292 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI 



Date 7th March 1918, shot by Mr. W. R. French and skin given to 

 J. C. Hopwood. 



Bill black, legs flesh colour, claws horny." 



The catalogue of the Game Birds in the collection of the British Museum 

 gives the following : 



Rhizotheka. 



Rhizothera {Gva.y).—" List. Gen. B, 2nd ed., p. 79 (1841), Type. 



id. Gen. B. iii, p. ijOS (1846) . . . . R. longirostris. 



Tail with 12 feathers, rather more than half the length of the wing. 



1st primary equal to the 10th, 0th slightly the longest. Tarsi longer than 

 middle toe and claw, and provided in both sexes with a pair of short 

 stout spurs. Claws, moderate and slightly curved. 



Range. — Southern part of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo." 



There are only two known species, the other Hose's Long-billed Francolin 

 {Rhizothera dulitensis, Ogilvie-Grant) having been got at Mount Dulit in 

 Borneo. 



Ogilvie-Grant in his Hand-book to the Game Birds, Vol. I., gives the 

 following concise description of the bird : — 



" Adult male. — Top of the head rich brown ; general colour above chest- 

 nut, 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 underparts rufous buff. Total 

 length 14-6 inches ; wing 7'7 ; tail 3-5 ; tarsus 2*2. 



Adult female. — Differs from the males in having the neck and chest 

 rufous-chestmit, and the lower back and upper tail coverts viosthj buff. 

 Slightly smaller than the male." 



Finn in his Game Birds of India and Asia says : 



" This peculiar Partridge, which ranges from the south of the Malay 

 Peninsula to Borneo, is at once recognisable by its large bill, which is big 

 enough for a peacock, though the bird is of the ordinary partridge size 

 about fourteen inches long." 



Great credit is due to Mr. Hopwood for adding this species, as 

 Davison with a good staff had collected in Tennasserim for over four years. 

 Bingham and others also collected there without discovering it and gan.e 

 birds however rare they may be, are not as a rule absolutely passed over. 



I hope Mr. Hopwood will be able to get further specimens and give us 

 more information about this interesting bird. 



CHAS. M. INGLIS, m.b.o.u 



Baghownie Fty., 



Darbhang Dist., .Sl.sf August 1918. 



No. XX.— NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM FAO 



BY 



W. D. GUMMING. 



(Corrections to the List of Birds from Fao published in the "Ibis," 



188d and 1891.) 



The Persian Hooded Crow — Corms caprllanns. In the winter, birds 

 are often seen with the white parts strongly tinged with grey, this 

 might be seasonal or a sign of birds of the year. 



The Grey-backed Warbler — JEdonfamiliaris. Plentiful, breeding every- 

 where on both sides of river. This is a beautiful whistler during 

 the breeding season. 



