Game Birds of South Africa. 33 



the reeds and scrub along the Groat Brak Hiver running 

 through his farm would afford them sufficient shelter. For a 

 time they increased fairly rapidly and went long distances ujj 

 and down the river on to the land of neighbours. Of late 

 years, however, I am informed that they have been decreas- 

 ing, which Mr.Southey puts down to the enormous number of 

 wild cats and other vermin in that part of the country, which 

 find Pheasants sleeping on the ground in a limited area an 

 easy prey. 



They are very noisy birds, having a harsh penetrating- 

 call. 



The only place where I have shot a few was in the bush 

 near Barberton. Their food appears to be similar to that of 

 Partridges. They will frequently settle on trees, but, so lar 

 as I am aware, they do not sleep in the trees. 



The latter species I have shot in the Nylstroom District in 

 1905 among thick thorny scrub close to a vlei, and in amongst 

 the rushes in the vlei itself. The m de is about twice the 

 weight of a Red-wing Partridge and is not only distinguished 

 from a Partridge by its size and different coloration, but bv 

 its gaily coloured head and neck, as it has a bare ring or 

 space round the eyes, and on the throat below the beak which 

 is of a bright vermilion ; the lower mandible is red and so is 

 the nasal opening of the upper mandible. The female 

 resembles the male, but is duller in coloration and has no spur. 

 The male has a long sharp spur, with often a rudimentary 

 second spur higher up. I have also shot a male bird on the 

 Maretzani River, Bechuanaland, in May of this year, which I 

 found among some thorny scrub on the edge of a big vlei in 

 the valley through which the river flows. I saw some more, 

 but it was too late to follow them up. I believe that I have 

 shot the same bird in Swaziland on the Lomati River in 1891; 

 if it was not this bird, th^^n it must have been Pternistes 

 nudicollis, which has been reported from Lydenburg in the 

 Transvaal, but, as Sclater states, probably in error. Its food 

 appears to be very similar to that of the Partridge, judging 

 from the contents of crops I have examined. I do not know 

 anything of its habits in regard to nesting and roosting, but 

 VOL. IV. 3 



