216 PHASIANID^ PTBENISTES 



The nest is placed in long grass usually at the foot of a bush or tree ; 

 six to eight eggs form the clutch ; these are reddish-buff minutely 

 spotted with dark reddish-brown or purple, and measure 1 '55 X 1"15 

 according to Gates. 



Mr. Millar sends me the following note: "These birds apparently 

 confine themselves to the upper districts of Natal, where they asso- 

 ciate in pairs or small coveys, frequenting the Yellow-wood forests 

 in the vicinity of Karkloof, Dargle, and elsewhere ; their loud harsh 

 call is constantly heard during early morning and evening ; they are 

 usually found about the outskirts of the bush, but are not easily 

 shot, as they seldom venture far from covert, where they imme- 

 diately take refuge when disturbed, settling on trees or in thickets. 



658. Pternistes humboldti. Humboldt's Francolin. 



Franoolinus humboldti, Peters, Monatsb. Akad. Berlin, 1854, p. 134 

 (Tete) ; Finseh. S Hartl. Vog. Ost-Afr. p. 581 (1870) ; Schaeck, 

 Mem. Soc. Zool. Fr. iv, p. 318 (1891). 



Pternistes humboldti, STiarpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 589 (1884) ; 

 Grant, Ibis, 1892, p. 53 ; id. Cat. B. M. xxii, p. 176 (1893) ; id. Game 

 Bds. i, p. 136 (1896) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 179 (1896) ^ W. L. Sclater, 

 Ibis, 1899, p. 112 [Inhambane] ; Beichenow, Vog. Afr. i, p. 462 

 (1901). 



Pternistes nudicollis (neo Bodd.) Marshall, Ibis, 1900, p. 262. 



" Inkwari" at Inhambane (Peters). 



Description. Adult Male. — Forehead, a narrow line above the 

 eyes and a spot behind the ear-coverts white, separated from the 

 brown crown by a few black spotted feathers ; nape and upper 

 mantle black with white edgings ; rest of the upper surface brown 

 with darker centres to the feathers, most conspicuous on the middle 

 of the back ; sides of the face, ear-coverts and a band surrounding 

 the patch of bare skin on the throat, pure white ; sides of the neck 

 and a line running over the ear-coverts towards the eye, black ; 

 breast and sides of the body ashy-grey, with black centres to the 

 feathers ; lower breast black, with one or two white shaft marks at 

 the sides ; abdomen and under tail-coverts brown. 



Iris dark hazel, bare skin round the eye and on the throat bright 

 red, approaching vermilion ; bill, legs and feet bright red with a 

 fine lead-coloured pencil line along the junction of the scales of the 

 tarsus, two pairs of tarsal spurs, the upper pair generally short and 

 blunt. 



Length (in the flesh) 16-75 ; wing 7-5 ; tail 3'0 ; culmen 1-4 ; 

 tarsus 2-3. 



