• GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 213 



else as " Juk-juk-tee-tar." One writer has compared it to the harsh grating blast of a cracked 

 trumpet ; but Jerdon says that it is far from being a loud call, though sufficiently audible for a great 

 distance, This cry is almost always uttered from a slight eminence, such as a bank, ant-hill, or 

 clump of earth, and where the birds are numerous, answering cries may be heard from all sides. 

 These birds generally call much after rain, or after a heavy dew. 



The Francolin is not shy, but when it finds itself pursued, runs quickly for two or three minutes, 

 avoiding open ground, before it takes wing ; its flight is strong and steady, but slow, and not long 

 continued. When alarmed it usually only rises to the nearest bush, and thence descends again 

 to the ground. 



In India, according to Jerdon, the hens brood from May to July. The nest is usually in high 

 grass, sometimes in indigo fields, and occasionally in plantations of sugar-cane. The eggs are ten 

 or tivelve, and sometimes even fifteen in number, of a pale blueish white or pale green tint. It is 

 probable that the mother alone broods. 



A few years ago many of these birds were shot in Sicily, but now they seem to have almost 

 disappeared from that island. In Syria and Palestine, according to Tristram, " they are found in the 

 rich lowland plains of Gennesaret, Acre, and Phoenicia, concealing themselves in the dense herbage 

 and growing corn, where their singular call can be heard resounding at daybreak from every part of 

 the plain, while not a bird can be seen," In the Bengal Sporting Magazine for 1S41, we are told 

 that seventy-five brace were shot by one sportsman in the neighbourhood of Kamal in the Upper 

 Provinces ; but it is every^vhere more scarce than it was formerly. The flesh of this bird is good, 

 especially when kept for a few days, and eaten cold. The beautiful spotted feathers of the lower 

 plumage were used in some parts of the country to make into capes, but are now scarcely 

 procurable. 



The BARE-NECKED PHEASANTS {Pternistes) constitute a group of African Francolins, 

 recognisable by their comparatively slender body, moderately long neck, and small head. The wing 

 (in which the fourth quill exceeds the rest in length) is much rounded, the tail, over which the 

 pinions do not extend, is almost straight at its extremity. The beak is of medium size, the foot 

 high, and armed with a spur. 



THE RED-NECKED PHEASANTS. 



The Red-necked Pheasants {Ptcrnistcs rubricoUis) are principally of a pale greyish brown, 

 almost all the feathers, except those on the head, being decorated with a triangular yellowish white 

 spot, and edged with white. The primary quills are black, bordered with yellow on the outer, and 

 spotted with the same shade on the inner web ; the tail-feathers are irregularly striped with yellow and 

 brown. The eye is light brown, the bare circle that surrounds it cinnabar-red ; a patch upon the 

 throat is yellow, edged and spotted with black ; the beak deep brownish grey, with red base and 

 nostrils ; the foot dark brownish grey. The male is sixteen inches long and twenty-five broad ; his 

 wing measures seven inches and two-thirds, and the tail four inches ; the female is an inch and a half 

 shorter and one inch nan-ower than her mate. 



As far as has been at present ascertained, the habitat of this species extends over all the 

 low-lying country near the African coast, from the nordiern boundary of Abyssinia to Somali ; we 

 have never seen it upon mountains, although it occasionally frequents their immediate vicinity. The 

 Red-necked Pheasant, like other Francolins, is extremely shy, and if disturbed runs with great 

 quickness to a place of security, and only when very hard pressed employs its wings. Its flight is 

 noisy but light, and resembles that of the Lyrurus tetrix ; upon the ground, however, it is far more 

 at home than in the air, running over its surface with almost incredible ease and rapidity. Like its 



