THE BLACK FRANCOLINS 
Six subspecies of the black francolin were considered. Four of 
these, because of limited distribution, inaccessibility, or climatic 
factors.were soon eliminated, leaving only the Middle East francolin 
(F. £. francolinus) and the Northern Indian francolin (F. f. asiae) 
for more detailed study. Since each subspecies seemed equally and 
potentially adaptable to Stateside habitats, representatives of both 
were trapped for trial but, by one of those chances over which biolo- 
gists have little control, only F. f. asiae was secured in numbers suffi- 
cient to constitute a fair test of species adaptability under American 
conditions. 
Common Names 
As in many places, common names of birds vary radically by district 
and dialect. Wherever the British have settled, partridge is the name 
most commonly given to birds of the genus Francolinus, Because of the 
certain confusion with other birds termed partridges in the United 
States, the use of francolin has been encouraged in reference to those 
species introduced into the United States. c 
Names most frequently encountered in southern Asia for black 
francolins include the following: 
Black francolin English 
Black partridge English 
Common francolin General 
Kala-titur or Hindi, Urdu (Pakistan, 
S Kala-tetri India) 
Tatra Kalo-tetra Garwal (India) 
Urenbi Manipur (India) 
Mechenteri Assam (India) 
Tetri-sarai Assam (India) 
Dae-chirree Cachar (India) 
Inrui-jirip Catcha-Naga (India) 
Kais-tetur Nepalese 
Dorra j Iranian and Arabic 
Por Kurdish 
Turac Turkish 
Francolino Italian 
Francolin German 
Distribution and Relative Abundance 
Hume and Marshall (26) considered that at one time the black 
francolins inhabitated southern Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, Algiers, Tunis, 
and many islands. of the Greek archipelago; currently they are found only 
from Cyprus east to Burma, a range which is still some 4,000 miles in 
Length. 
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