138 



often perches in trees ; the male especially often utters its 

 call-note, which resembles that of the Black Partridge, but is less 

 harsh and has a very different tone, from a tree. The nest and 

 eggs close!} 7 resemble those of the Black Partridge ; the breeding- 

 season is from July to September (June to August according to 

 Jerdon), and the eggs, usually 7 or 8 in number, are creamy white 

 to drab in colour, and measure about 1*4 by 1*18. 



Where plentiful this Partridge affords good shooting, and it is, 

 in the cold season, an excellent bird for the table. 



On the boundary between the areag inhabited by the Black and 

 Painted Partridge respectively hybrids between the two have been 

 found, as at Deesa by Capt. Butler (Hume & Marsh. ' Game Birds,' 

 ii, p. 25, pi.), and, I think, in Cutch and Kattywar (J. A. S. B. 

 xxxviii, pt. 2, p. 190 ; xxxix, pt. 2, p. 12 1 ). For the hybrid the name 

 F. intermedium was suggested by Butler (S. E. v, p. 211), and the 

 name was at one time accepted by Ogilvie Grant (Ibis, 1892, p. 40). 



1374. Francolinus chinensis. The Eastern or Chinese Francolin. 



Tetrao chinensis, Osbeck, Voy. China, ii, p. 326 (1771). 



Tetrao perlatus, Gm. Syst. Nat. i, 2, p. 758 (1788). 



Francolinus perlatus, Steph. in Shaitfs Gen. Zool. xi, p. 325 ; Ander- 

 son, Yunnan Exped., Aves, p. 672. 



Perdix phayrei, Blyth, J. A. IS. B. xii, p. 1011 (1843). 



Francolinus sinensis, Blyth, Cat. p. 251 ; Wardl.-Rams. Ibis, 1877, 

 p. 468. 



Francolinus phayrei, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxiv, p. 480 ; Bhjth $ Wald. 

 Birds Burm. p. 149. 



Francolinus chinensis, Hume, N. $ E. p. 539 ; id. S. F. iii, p. 171 ; 

 id. Cat. no. 819 bis ; JBume # Dav. S. F. vi, p. 443 ; Hume $ 

 Marsh. Game B. ii, p. 27, pi. ; Dates, B. B. ii, p. 323 ; id. in 

 Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 431 ; Ogilvie Grant, Ibis, 1892, p. 39 ; 

 id. Cat. B. M. xxii, p. 136. 



Kkdj Burmese. 



Coloration. Male. Middle of crown dark brown, the feathers 

 pale-edged, a dull rufous or rufous-brow^n band on each side ; fore- 

 head and a band running back on each side above the eye black, a 

 second black band from the gape beneath the ear-coverts ; between 

 the two a white band from the lores beneath the eye and including 

 the ear-coverts ; neck all round, upper back, and wing-coverts 

 black with white spots ; scapulars and tertiaries black with buff 

 spots, and broadly edged and tipped with dull chestnut; quills 

 brown, with, on both webs, small buff or whitish spots that 

 become bars on the outer webs of the secondaries ; lower back and 

 rump black, narrowly and closely barred with white ; tail-coverts 

 greyish brown, similarly barred ; tail-feathers black, with white 

 bars on the basal two-thirds ; chin and throat white ; breast and 

 abdomen with large white spots on a black ground, the spots 

 increasing in size and becoming broad bars behind ; under tail- 

 coverts pale chestnut. 



The female differs from the male in having the sides of the 

 head buff, with broken brown superciliary and cheek stripes : the 



