214 PHASIANID^ PTBENISTES 



Mr. Millar sends me the followiug note on this bird : " The 

 Natal Pheasant is very common and plentiful along the coast ; it 

 frequents bush-land, cane-fields and deserted ground ; the coveys 

 usually consist of two or three brace, and when flushed nearly 

 always make for the bush, settling on trees and brambles and wait- 

 ing until the danger has passed, when they call to one another and 

 again congregate. The note is loud and harsh, several of the covey 

 often joining ia the chorus. They nest on the ground, laying a 

 creamy white egg measuring l-7o x 1'25 ; a nest' found on the 

 20th June near Durban contained three fresh eggs." 



Genus II. PTERNISTES. 



Type. 

 Pternistis, Waglcr, Isis, 1832, p. 1229 P. nudicollis. 



This genus resembles Francollnus except for the fact that the 

 throat is completely bare of feathers, and frequently brightly 

 coloured. 



Nine species, all confined to Africa, are recognised by Grant ; of 

 these, three are South African. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Feathers surrounding the bare throat not white 



nor contrasting with their neighbours. 



a. Feathers of the breast and belly with white 



centres and black or rufous edges P. nudicollis,-^. 214. 



b. Feathers of the breast and belly brown, with 



darker brown centres, and in some cases rufous- 

 brown edgmgs P. swainsoni, p. 217. 



B. Feathers surrounding the bare throat pure white, 



forming a marked ring P. humboldti, p. 216. 



657. Pternistes nudicollis. Bed-necked Francolin. 



Tetrao nudicollis, Bodd. Tall. PI. Enl. p. 11 (1783). 



Perdix nudicoUis, Grill, K. Vet. Akad. Handl. Stockh. ii, no. 10, p. 52- 



(1858) [Knysna]. 

 Francollnus nudicollis, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 268 (1867) ; id. Ibis, 



1869, p. 376 ; Barratt, Ibis, 1876, p. 209 ; Holub d Pelzeln, Orn. 



Sild-Afr. p. 187 (1882) ; Bryden, Kloof and Karoo p. 311 (1889) ; 



SchaecJc, Mem. Soc. Zool. Fr. iv, p. 314- (1891). 

 Pternistes nudicollis, Sharjpe, ed. Layard's B. 8. Afr. p, 589 (1884) ; 



