158 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



immediate neighbourhood thin forest or 

 jungle of some kind, be it brush, tamarisk, 

 stunted date, grass, reed or rush. 



" Wherever you may be, you need 

 never remain a second day in ignorance 

 of the proximity of Black Partridges. By 

 the earliest dawn, their clear, far-reaching, 

 cheerful call, syllablised in a score of ways 

 by natives and Europeans, rings out 

 through the fresh morning air ; and as 

 soon as it is light enough to look about, 

 you will, by silently following the sound, 

 have little difficulty in discovering some, 

 at any rate, of the vocalists, each posted 

 on some convenient little eminence — a 

 clay fence, an old post, a rock projecting 

 from a hill-side, an ant-hill — any raised 

 place, in fact, except a bush or tree, on 

 one of which / myself never yet saw this 

 bird perch." 



It seems certain, however, that this 

 Francolin does occasionally perch or rest 

 on a bough of a tree. 



The Black Francolin breeds in June 

 ■ and July, and also in May according to 

 Dr. Jerdon. The eggs, varying in number 

 from six to ten, are laid on a few pieces of 

 grass and leaves in a hollow of the 

 ground in thick jungle. The eggs are 

 very broad at one end and taper to a 



