' 
FRANCOLINUS CLAMATOR. 591 
periodical streams, and on the least approach of danger seeks shelter 
in the trees and bushes, with which these banks are generally 
studded. It lives much on trees, roosting among the branches by 
night, and also resting there during the heat of the day. These 
Francolins run with extraordinary swiftness, and will not use their 
wings unless very hard pressed; and when they do so, it is with the 
view of concealing themselves amongst the thickest of the branches 
of some convenient tree, where they remain perfectly motionless ; 
and it requires a good and practised eye to detect one of these birds 
after it has taken refuge in a full-foliaged tree; when the danger is 
passed they generally again seek the ground. Their feeding time is 
in the early morning and the cool of the evening; and their food 
consists of seeds, berries, and insects. The notes of these birds 
are harsh, and so loud that they may be heard at a great distance ; 
they resemble a succession of hysterical laughs, at first slow, but 
increasing in rapidity and strength, till they suddenly cease. This 
species deposits its eggs in a hollow in the ground, without any 
lining.” Senor Anchieta has forwarded specimens from Humbe 
on the Cunene River, where he says it is called Muelle and 
Angi. 
Throughout of a mottled, brownish-grey, brownest on the back 
and wings, where the marking is finest; below, the white and dark 
brown are pretty evenly divided into narrow, irregular transverse 
lines; on the neck they assume the appearance of scales; from 
the base of the bill over the nostrils is a small black patch; a 
black line also extends from the angle of the bill under the eye. 
Length, 12”; wing, 7’; tail, 34”. According to Mr. Andersson, 
the iris is dark brown, the bare skin round the eye pale yellow, the 
bill and legs in the adult bird rich, warm red, the toes and the spurs 
of the male purple. The females are somewhat smaller and less 
robust than the males; in very young birds the bill is dark purple, 
and the colour of the legs is much paler than in the adults. 
569. FRancouinus cuamator, J'emm. Noisy Francolin. 
In this species the chin and upper throat are spotted with black, 
there are no large white spots on the upper back, nor are there any 
white shaft stripes to the feathers of the back and wings. 
The “ Pheasant ”’ is found throughout the whole of the maritime 
districts of the colony, delighting in bushy kloofs and water-courses, 
