Game Birds of South Africa. 31 



inner portion and exposed parts, including the inside of the 

 beak and the eyes, with a mixture of good vinegar and water, 

 half and half ; let the bird dry in the shade and then sprinkle 

 pepper (but no salt) inside and on the feathers to keep off the 

 maggot-flies ; cut a stick of the right length and insert it 

 crosswise between the breast-bone and backbone to keep same 

 well open ; examine each evening for eggs of the maggot-flies 

 and remove any found, always peppering the bird well after. 

 Birds so treated will keep fresh for a fortnight or three weeks 

 in hot weather, but must naturally not be hung in the sun but, 

 as far as possible, in a shady, draughty spot. 



Shelley's Francolin. (Francolinus slielleiji.) 



I have shot this Partridge at Vereeniging and near 

 Witbank. 



Among the birds I have shot I have seen some examples 

 which agree exactly with the description of this Partridge 

 given by Stark and Sclater, while others not only show a 

 patch of black and white feathers on the crop, but such 

 feathers are continued right down the breast to between the 

 legs, while intermediate specimens are also found. As I 

 have stated in the notes on the Orange River Francolin, they 

 frequent exactly the same ground as those birds, in the parts 

 where I have shot them, and their habits and food are the same. 



The coveys of both species begin to break up into pairs in 

 August and September, and I have found the young from 

 January up to June. They are able (as is the case with all 

 the Partridges 1 know) to fly when not much bigger than 

 Sparrows, and until full-grown are known to sportsmen as 

 Squeakers. 



I am confident that this and the preceding species would 

 increase very much about Johannesburg if it were not for the 

 annual burning of grass just before the nesting-season, 

 followed by the later burning during the breeding-season of 

 such patches which may have been left unburnt at the first 

 burning. The birds cm gf^tno shelter from vermin and hail- 

 storms and many nests must be destroyed by the late burning. 

 I have noticed that wherever plantations have been started 



