I06 THE SPORTSMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



gularly marked transversely with wide black bars; the feathers of the 

 upper breast rufous chestnut, marked and barred transversely with 

 black; legs yellow. \ 



The above Francolin is so described by Mr. W. R. Ogilvie Grant 

 in Vol. 11. of the Ibis, 1890, under the heading of " New and Rare 

 Francolins." It is found in Natal, Swazieland, and Northern 

 Matabeleland. 



QUAIL. 



The Common Quail [Coturnix communis). 



l^ Above, brown, variegated with grey and black, the shafts of many 

 of the feathers with a broad white stripe; head dark brown, with a 

 light buff stripe down the centre and over each eye ; throat and 

 chest deep rufous, the former in the male with a black patch down the 

 centre, the latter with faint whitish lines down the shafts of the 

 feathers ; flanks longitudinally richly variegated with dark brown 

 black and pale buff ; belly, light yellowish brown, immaculate. — 

 Layard and Sharpe's Birds of South Africa.'\ 



The Common Quail is met with in far greater numbers in the 

 lower divisions of the Cape Colony, the Transvaal, and Natal than 

 further North. The migrations to South Africa usually commence 

 about the month of August, but depend almost entirely on the 

 rainfall. In those parts which have been affected by a drought of 

 any lengthened duration their presence is wanting ; while in others 

 in which wet weather has been experienced, they are found in 

 countless numbers, and afford- excellent sport when shot over 

 sporting dogs. 



The Harlequin Quail {Coturnix delegorguei). 



\_Size considerably larger than the Common variety. '■'■Above, 

 fuscous cinereous, with black and white transverse markings ; 

 feathers of the back and the wing coverts marked with longitudinal 

 white patches, bordered and centred with black ; top of the head and 

 neck brown ; eyebrows and a little mark on the top of the head 

 white ; a short band between the nostrils and the eye, and others 



