THE FRANCOLINS. I 23 



Fra7icolinus gularis, G. R. Gray, List Gall. Brit. Mus. iii. p. 34 

 (1844); Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 158 



(i3 9 3)- 

 Ortygornis gularis, Hume and Marshall, Game Birds of India, 

 ii. p. 59, pi. (1879) ; Oates, ed. Hume's Nests and Eggs 

 Ind. B. iii. p. 437 (1890). 



Adult Male and Female. — Upper-parts narrowly barred with 

 brown, black, and buff alternately ; throat and fore-neck deep 

 rust-colour; feathers of remainder of under-parts whitish or pale 

 buff, margined on either web with a brown and black band ; 

 primary flight-feathers chestnut. Male with a pair of sharp spurs. 



Male: Total length, 13 inches; wing, 7*2; tail, 4*1 ; tarsus, 

 2-4. 

 Female : Rather smaller. 



Eange. — Northern India ; Terai region, skirting the southern 

 bases of the Himalayas, from Pilibhit in the west to Sadiya in 

 Eastern Assam, Cachar, and Tipperah. 



The Kyah, or Grass Chukor, as it is also commonly called, is 

 very locally distributed, occurring here and there throughout 

 the Terai region mentioned above. Tickell gives the follow- 

 ing account of its habits : — " It frequents wild places — a sandy 

 soil with thickets of the jungle-rose, babool, and other thorns, 

 alternating with beds of reeds and elephant-grass, and always 

 near water. It resorts also to such cultivation as lies within 

 half a mile or so of the river, such as ' surson ' (mustard), 

 'urhur' (dal), and 'chunna' (gram), but shuns paddy-fields, 

 grass-meadows, or tree-jungle. Very early of a morning, or in 

 the evening, it may be stalked on foot and potted ; but the 

 proper way of shooting this bird is to penetrate the thickets and 

 ' nul bun,' or reed-jungle, on elephants, and with a large force 

 of beaters, when the 'Khyr' affords as good a day's sport as 

 may be had in a Pheasant covert in England. When first 

 beaten up, it rises freely, but well within shot, with a loud 

 flurry and often a shrill cackle, and its size makes it an easy 



