ON THE BIED-LIFE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA 37 



of Africa and are distributed over the flat bush-country ; 

 but open grass land interspersed with clumps of wood, with 

 native plantations in their vicinity, are also favourite resorts, 

 where sometimes I have seen as many as forty birds in one 

 covey. Of course the dry season is the best time to shoot 

 them, when the grass has been burnt and they have become 

 once more gregarious. As soon as the first rains have fallen 

 and the grass has grown pretty high, the breeding season 

 commences, and then the francolins are found split up in 

 pairs all over the country. At such times they are difficult 

 to observe, and one seldom sees them on the wing unless 

 one takes them by surprise, for they are always hiding away 

 in the thickets and high grass that border the native farms 

 and clearings. It is only in the early morning and again 

 towards evening that they will venture to creep out on to 

 the farm-lands, uttering on the way thither their loud, 

 grating " kree, kree," calls. 



The most common francolin is the Senegal partridge 

 {Francolinus biccdcaratus). It is distributed all over the West 

 African bush-country, and in the vicinity of Lake Chad it 

 is represented by another form {Francolinus clappertoni), 

 discovered by the traveller Clapperton. This species is a 

 good example of the Sudan distribution across Africa to 

 the Nile by way of Darfur and Kordofan. 



Where there are rugged hills and kopjes, the graceful 

 little rock-pheasant {Ptilopachys fuscus) is found, or Casa 

 duci (rock -fowl) as it is called by the Hausas ; I have seen 

 as many as twenty together taking refuge, when disturbed, 

 in the crannies of the rocks. The male looks very much like 

 a little bantam, extremely pert as he struts over the ledges 



