the full exercise of their religion. I am therefore inclined to suppose, as I have elsewhere explained it, that they were only intended to abrogate Islamism as the religion of the state, and consequently to exempt all persons from the pains and penalties which they might otherwise incur by acting in opposition to its laws and doctrines. In this view of the subject, it necessarily follows that such abrogation was not requisite with regard to the Hindu religion, as although this was the faith professed by far the greatest part of Akbar's subjects, still it was only tolerated, and any transgression of its institutions was not liable to be punished by the laws of the state. The various ordinances, therefore, published by Akbar were intended to give every person in his dominions the full liberty of freely embracing and of freely professing whatever religion he might think proper, and to abrogate all laws or customs which might subject him to punishment for entertaining what were previously deemed heterodox opinions.

• It may be supposed that the worship of the sun and of the sacred fire was borrowed from the Hindus; but it seems more probable that it was adopted from the followers of Zardasht, as Akbar not only adopted their year but also their festivals; and to the adoration of the sun was also added that of the planets, which never were, I believe, individually worshipped by the Hindus.

XII.

DESCRIPTION OF A CURIOUS BIRD OF THE OTIS GENUS*.

By Captain JOHN STEWART, of the Bombay Military Establishment.

Read on the 23rd Feb. 1819.

I THINK the following singular bird may safely be reckoned among those of India which have hitherto remained undescribed in books of natural history: it is no doubt, however, familiar to many persons in this country, being what is called the three-toed Quail, which gentlemen who follow the sports of the field must frequently have observed.

Although this bird has been commonly considered as a variety of the Quail, the structure of the foot, so very different from that of the Tetrao, genus, must at once point out this impropriety, and prove its title to a place among the genus Otis. I shall, however, state presently its generic characters, by which this will appear more satisfactorily; and if so, the bird must be looked upon as the smallest of the Bustard tribe which has ever been described. The bird which I examined weighed eleven drachms and sixteen grains, and measured from tip to tip of the wings, when stretched out, nine inches and a half.

The habits of this bird appear very similar to those of the common grey Quail: it generally frequents the same places, and is most frequently found in cultivated spots : it flies very actively, and, when it settles, drops down suddenly among the grass or brush-wood as if wounded. Its flesh is very delicate. It is common in Guzerat and in Malwa.

The general form of the bird is more delicate than that of the Quail, and its size much less: its plumage is more variegated, and brighter in colour, and its bill more slender and less convex.

* With one drawing.

The following may be stated as its generic characters:

Bill rather slender, and somewhat convex; nostrils long; tongue even ; toes only three.

By the above characters the bird certainly appears more nearly allied to the genus Otis than to any other; there are, however, the following anomalies which ought to be mentioned: 1st, The shape of the nostrils, which in the bustard are oval and open; 2dly, Being feathered above the knee. The last, however, I consider a very trifling difference, as some of the bustard species in this country have feathers on the thighs. The feathers on the thighs of the present subject are very thin.

The plumage is variously marked, and barred with black, brown, white, and ochrey rust colour; the external edges of the vanes of the scapular feathers, and of the plumage of the back, are light ochre, and the feathers elegantly barred with brown and black; the feathers on the rump are a fine purplish black barred with white at the tips; the breast of a light rust marked with oblong spots of deep brown. As I may probably, however, better describe the plumage by the pencil than the pen, I have the pleasure to send a drawing of the bird taken from nature, which will convey a pretty correct idea both of its plumage and its natural size.