Franco lins. 163 



approaching the spot whence the sound 

 proceeds, if carefully looked for he may 

 be seen seated on a stump of a tree, or 

 a thick bush, or an ant-hill or other 

 elevated spot ; but when he finds himself 

 discovered, he slrnks down and runs off 

 in a way that puzzles dogs much." 



The nesting season of the Painted 

 Francolin is from July to September. 

 The eggs are very similar in colour to 

 those of the Black Partridge, and vary in 

 size from i '3 to i "48 in length, and from 

 I "I to I '25 in breadth. 



The male has the forehead and the 

 sides of the head chestnut and the crown 

 of the head black with narrow chestnut 

 margins to the feathers. The mantle 

 is black with white spots. The back, the 

 rump and the tail-coverts are black dis- 

 tinctly cross-barred with white. The tail 

 is black with some narrow white cross- 

 bars at the base. The visible portions 

 of the closed wings are black, the smaller 

 coverts with large round buff spots, the 

 larger with broad buff margins. The 

 quills of the wing are black with large 

 coarse rufous bars on both webs. The 

 chin and throat are pale buff with a few 

 small black spots. The foreneck is pale 

 buff streaked with black, and the remainder 



