On new and rare Francolins. 345 



I have little doubt that T. rufescens will also prove iden- 

 tical with T. maculosa, but this question cannot be settled 

 till more specimens are obtained from the Island of Semao. 

 In the meanwhile T. rufescens must stand, and T. beccarii 

 must be referred to T. maculosa. 



XXXIII.— On some new and rare Francolins. ^ Ur 

 By W. R. Ogilvie Grant (Nat. Hist. Museum). 



(Plates X., XI.) 



Having lately been at work on the Francolins with the view 

 of a complete revision of this rather difficult genus of the 

 Gallinae, I beg leave to offer to the readers of ' The Ibis ' 

 some remarks on some new or little-known species of this 

 group. 



1. Francolinus granti (and the allied forms). 

 This group of Francolins contains the species F. pileatus, 

 Smith, from South Africa ; F. kirki, Hartlaub, from Zanzibar 

 and East Africa ; F. granti, Hartlaub, from East and Central 

 Africa as far north as Shoa; and F. spilogaster, Salvadori, 

 from Harar. It is characterized by having the upper surface 

 reddish brown, and most of the feathers of the neck, back, 

 scapulars, and wing-coverts ornamented with a white shaft- 

 stripe. The species are all very nearly allied to one another, 

 and go through exactly the same phases of plumage. As an 

 example, it will be sufficient to state the changes which take 

 place in F. granti. Young birds of both sexes have the 

 back, scapulars, outer secondaries, and some of the wing- 

 coverts transversely barred with black and rufous, or buff on 

 either side of the white shaft-streaks ; and the lower back, 

 nimp, upper tail-coverts, and middle tail-feathers barred 



