344 Notes on Breeding the Commofi Black Francolin.


I did not expect the birds to breed and the first signs we

had of pairing were about the end of May when my man

remarked with amusement (pointing to the Amherst cock, rather

a fierce old bird) “That little chap do run him about.” It was

quite true. The fierce little Francolin had turned the Amherst

into a regular coward and made him live in a state of terror.


On the nth June the first Francolin egg was laid, the nest

being merely a hollow lined with dead grass under a laurel

bush—indeed it was an old nest of the Amherst Pheasants. The

egg was stone coloured and pointed at the smaller end. Three

more eggs were laid at intervals of two days and then, as the

Francolin ceased laying and appeared to have no desire to sit,

the four eggs were put under a reliable bantam on the 20th June.

One chick appeared on the 9th July and was left in the nest until

the following morning when all the other eggs were found

hatched.


The four chicks Were fed on hard boiled eggs, Armitage’s

Alpha Pheasant Food, chopped lettuce, fresh ants’ eggs, and as

many live earwigs, beetles, etc., as could be obtained.


The bantam and chicks were placed on short turf in a

coop, with little run attached, and constantly moved on to fresh

ground.


The chicks were very lively in movement from the first,

dashing about after beetles, etc., with great rapidity and always

seeming 011 the alert. They all made a curious little chirping

sound hardly to be distinguished from that of a cricket. They

grew rapidly and their feathers came well.


Within a fortnight the chicks took seeds freely though

showing a strong preference for living insects and lettuce. I then

turned them with the hen into a small grass run where they had

plenty of room to search for insects, etc., amongst the tufts of

grass.


When hatched the down of the chicks was brown and all

had a brown (almost black) line along the top of the head from

the bill to the back of the neck.


By the beginning of August the chicks had got feathered

except on their heads—the feathers being brown with black

bands and gradually growing darker with age except on the



