FRA^•C()LI^^ 
237 
Specijic Characters . — Upper tail coA'erts and tail beautifully 
marked with black aud white, (male,) or with broader bands of 
grey aud white, (female.) A red collar round the neck of the 
male, bordered on the back below with another band of black 
feathers and round white spots. Under tail coverts in both sexes 
dark red. Length of male thirteen inches; carpus to tip six 
inches ; tarsus two inches ; middle toe and claw one inch and 
three quarters; beak one inch and three tenths. Female eleven 
inches and a half long. 
The Francolin inliabits the south of Europe^, especially 
Sicily, Malta, Cyprus, Sardinia, Naples, the Grecian 
Archipelago, and Turkey. From thence it ranges 
through the whole of Asia, and the vast prairies and 
marshes of the north of Africa. With the exception, 
however, of Sicily and the Grecian Archipelago, the 
Francolin is becoming a rare bird in Europe. Savi 
tells us that in the sixteenth century they were common, 
as game birds, in Tuscany, and that special laws were 
enacted by the Tuscan princes for their preservation. 
Now, however, they are only recorded very rarely 
there; Savi himself has never met with a specimen, 
although he has known sportsmen who have killed 
them in their youth. 
The Francolin lives, like other Partridges, in coveys, 
and remains constant to the locality where it is bred. 
It loves humid woods and marshy grounds, and, 
according to Savi and other writers, it perches on 
trees during the night. M. Malherbe, however, denies 
that the Francolin perches. He says it lives solitarily 
in Sicily, in moist plains near a brook, or in the 
middle of a bed of rushes; that they keep much on 
the ground, but will fly a good distance when hunted, 
and their capture requires skill and perseverance. The 
natural timidity of the bird makes it difficult to tame 
in confinement. 
