Fig. 47.–Cabot's Tragopan. Ceriornis caboti. × ⅙. (From Nature.)
In Ithagenes, or Blood-Pheasant, the bill is short and stout, the tail fairly long and rounded, the plumage soft and acuminate; the orbits are naked and red, and each metatarsus is armed with two or more spurs, generally absent in the female. I. cruentus of the Eastern Himalayas and Tibet has a full buff crest, black forehead and lores, lead-coloured back and wings, brownish remiges and rectrices with white tips to the latter, and a green wash on the wing-coverts and rump. The cheeks, throat, and much of the upper and under tail-coverts are crimson, the breast is yellow-green with crimson streaks. I. geoffroyi of East Tibet and West China has a grey head and throat; I. sinensis of Mongolia and North China is similar, with rufous for green on the wing-coverts. Females are grey, brown, and buff. Found in flocks of twenty or thirty at altitudes between ten and fourteen thousand feet, these bold birds have limited powers of flight, great speed of foot, and a weak cackling note; they bury themselves occasionally in the snow, as do certain Grouse (p. [238]), and feed on grass, insects, berries, and shoots of juniper or pine.
If a Sub-family Perdicinae be admitted, it may be commenced[[158]] with the little known Ophrysia superciliosa of North-West India, a soft-plumaged greyish-brown species with black and white markings on the head; next to which comes Galloperdix, the Spur-Fowl, with a large bare eye-space, and two or three spurs on each foot in the male, reduced to a single pair in the female. G. spadicea of India, which has been introduced into Madagascar, has a brown crown, and chestnut plumage elsewhere, with grey margins to the feathers, and black vermiculations on the wing-coverts and rump; the female being mottled with black. G. lunulata, another Indian form, has the crown black with white streaks, the breast buff with black spots, and black-ringed white ocelli on the mantle; G. bicalcarata of Ceylon has both mantle and crown black with white stripes, and the breast whiter. These birds frequent thick jungles near the coast, or hills up to seven thousand feet, and are extremely wild, though hard to flush; they resort to trees in emergencies, and roost in them at night; the note is a harsh or plaintive whistle; the food consists of grain, insects, and their larvae. Four, five, or even ten whitish or buff eggs are deposited on a few dry leaves below some sheltering shrub. The cocks are stated to fight as viciously as Jungle-Fowl. Bambusicola fytchii, the Bamboo-Partridge, found from North-East India to China, has the crown and ear-coverts red-brown; the upper parts olive-brown, varied in places with black and buff, and longitudinally marked with chestnut, except towards the rump; the wing- and tail-quills reddish mottled with buff; the superciliary stripe, throat, and breast buff, the chest brown with chestnut and white blotches, the flanks spotted with black. B. thoracica of South China and B. sonorivox of Formosa have grey superciliary stripes, and the latter grey ear-coverts. The females only differ from the males in rarely possessing a pair of spurs. These species do not form coveys, but haunt long grass and bamboo-thickets on the hills, being difficult to put up, and uttering screaming noises; they readily challenge their neighbours to fight, roost in trees, and lay from seven to twelve creamy-brown eggs under shelter of a tussock or bush. Ptilopachys fuscus of the northern Ethiopian Region has brown plumage with white margins, and vermiculations or darker barring in many parts, the mid-breast being buff and the naked orbits red. The sexes are similar. Small parties or pairs frequent rocky hill-sides up to nine thousand feet, and are very pugnacious; they carry the tail folded, as do domestic fowls, have a sharp call-note and lay whitish eggs.
In Excalphatoria the short tail of eight soft feathers is entirely hidden by the coverts. E. sinensis, the Chinese or Painted Quail, the smallest of the Phasianidae, is brown above with black marking and rufous streaks, a bluish shade appearing in places, and chestnut patches shewing on the wing-coverts; the throat and sides of the neck are black and white, the black forming a central patch below the chin; the remaining lower parts are slate-blue with a median chestnut patch on the breast. It is found from India and Ceylon to Formosa, and in Celebes; a darker race occupying the Philippines, many of the Malay Islands, and Australia. E. lepida of New Britain, New Ireland, and the Duke of York Islands has no chestnut on the wing, and little below; E. adansoni, of Africa south of lat. 5° N., is slaty-brown above, and has chestnut scapulars, wing- and tail-coverts with grey shaft-stripes. The females have white throats and rufous breasts barred with black. The Australian form, or Least Swamp-Quail, abounds in marshes, the Indian frequents dry ground as well, the coveys being composed of single broods, which feed mainly upon seeds. The flight is very brief, the nest a mere pad of grass, on which lie five or six olive-drab eggs, scantily spotted with purple or red-brown. Synoecus australis, the Swamp-Quail of Australia, Tasmania, and South-East New Guinea, is reddish-brown and grey above, with more or less distinct black mottlings; the throat is whitish, the under surface is buff, with black chevrons in younger birds. The female lacks the grey tints, and is more coarsely barred with black. Gould describes the habits and call as resembling those of the Common Partridge, but they are better exemplified by those of Excalphatoria, while the eggs vary from ten to fourteen, and are creamy or greenish-white, generally closely freckled with brown. S. raalteni of Timor and Flores has a rufous throat.
Of the true Quails six species may be admitted. Coturnix communis, the Common Quail, though essentially a migrant in the north, ranges throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, and breeds not uncommonly in Britain, having also been introduced into the Eastern United States; while another African race (C. capensis auctt.) only differs in its reddish throat. The crown is dark brown with a light streak down the centre and above each eye; the upper parts are brown and black with buff longitudinal stripes, becoming mottlings on the remiges; the throat is white with a black median patch connected with the ear-coverts by two upcurved lines: the breast is reddish-buff, the abdomen yellowish-white, the flanks are mottled or barred with brown. The short tail of ten or twelve feathers lies entirely below the coverts. The hen-bird has black pectoral spots and a perfectly white throat. C. japonica of East Asia and Japan, occasionally found in Bhutan and Burma, has a plain brick-red throat, the sides of which and the chin exhibit lanceolate feathers in the female. Hybrids between this species and the Common Quail occur where their ranges overlap; individuals, moreover, present great variation. C. coromandelica of India and the Burmese countries, C. delegorguii of the Ethiopian Region, C. pectoralis of Australia and Tasmania, and the nearly extinct C. novae zealandiae of New Zealand, have the outer webs of the primaries uniform brown in both sexes; the males of the first two have the throat as in C. communis, with a black patch on the breast, and buff and chestnut under parts respectively; the third has the throat plain brick-coloured; and the fourth still brighter red. The females have no throat-mark, the hen of C. delegorguii being blackish-brown above, and that of C. pectoralis shewing black chest-bands, which in C. novae zealandiae cover most of the feathers. That Quails can traverse long distances is evidenced by the migration of large flocks in spring and autumn; but, as a rule, their flight is short, and they rise with great reluctance, though with considerable velocity. The trisyllabic note of the male is rendered "wet-my-lips" by country-folk; the food consists of seeds, slugs, and insects, sought among the grassy flats in general frequented. From seven to fifteen yellowish or white eggs, with dark brown blotches or marblings, are deposited in a hollow lined with bits of herbage, in standing corn or grass, the hen sitting very closely and feigning lameness to draw attention from the young. The male appears to be usually monogamous, while the broods or "bevies" do not form coveys. Two of these broods are said to be occasionally reared in a season, but how far such statements are due to the destruction of the first complement of eggs must remain doubtful, as in the case of so many other birds that breed on the ground.[[159]]
Melanoperdix nigra, of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and Sumatra, is glossy black with browner primaries, the female being chestnut, with black markings and a whitish chin. It inhabits the lowlands and lays five eggs. Rollulus roulroul is a most remarkable form with a frontal tuft of long black bristles. In the male the fore-part of the head is black, separated by a white band from the full hairy crest of maroon, which covers the occiput; the upper parts are dark green glossed with blue, the wing-coverts being maroon, and the quills brown and buff. The tail and under parts are black, a blue tint shewing on the breast; the base of the black bill, the feet, and the naked orbits are scarlet. The female has a blackish head with moderate crest, a grass-green body with chestnut wing-coverts edged with maroon, and a black bill. These birds inhabit the dense forests of the Malay Peninsula, Tenasserim, Siam, Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, up to an altitude of a few thousand feet; they hunt in small parties for seeds, berries, and insects, are very shy, quick of movement and hard to flush, and utter a mellow whistle. Caloperdix oculea of similar range to Rollulus–unless we separate C. borneensis with more chestnut throat–has the crown, neck, and under parts rufous-chestnut, the back and tail black with crescentic white anterior and reddish posterior markings, the wing-coverts brown with round black spots, the quills brown and buff, the face and throat buff, a white supra-aural stripe, and black flanks with whitish bars. The male is only distinguished by possessing a pair or two of spurs. This bird haunts dense uninhabited forests, and eats insects, seeds, and berries. Haematortyx sanguiniceps, of the mountain-forests of Northern Borneo, is brownish-black; the slightly-crested head, the throat, upper breast and under tail-coverts being crimson with black tips to the last-named, and the metatarsi possessing three pairs of spurs. The rump-feathers have partly expanded shafts. The female has the throat rufous, the upper breast deep chestnut, and no spurs. Arboricola contains nearly twenty species with almost naked throats, ranging from Northern India to the Indo-Chinese countries, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Formosa. The following may be taken as examples of this genus, the sexes being usually alike. A. torqueola of the Himalayas has a chestnut crown, red, black, and white nape, olive and black upper parts, varied with chestnut and buff on the wings, black cheeks, throat, fore-neck, and superciliary stripe, a white line down the sides of the throat, a white band surmounting the grey breast, and grey flanks with chestnut and white markings. In the female the crown is brown and black, the throat, cheeks, and so forth, rufous with black spots, the chest-band rusty-red. A. ardens of Hainan, of which the male only is known, is easily recognised by the peculiar shining orange-scarlet patch of stiff hair-like feathers on the fore-neck. A. javanica of Java has the head rufous with brownish crown, a black band surrounding the eyes and crossing the occiput, another encircling the base of the neck, joined to the former by a black line down the rust-coloured nape, and a third running from the throat to the sides of the neck. The upper parts are dark grey barred with black, the wings exhibiting chestnut and olive tints; the chest is grey; the remaining lower parts are chestnut. A. chloropus of Lower Burma and Cochin China has the crown and nape brown, the superciliary stripe, throat, and lores black and white, the fore-neck buff with black spots and margin, the upper parts and chest brown and black with rufous on the wings and rump-region, the breast red, the abdomen, sides, and black-barred flanks buff. In this genus the orbital and even the gular skin is crimson or purplish, the feet are commonly red, the bill rarely so. The various species form coveys, which frequent grassy hill-jungles and wooded ravines up to more than ten thousand feet; they are usually unsuspicious, and run before an intruder, but occasionally perch in trees, and fly rapidly when forced to rise; the single whistling note is loud but mellow; the food consists of leaves, roots, berries, seeds, grubs, and molluscs; the four white eggs, sometimes speckled with grey, are deposited with little or no nest, at the foot of a tree, or under a tussock among thin scrub.
Microperdix and Perdicula, the Bush Quails of Anglo-Indians, have a blunt tubercle on each foot in the male. M. erythrorhyncha of South and West India has the crown and cheeks black; a white frontal band continued down the sides of the head; brown upper parts, with round buff black-centred spots on the back, and black and buff markings on the wings and tail; a white throat bordered by black; and a grey-brown chest and rufous breast, with black spots on the former and the flanks. The bill and feet are red. In the female the crown is brown, the throat and cheeks being rufous. M. blewitti of Central India is only slightly different; but M. manipurensis of Manipur has a chestnut throat, becoming grey in the hen. These active Quail-like little birds haunt the lower mountain-thickets up to perhaps eight thousand feet, forming small coveys, feeding on seeds and insects, and fashioning a slight nest under some sort of cover, to contain from ten to fourteen pointed creamy-brown eggs. Perdicula asiatica of India and Ceylon is brown above, with wavy black dorsal barring, and black and buff markings on the wings and tail; the superciliary stripes and throat are chestnut with whitish margins; the under parts white with black bars; the feet red. The female is uniform buff below. P. argoondah of India has dull brick-red in place of the chestnut, and a whitish throat in the hen. It has been introduced into Mauritius. The habits are much as in Microperdix, but the nest is sometimes more elaborate, and the reddish-white or olive-coloured eggs, with possibly a few faint spots, number from five to seven. Margaroperdix madagascariensis of Madagascar, imported into Mauritius and Réunion, has a black head with reddish-brown sides to the crown, a white stripe from above each eye running laterally down the neck, two others from the gape down the margin of the throat, rufous and black upper parts, with buff bars upon the wings and rump-region, and white shaft-streaks except upon the quills. The red-brown chest and black under surface are both margined with grey, and the latter is spotted with white; the flanks are chestnut, black, and white. It is called "Tro-tro," "Timpoy," or "Tsipoy" by the Malagasy, and inhabits grassy hills, flying rapidly for short distances, and laying from about fifteen to twenty eggs. Natives say that if you break these eggs you cause the death of your father, if you spare them that of your mother![[160]]
The genus Perdix contains the Common Partridge (P. cinerea), so valuable for purposes of food and sport, of which it is needless to describe the plumage; yet attention may be drawn to the dark chestnut horse-shoe mark on the grey breast, nearly obsolete in most adult females, and the broad ruddy bars on the sides and flanks. The hen may be invariably distinguished by wide-set buff bands on the black scapulars and adjoining wing-coverts, which in the cock are light brown with black vermiculations and chestnut blotches. The latter sex, moreover, has grey instead of brown sides to the neck.[[161]] Great variation is noticeable in the coloration, specimens from dry soils exhibiting the richest hues, while some are occasionally obtained with a white horse-shoe mark, and a particularly dark variety has even been denominated Perdix montana. Hybrids are recorded with the Red-Legged Partridge and Red Grouse, but such are quite exceptional. Unknown in Shetland, the Partridge has been introduced with moderate success into the Outer Hebrides and Orkneys; but in the Highlands of Scotland the character of the country is often unsuitable, nor is the bird very plentiful in Ireland. From Scandinavia it occurs southward to the Douro valley and Naples, though rarer in Northern Europe, and choosing higher ground than the Red-legged species in the south; eastward it reaches through Asia Minor and Persia as far as the Altai Mountains. Pairing even in February, it does not nest until about April, the numbers of individuals reared being naturally much affected by subsequent excess of wet or drought. The better the cultivation the larger the stock, though grassy heaths, gorse-coverts, tangled hedge-rows and thickets also provide excellent harbour. Very rarely do Partridges desert the open for woods, or perch in trees, though during the hot hours they shelter in fields of turnips, clover, and so forth, emerging at other times to feed on the grain, seeds, leaves, and insects found among short vegetation or stubble. Cover is naturally eschewed when wet. They often trust to their powers of foot for escape, or crouch motionless upon soil that matches their plumage, while the whirring noise with which they rise is familiar to all, as is their heavy rapid flight at starting, and their easy gliding motion afterwards. The well-known crowing note is most commonly heard towards evening. The nest, a circular cavity lined with grass, is placed among short herbage, often near a road, the drab-coloured–or, exceptionally, bluish–eggs varying from nine to twenty or more in number. Both parents tend the young and employ many devices to mislead an intruder; at night the family parties roost upon the ground, and later in the year pack into larger coveys. The methods of sportsmen and poachers cannot be discussed at length in our limited space, but the general adoption of driving, instead of shooting over dogs–due to improved systems of farming–should not be left unnoticed.
P. daürica (barbata), of Asia east of the Altai and Tian-shan Ranges, exhibits lanceolate feathers on the sides of the throat, like Coturnix japonica, and a black "horse-shoe" mark on the golden-buff breast; the latter part in P. hodgsoniae, of South Tibet and the extreme north of India, being white with wide bars and a large basal patch of black; P. sifanica of North-West China and North Tibet lacks the black patch, and has less black on the sides of the head and throat. The two last-named birds reach the snow-line at about eighteen thousand feet; the first of them at least having a nest and eggs like the Common Partridge. Rhizothera longirostris, of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and Sumatra, has long sharp curved beak and powerful whitish metatarsi, provided with a pair of stout spurs in each sex. The upper plumage is rich brown with black and buff markings; a grey shade pervades the neck and lower back, and chestnut tints the cheeks, throat, and wings; the under parts are grey, merging posteriorly into buff. The hen has a chestnut fore-neck, and is less grey above. R. dulitensis of Borneo is similar.
The genus Pternistes contains the naked-throated Ethiopian Francolins. P. nudicollis of South Africa is brown above with black shaft-stripes, the mantle being greyer, the superciliary stripes and face black, the sides of the neck and lower parts black with white streaks. The female has a grey and rufous chest, the male a pair of sharp spurs. The bare orbits and throat are crimson, the bill and feet orange-red. P. humboldti of East Africa and P. afer (rubricollis) of western South Africa resemble the above, but have two pairs of spurs. P. cranchi differs in having the neck, mantle, and under surface mottled with black and white, the breast and abdomen shewing chestnut markings; in the similar P. boehmi the naked throat is yellow. These two species occur west and east of Lake Tanganyika respectively; the female being less black and white above and less chestnut below in the former, while the sexes are alike in the latter. P. swainsoni of South Africa is distinguishable by its rusty abdomen with black and chestnut blotches, the latter colour being absent in the hen; P. rufipictus of East Equatorial Africa has white neck-feathers, margined with brown and black. P. leucoscepus of North-East and the darker P. infuscatus of East Africa exhibit broken stripes of brown and white down the whole body, with yellowish-red orbits and throat; the sexes are alike save for the spurs in the male. In many districts the members of this genus, as well as the Francolins proper, closely akin to them in appearance and habits, are denominated "Pheasants." They haunt grassy places and brushwood, often on hills near water; the coveys feeding in the open on bulbs, seeds, berries, and insects, and roosting upon trees, preferably those that are leafless. Flying little, but running at a great pace, they utter harsh notes in the morning and evening, and lay six or more creamy or pinkish eggs, frequently with chalky spots, in a grass-lined cavity sheltered by coarse herbage.