S26 Contrihtiifions io the Orniiliology of India, 8fc: 



818 — Francolinus vulgaris, Steph. 



In suitable localities throug'hout Sindh wherever there is 

 water and long- grass^ the common francolin abounds. About Kus- 

 laore^ on the banks of the Indus they swarm, and on the road 

 between Shikarpoor and Sukkur, they run backwards and forwards 

 across the road in front of you as our pheasants do in Norfolk. 



820 — Caccabis cliukar, Grmj. 



The Sindh chickore tho-ug-h not specificallj^ separable is a great 

 deal paler than that found in Kumaon, the valleys of the Jumna, 

 Gang-es, Sutlej, and Beas, so far as these lie within the hills, and 

 the lower of the intermediate hill ranges. As we travel further 

 west, an intermediate type of coloring is noticeable, and as a rule 

 the birds from the neighbourhood of Murdan, though quite as 

 dark on the upper surface, have the abdomen: and vent, &c.^ 

 much paler, in fact almost as pale as that of the Sindh birds. 



So far as the general tone of color is concerned, the Sindh 

 birds closely resemble the race from Ladak which I designated 

 (" Lahore to Yarkand") pallescens ; but that bird is characterized 

 "by its larger and stronger bill, and by the almost entire absence 

 of any rufous tinge on crown, occiput, and nape, whereas, in the 

 Sindh birds, the bills run slightly smaller than those of the com- 

 mon Himalayan form, and there is a decided rufous tinge on the 

 occiput and nape. It is found throughout the rocky hills that 

 divide the Punjab from Afghanistan and Khelat, and the latter- 

 from Sindh. 



821 — Ammoperdix Bonhami, Gray. 



This pretty little desert partridge so common in the salt range' 

 and in the hills that divide the Punjab fi-om Afghanistan, is 

 found, but by no means in equal numbers, in those which divide 

 Sindh from Khelat, and again in those which run up the Mekran 

 Coast. In these latter localities I fully expected to meet with the 

 nearly allied A. Mei/ii, Tem., but though we shot several birds 

 they proved to be all Bonhami. I have measured a great number- 

 of these in the flesh ; the following are the dimensions. 



Males, length, 9-5 to 11 ; expanse, 16 to 16-75 ; wing, 4-9 to> 

 5" 75 ; the third, or occasionally the third and fourth primaries 

 are the longest ; tail, from vent, 2 to 2 '5 ; tarsus, 1-1 to 1-2; bill 

 from edge of cere to point, 0-44 to 0*48 ; closed wings fall short 

 of end of tail by from 1-25 to 1*75 ; weight, 7 to 8 ozs. 



Female, length, 9 to 9-75 ; expanse, 15 to 16-25 ; wing, 4*9 ta 

 5-1 ; tail, 2 to 2-5 ; tarsus, I'l to 1-2; bill as above, 0-4 to 0-46 ; 

 closed wings fall short of end of tail by I'l to 1-75 j weight, 

 5-75 to 8 ozs. 



