in one case very) hard set eggs, of
the usual elongated cylindrical shape, one of which measured I'K by 106.
One of these eggs, taken on the 271I1 of May, for which 1 am indebted to this
gentleman, has a fine and compact shell, and a moderate amount of gloss; the ground
colour is a pale creamy white, the markings, spots, moderate-sized blotches and streaks
are, as usual, of two colours.—a pale, rather washed-out yellowish brown, and a very
pale, almost sepia grey. This egg measures i'6j by 1*07.
THE PAINTED SAND-GROUSE (Vol I., pp. 59, et seq.)—
I mentioned that this species extended to Mysore, but I had no details
of its distribution. IT would now appear that in the Province, as a whole, it is
extremity rare, but that there are some few localities in which it is pretty abundant.
Thus Major Mclnroy, than whom no sportsman is better acquainted with Mysore,
as a whole, writes: "You mention that this species does extend to Mysore, but
IT is extremely rare there. The following are the only two instances in which I have
met with IT during five years of travelling in all parts of the province, whilst especially
in the Chitaldroog District, the Common Sand-Grouse is in legions : —
TL 2YD y,t unary 1879—Two brace near Ramgherry, Hosdurga taluk, Chitaldrong
district, Mysore. One brace in hilly jungly ground; the other brace on the plain
WITHIN a quarter mile of the village of Ramgherry, still there were a few bushes.
I shot a biace of the Common Sand-Grouse within a fezv yards of these. In the first
case there were three birds, in the other a pair only.
" 1st February 1S79—Iiukanibuli, Tarikere taluk, Kadur district, Mysore. One
brace out of three birds. Scrub jungle at foot of a hill."
On the other hand Mi*. Tufnell says : " A s regards the occurrence of this bird
in the Mysore province I can speak, from experience, of its being anything but rare
on the wooded islands; of the Cauvcry, near Seringapalani. The largest bag I
can remember making in that part of the country was thirteen birds, killed near
French Rocks on 17TH October 1878, by Major St. John and myself. They
breed in the same place "
In corroboration of my account of the kind of localities affected by this species
Captain Ilcaviside, R.E., writes : " The country in which I have found these most
abundant consists of low, flat-topped hills, such as are found in the Nerbndda valley,
south of Mhow. These hill-tops have patches of black soil on them, and are
covered with thin tree jungle. This year, in Khandesh, I have found these birds
common on the same sort of ground, and have noticed them in the evening on the
cart tracks, where they were probably dusting themselves, as there is no grain traffic on
these roads. In both places, but more specially in the Nerbudda valley, I
generally got about a brace whenever I went out shooting for an hour or two.
I agree with Jerdon in thinking they have crepuscular or nocturnal habits, as I have
seen them flitting round when it was practically dark,"
An egg of this species has been figured on the second of the egg plates that follow
this Appendix.
THE CLOSE-BARRED SAND-GROUSE (VOL. I., pp. 65, etseq.)—
"When writing of this species I remarked that, although never recorded from
riehichistan,it must needs occur there. This has since proved to be the case. Mr.
Tufnell writes : " Two specimens of the Close-barred Sand-Grouse were procured
last November on the Bhor plain in Beluchistan, and the officer who killed and gave
them to me told me that he saw many more of the same species on this plain. I
think I saw a small flock of these birds near the same place in the beginning of
January, but could not be certain."
THE COMMON PEA-FOWL (VOL. I. , pp. 8r, et seq)—
I gave from June to October as the laying season of this species, but it appears
that both in the Sub-I Hmalayan tracts and in Southern India some birds, at any rate,
begin laying in April. Thus my old friend Mr. Frederic Wilson says : " You
say, page 90, that Pea-Fowl breed in June, July, and August; but in the Dun here
we find the eggs about the end of April, and early in May they are plentiful
enough."
And Major Mclnroy writes : " Hoonsoor, Mysore, i$th April.—Took a Pea-Fowl's
nest containing four fresh eggs. One of my men first found it about a week ago ;
it then contained only one egg. This seems to be an early date for Pea-Fowl to lay
in the South, though I see that some are said to lay in April in the North"
In Ceylon, I learn that they begin laying as early as X'nias, and that fresh eggs
may still be found well into April.
At page 89, I referred TN the albino varieties of this speices that are occasionally met
with. Mr. F. W. Butler now writes : ''IT may interest you to know that I lately
shot a Pea-Fowl in the Mozuffurmiggur district, similar to the one described by you
in your book, as being ' a hen of a uniform dirty yellow colour.' My bird, however,
was more white than yellow. I flushed the bird in a cotton field at dusk, and at the
moment believed I had put up a Turkey."
THE EASTERN OR BURMESE PEA-FOWL (Vol. I., pp. 93, etseq.)—
When I wrote I was not aware that this species extended anywhere within
our limits northwards of Arakan, but it now appears that, though very locally
distributed, it is the only Pea-Fowl met with in Chittagong, extending quite to
the north of that district.
Mr. H. Fasson, to whom I am indebted for this information, remarks:—
" The Peacock found in this, the Chittagong district, is the Eastern or Burmese
Pea-Fowl, [Pavo muiicus.)
''I have seen a live specimen, and have heard of small flocks at Jonykhola in
Fatikchiri, the extreme north of the district, at Gurjunia, and at Rainoo in the
south, and at Rangunia on the Kurnafoolee, where one was shot the other day.
These small parties, of four or five birds each, are the only ones I have had khabar
of, and they seem to stick a good deal to those neighbourhoods, so that, when I
aslied hi various parts of the district if there were any Pea-Fowl about, 1 used to