A MMOPERDIXFRA NCO LINUS 6 8 1 



>'veml times. It breeds from April to June, making a slight 

 nest on the ground often under a bush or between stones. The 

 s, 8 to 12, are creamy white, and measure about 1'40 by 1*0 



FRANCOLINUS, Stcph., 1819. 

 952. FRAXCOLIX. 



FRANCOLINUS VULGARIS. 



Fnincoltnus vulnaris, Sleph. in ShaAv's Gen. Zool. xi. p. 319 (1819) ; 

 Gould, B. of E. iv. pi. 259 ; Dresser, vii. p. 123, pi. 473 ; Blanf. F. 

 Brit. Intl. Birds, iv. p. 135 ; Tctrcto francolinus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 

 p. 27.3 (1766) ; (Ogilvie Grant), Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxii. p. 132. 



Fi'ancolino, Ital. ; Tii-ntti, Turkish ; Durmj, Persian ; Kula- 

 titar, Hindu. 



g ad. (Asia Minor). Crown and nape-feathers brown with blackish 

 centres ; sides of hind crown and lower nape marked with white ; sides of 

 head black with a long white patch below and behind the eye ; a broad 

 chestnut-red collar round the neck ; chin, throat, neck, and breast other- 

 wise deep black, spotted with white on the hind neck ; upper parts blackish 

 brown varied with bright ochreous and whitish ochreous ; rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and tail black barred with white ; quills blackish brown 

 barred with reddish ochre ; flanks black spotted with white ; abdomen 

 rufous varied with white ; under tail-coverts chestnut tipped with white ; 

 bill black; legs reddish orange; iris brown. Culmen I'O, wing 6'9 

 tail 4*1, tarsus 2'2 inch. The female is much paler and duller, the 

 chestnut collar is restricted to a patch on the hind neck, the rump and 

 upper tail-coverts brown barred with brownish buff ; sides of head buffy 

 white ; chin and upper throat white ; rest of under parts buffy white 

 barred and blotched with blackish brown ; under tail-coverts chestnut 

 marked with pale brown and black. 



ffab. Cyprus, Palestine, Asia Minor, Armenia, Persia, India 

 east and south to Manipur ; now extinct in Sicily. 



Frequents grassy places and scrub near cultivation, and also 

 cultivated ground, and feeds on grain, seeds, and insects. The 

 note of the male is five syllabled, harsh, and not unlike the crow 

 of a Pheasant. It breeds, in India, from May to August, 

 usually in June, and deposits 6 to 10 eggs, making a loosely 

 constructed nest of straw, grass, roots, or leaves, placed on the 

 ground. The eggs are of a uniform warm drab, buffy brown, or 

 stone-colour, and measure 1*56 by 1'28. 



