CACOABIS PETROSA 247 



The species is strictly sedentary in its habits and rarely strays far 

 from the spot where it was hatched. Its flight is similar to that of 

 its congeners, and like them it is a great runner, usually preferring 

 to trust to its legs for safety rather than to its wings. It appears to 

 perch occasionally on low trees and bushes. Its food consists chiefly 

 of grain and the seeds and tender shoots of wild plants, and to a 

 certain extent, of insects. Although a shy bird in its natural state, 

 it becomes very tame in captivity, and is often kept in cages and 

 aviaries. 



The call note of this species is a monotonous cry something like 

 the word " kia " repeated several times. 



Nesting usually commences towards the end of March and con- 

 tinues throughout that and the two following months. The nest is 

 merely a depression in the soil under the shelter of a bush. The 

 number of eggs in a clutch is generally from ten to fifteen, and their 

 colour is pale yellowish-buff, freckled with minute reddish-brown 

 spots and occasionally blotched with larger spots. The eggs are, 

 however, subject to considerable variation in their marking. Average 

 measurements 41 x 30 mm. 



The Francolin (F. francoUnns) is said to have once existed in 

 Tunisia and other parts of North-west Africa, but I know of no 

 authentic instance of its occurrence anywhere in that region during 

 recent years. Regarding the extinction of the Francolin in Sicily and 

 elsewhere in Southern Europe, articles by the late Lord Lilford and 

 other ornithologists have from time to time appeared in the pages of 

 the Ibis, but the following short " requiem " notice of the bird 

 may not perhaps be void of interest, as coming from the pen of the 

 owner of the estate which was the last refuge of the species in Sicily. 



Baron Bordonaro, the gentleman in question, and a friend of mine 

 writes to me as follows concerning the species : — 



"Regarding tlje occurrence of the Francolin at one time on my 

 estate of Falconara, I may say that in 1854, when my father pur- 

 chased the property from the late Prince Radali, the species was still 

 in existence, and examples of it were not unfrequently obtained. 

 Later on, owing to the improved cultivation of the land and the total 

 extirpation of the canes, which formed its chief refuge, the Francolin 

 gradually became rarer, and finally disappeared entirely. This hap- 

 pened about the year 1864, about which time the last bird of the 

 species that I can remember having been obtained at Falconara was 



