18 EAST AFRICA AND UGANDA FRANCOLINS 
tail-coverts chestnut margined with grey. Top of the head 
and nape reddish brown with narrow vermiculated margins ; 
shoulders finely vermiculated with black and grey ; back, 
rump and wings brown ; tail dark chestnut. Iris brown ; 
eyelids coral-red ; bill dark coral-red ; front of legs coral- 
red, hinder parts dusky. 
Length 17J inches, wing 9*1 inches, tail 5*2 inches, tarsus 
2*8 inches. 
Female . — Similar to the male, but smaller. 
Length 16 J inches. 
FRANCOLINUS HILDEBRANDTI 
Francolinus hildebrandti, Cabanis. 
Ogilvie-Grant, ‘ Ann. and Mag. N. H.,’ series 6, Vol. IV, 
page 145, and ‘ Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.,’ Vol. XXII, page 168. 
‘ Sharpe’s Hand-List,’ Vol. I, page 25. ‘ Shelley’s Birds of 
Africa,’ Vol. I, page 182. ‘ Reichenow’s Vogel Afrikas,’ Vol. I, 
page 477. 
The male and female of this bird were for many years con- 
sidered as distinct species owing to their marked differences, 
the female being described as above, whilst the male was 
described by Fischer and Reichenow some six years later as 
F. altumi. My friend Mr. H. C. V. Hunter, however, settled 
the question when on a visit to Mochi on Kilimanjaro in 1888. 
The natives there caught considerable numbers of these birds 
in traps, and Hunter bought up as many as he required, 
and decided the matter by careful dissection. 
This Francolin is not found nearer to the coast than Teita, 
where Dr. Hildebrandt obtained the type. Its real home, 
however, is the Rift Valley round Naivasha, particularly the 
western side, the Morendat and Gilgil rivers, Karianduss, 
the hills east of Lake Elmenteita, and the foot-hills of Mau 
to Elgeyo and Kamasia. It is essentially a Bush-Francolin, 
and delights in rough broken rocky hillsides covered with 
thick bush and scrub. 
It is a very noisy bird, particularly when startled, and 
will often keep up its sharp, half-angry, half-frightened call 
when only a few yards away, but completely hidden in the 
dense covert. It will often fly up into a tree or bush when 
