290 NOVITATES ZOOLOOICAE XXI V. 1917. 



lives in Asia, and is smaller than F. f. francolinus. As Bonaparte expressly 

 separated '' henrici" and was not likely to have the rarer " melanonotm," we 

 may accept the name asiae for the Francolin from the north-western parts of 

 India. It seems to me that " Francolimis orientalis europaeiis " Buturhn, 

 Orn. Moimtsher. 1907, p. 81, is a synonym. It was described from a specimen 

 with uncertain localitj', believed to be from Greece. As of the many state- 

 ments of the occurrence of Francolins in Greece none are creditable, we must 

 assume that Francolins never lived in Greece, and therefore dismiss Buturlin's 

 suggested locality. The description of " europaeiis " suits best our " asiae." 

 There is only one possibility, i.e. that the now extinct Sicilian Francolin was 

 smaller than F. f. francolinus, as Dresser said it seemed to be ; in that case 

 the name " europaeus " might refer to that extinct form. I hope to receive, 

 before long, information about this, from Italy, where some specimens from 

 Sicily are preserved, according to Arrigoni degli Oddi. 



A last distinct form is F. francolinus melanonotus (Hume, Stratj Feathers, 

 xi. p. 305, 1899, As.sam and Manipur). This form ranges from easternmost 

 Nepal to Assam, Manipur, Dacca, Maunbhoom. It has the barring of the rump 

 much finer, the white bars being quite narrow, besides some other differences. 

 The name melanonotus was overlooked, and therefore not quoted by the author 

 of vol. xxii. of the Catalogue of Birds. 



IX. FRANCOLINUS BICALCARATUS AND ITS RACES. 



When Mr. Ogilvie-Grant wrote vol. xxii. of the Catalogue of Birds, the 

 British Museum possessed only specimens of the typical bicalcaratus, which was 

 described by Linne (1766) from the Senegal (ex Brisson). In 1815, not considering 

 the name bicalcaratus suitable, Temminck renamed it adansonii, and gave as its 

 locality " Gambia, Niger." Another synonym is albiscapus Reichenbach, 1853. 



Reichenow (Vog. Afr. i.) mentioned the dark coloration of the Sierra Leone 

 specimens, and in 1902 Ogilvie-Grant described them as a new species, under 

 the name of Francolinus thornei (Bull. B. 0. Club. xiii. p. 22). Sierra Leone 

 specimens are indeed much darker on the back, crown, rump, and tail, and the 

 chestnut colour on the breast is, as a rule, darker, the creamy colour less in 

 extent. This is very striking in a series, but some specimens are less typical 

 than others. There can be no doubt that thornei is merely a subspecies of 

 bicalcaratus, although its distribution is most peculiar. Typical F. b. bical- 

 caratus is not only found in Senegambia, but also on the Niger below Timbuktu, 

 in Hausaland (Zaria), on the Gold Coast (Accra). Also a series collected by 

 Ansorge in Portuguese Guinea (Bissao, etc.) agrees well with Senegal .specimens 

 (ten specimens collected by Riggenbach, all very constant), but a few are some- 

 what darker, and one is not, so far as 1 can see, distinguishable from Maroccan 

 specimens. A dark form has also been described by Oscar Neumann {Orn. 

 Monatsber. 1915, p. 73) from Garua in Adamaua. According to the description 

 it must be very similar to thornei, and a male which the Tring Museum received 

 in exchange from the Berlin Museum, labelled — 



Tetrao bicalcaratus L. 



Mai. Adamaua ? Ostgrenze ? 



Kamerun 33741 v. Camap, 



therefore surely from near Garua, as in Kamerun proper the species does not 



