THE BLACK PARTRIDGE OR COMMON FRANCOLIN. 1 7 



brown. Very rarely the females also have regular spurs, and 

 old females often exhibit blunt tubercles where the spur would 

 be in the male. 



The plate is, I think, extremely good. A "middle-aged" 

 male is depicted ; in younger birds there is much more, and in 

 very old birds much less, white spotting on the neck and lower 

 parts. In some males the white patch under and beyond the eye 

 has a buffy tinge, and in some the collar is more of a maroon. 

 The amount of markings in the female also varies a good deal 

 according to age, and generally in both sexes much variation 

 exists in the details of the plumage ; but our plate exhibits 

 fairly representative specimens. 



Old and (?) barren hens sometimes assume more or less of 

 the cock's plumage. I have shot two or three such birds myself, 

 and several correspondents have also noted the fact. The young 

 males are like the females for the first year, and more or less 

 intermediate for the second. They do not get the full plumage, 

 I think, until the third year, and I believe that for at least three 

 years after this they continue to drop the white spots from the 

 black. 



Albinos and partial albinos of this species are not very 

 uncommon. I have shot at least a dozen such myself, and have 

 had many sent me. 



Mr. Hodgson obtained an albino, said to be from the higher 

 regions of Nepal : a sort of delicate lilac grey ; the ear- 

 coverts and body spots greyish white ; the back, rump and 

 upper tail-coverts barred as usual, but with greyish dusky ; but 

 the broad neck ring dull chestnut, and the lower tail-coverts 

 bright ferruginous chestnut. Hybrids between this and the 

 Southern Francolin also occur. We have figured one such along 

 with the Eastern Francolin. 



