FRANCOLINUS KIRKI. 



KIRK'S FRANCOLIN. 



(Plate 18.) 



Francolinus IcirM, Hartlaub, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 827 ; Ogilvie- 

 Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxn, p. 149 (1893) ; Shelley, Birds 

 of Afr., I, p. 180 (1896) ; Sharpe, Hand-List of Birds, i, p. 23 

 (1899) ; Reichenow, Vogel Afrikas, i, p. 497 (1900-01). 



Local Name. " Kueri Kuechi." 



Description. This is one of the smallest of the African Francolins, 

 and measures about 12 in. in length. Wing 6| in. 

 The sexes are alike, the bird figured being a male. 



Distribution. The specimen from which the plate was drawn was 

 collected by the late Mr. J. Marais in Rhodesia. Mr. F. J. Jackson 

 records it as having been killed as far north as the Taru Desert in 

 British East Africa. It is fairly common in some parts of Portu- 

 guese East Africa. The Transvaal Museum contains two examples 

 from Boror, Portuguese East Africa, collected by Messrs. Kirby 

 and Roberts. 



I HAVE not met with Kirk's Francolin, but Mr. C. H. B. Grant 

 writes that it is a woodland species. It lives mostly on the 

 ground, and its habits resemble those of F. sephaena. In 

 the early mornings it is to be found in the neighbourhood of 

 native gardens and when disturbed it rarely attempts to fly, 

 and almost always prefers to escape by running. 



If disturbed by a dog it generally flies up into the nearest 

 tree, but sometimes it will rise and fly well, just like the 

 Common Partridge. This species is nearly always met with 

 in pairs. 



Mr. Koberts writes in the Journal of the South African 

 Ornithologists^ Union for December, 1911, that it is fairly 



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