FRANCOLINUS NATALENSIS. 



NATAL FPvANCOLIN. 



(Plate 25.) 



Francclinus naialensis, Smith, S. Afr. Quart. Journ., ii, c. 48 (1833) ; 

 Sharpe's ed. Layard Birds of S. Afr., p. 592 (1875-84) ; Nicolls 

 and Eglington, Sportsman in S. Afr., p. 105 (1892) ; Ogilvie- 

 Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxn, p. 1C6 (1893) ; Woodward, 

 Natal Birds, p. 162 (1899) ; Reichenow, Vogel Afrikas, i, p. 475 

 (1900-01) ; Sclater, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., m, p. 354 (1905) ; Sclater 

 and Stark, Birds of S. Afr., iv, p. 212 (1906). 



Local Names. " Coast Partridge " of Natal ; " Naraaqua Pheasant " 

 of the Transvaal Boers ; " Insekvehle " of Zulus ; " Lesogo " 

 i.e. " Lesoho " of the Bechuanas. 



Description. The bird figured is a male, which measured about 

 13i in. The sexes are alike but the female is slightly smaller. 



DiSTEiBUTiON. The Natal Francolin takes the place of the Cape 

 Pheasant in the eastern portions of South Africa and is found 

 in Natal, Swaziland, the Eastern Transvaal and in some parts of 

 Bechuanaland ; it has also been recorded from the Zambesi by 

 the late Captain Boyd Alexander. 



I HAVE no personal experience of this bird but Sergt. Davies 

 writes me as follows : — 



" I have only met with this species in Pondoland, where 

 it is found in most of the valleys, frequenting the thick scrub 

 in coveys of five or six birds. They are great runners and 

 without a dog almost impossible to put up, and owing to the 

 bad ground they frequent, where walking is so difficult, I 

 have seldom worried them much. 



" They have a loud, harsh, cackling call uttered mostly 

 in the evening. They are easy to shoot when once on the 



60 



