BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 117 



siglit be taken to be both types of plumage are represented in the 

 series, but the hottegi type of coloration (blackish above) seems to be 

 dne to the wearing away of the reddish-brown margins. There is, 

 of course, considerable, individual variation as well. In the more 

 blackish individuals the shaft stripes are narrower and paler, less 

 rufous, than in brown ones. 



The ranges and characters of the races of this francolin arc as 

 follows : 



1. F. c. castaneicoUis. — Mountainous areas from Harrar and the 

 Hawash River through Arussiland and northern Gallaland to Shoa. 



2. F. c. hottegi. — The lake region of southern Shoa and the country 

 immediately adjacent to the southeast, south to Lake Stefanie. 

 Differs from the nominate form in the character given above; that 

 is, the absence of bright chestnut edges to the feathers of the upper 

 back. 



3. F. c. ogoensls. — British Somaliland (in the highlands only). 

 Differs from castaneicoUis in being more grayish, less brownish in 

 the dorsal ground color ; the interscapulars grayer, less blackish : the 

 crown more grayish, less chestnut; and the chestnut color of tlie 

 neck paler. Of this race I have seen no adults, but only two im- 

 mature birds. They are grayer above than the young castaneicoUis 

 collected by Mearns and have the lower Hanks somewhat barred, 

 a condition present, but less developed, in the young female 

 castaneicoUis^ and absent in the two young males. Also the brown on 

 the breast feathers is more extensive in ogoensls than in castaneicol- 

 lis^ and gives a more uniformly brown appearance to tlie breast in 

 the former race. Ogoensls is somewhat smaller as well. 



4. F. c. gofanus. — The Gofa and Kullo districts of southern 

 Ethiopia. This race, which I have not seen, is said to differ from 

 castaneicoUis and hottegi in that even the old males have no black 

 on the forehead while in the latter two forms not only the old but 

 even the young males, and, to some extent, females as well, have 

 black foreheads. Also the brown color of the upper breast is more 

 reddish brown in gofanus than in hottegi. The upper parts are 

 more brownish in the former, not so contrastingly black and white 

 as in the latter. 



The series studied in the present connection reveals several in- 

 teresting points as regards the plumages of this francolin. Young 

 birds are quite different from adults in appearance, and at first sight 

 might be taken for a distinct species. They lack the bright rufous 

 brown on the back, wings, and underparts, so characteristic of 

 mature birds. The juvenal underparts are more abundantly marked 

 with broad, long blackish or fuscous-black streaks than are those of 

 adults, but in both cases, the chin and throat are unmarked and 



