484 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie Grant on Birds 



" Here and there on the topmost ridges are patches of 

 bracken and yellow ragwort, with flowers in profusion all 

 over the place, chiefly gladioli and many kinds of everlastings. 



''Lower down are heath-like ' misata'- trees, weather- 

 worn and bent by the wind ; lower still there are clumps of 

 brambles, which at certain times of the year produce most 

 luscious yellow fruit. 



'' In the bottoms, which are swampy and morass-like, are 

 clear cold streams, which in some instances trace their 

 source from some dark wooded gorge, but more often from 

 a patch of marshy land. 



" The Francolins — of which I have only come across the 

 one species — confine themselves to the upper ridges : I 

 have never found them below 7200 feet. They are fairly 

 numerous, but difficult to find without dogs, as they lie 

 close, 



" The first intimation I had of their existence in the 

 Nyika mountains was in August 1893, when I picked up 

 some of their feathers on Kasungu mountain, about 2^ days^ 

 journey N.W. of Cheni-Cheni. A little later I saw a covey 

 high up on Nkalabwi mountain, at about 7500 feet, over- 

 looking the Lumpi river. They are quite the most gamey- 

 looking birds 1 have seen in British Central Africa ; they lie 

 close, and rise with a great whirr, jugging as they fly : they 

 fly at a great pace, and generally take long flights, out of 

 sight, over or round the mountain. 



" Their food mainly consists of the white bulbous root of 

 one of the commonest Nyika grasses, but they, of course, 

 also eat insects, though these are not plentiful in Nyika. 



" It is usually on the warm sunny sides of the mountains 

 that they pass the daytime, as can be seen from the innu- 

 merable places where the roots of the grass have been 

 scratched away by their powerful feet ; their nights they 

 spend in the bracken, on, or just below, the topmost ridges 

 of the mountain. The Wanyika, who know this bird well, 

 appear to have no specific name for it; they speak of it as 

 the ' Kwale/ which, with slight alterations among some 

 tribes, is the generic name for Francolin throughout all 

 British Central Africa." 



