308 PERDICIN.E. 



Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 5 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of 



Sind, p. 213 ; Game Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 9. 

 THE BLACK PARTRIDGE. 

 Kola Titar, Hin. 



Length, 12*25 to 14*8; expanse, 18'5 to 21*5 ; wing, 57 to 

 67 ; tail, 3'38 to 4'4 ; tarsus, T5 to 2 ; bill from gape, 0'9 to 1'25 ; 

 weight, 8 to 20 oz. 



Bill, $ , black, .? , horny-brown, the tips of both paler ; irides 

 deep brown ; legs yellowish or reddish-brown. 



Head, cheeks, and throat, deep black ; the top of the head 

 and nape edged with rufous, and with some white spots on the 

 sides of the occiput, forming a pale line ; ear- coverts pure white ; 

 a broad collar of fine chesnut-red passes round the whole neck ; 

 upper part of the back black, feathers edged with rufous and 

 white tipped ; the middle and lower back, rump, and upper tail- 

 coverts finely barred black, and whitish, or grey ; wings with the 

 coverts black, with broad bay or rufous edges, and the quills 

 barred with rufous and black ; tail black, the middle feathers 

 barred with black and grey on the upper parts, the lateral 

 feathers being similarly barred at their base only ; plumage 

 beneath, from the rufous collar, deep black, more or less banded 

 on the lower part of the abdomen with white, and the flanks of 

 the breast and abdomen spotted with white ; thigh-coverts and 

 under tail-coverts chesnut. 



The female differs in wanting the black head and neck of the 

 male, which is more or less rufous mixed with brown, the throat 

 and sides of the neck being white, and a dusky band surrounds 

 the white portion of the ear-coverts ; the back and wings are 

 dusky, with pale rufous edges, whitish on the wing ; the back, 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts are barred pale rufous and dark 

 brown ; the tail feathers blackish, with pale bands ; the medial 

 pair brown banded ; beneath, from the throat, the plumage is 

 white with black spots, longitudinal and arrow-shaped in front, 

 becoming more transverse on the flanks and lower abdomen. 



The Black Partridge is very rare in Northern Guzerat ; further 

 north it is more frequently met with, and in Sind it is a common 

 permanent resident, breeding during June and July. 



The nest, composed of grass, grass roots, &c., is usually 

 untidily put together, but occasionally is more neater. The eggs, 

 six to ten in number, vary greatly in size, but average 1*56 

 inches in length to about 1*28 in breadth. In color they vary 

 from slightly greenish or brownish-fawn to stone color. 



Francolinus pictus, Jard. & Selb. 



819. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 561 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 6 ; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. 

 IX, p. 422 ; Game Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 19 ; Swinhoe and 

 Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 131. 



