Franco tins. 167 



mornings. When crowing they are not 

 very shy ; but they are difficult to detect, 

 and on being closely approached they drop 

 very quietly to the ground and disappear 

 instantly. 



This Francolin breeds in May or June, 

 but Mr. D. K. MacDonald took a large 

 number of eggs for me near Meiktila in 

 September, some of which are now in the 

 British Museum. It probably breeds in 

 many months of the year, according to 

 locality. The nest is merely a depression in 

 the ground, in which from four to six, or 

 perhaps more, eggs are laid. They are sharp- 

 pointed ovals in shape, with little gloss, and 

 are a pale buff, sometimes with a greenish 

 tinge. They measure about 1*5 by 1*2. 



In the male a broad black band passes 

 from the bill over the eye to the neck, 

 and above this a broad chestnut band. 

 The crown, between these chestnut bands, 

 is black, each feather edged with chestnut. 

 Below the black band, the side of the 

 head is broadly white succeeded below 

 by a long black moustachial streak reach- 

 ing to the neck. The chin and throat are 

 white. The neck all round, the mantle 

 and the breast are black with double sets 

 of round white spots. The back, the 

 rump and the tail-coverts are cross-barred 



