Crossbreeds 
Based on an inspection of over 6,000 birds of 3 of the subspecies 
mentioned above, crossbreeding is the rule between subspecies where the 
ranges overlap. Crosses between the Baluchistan black (henrici) and 
the Indian black francolin (asiae) are very comnon in the Indus valley. 
Species also cross in captivity and probably in the wild as well. 


Size_and Weight | 
The largest. of the black francolins is the western black (F. £. 
francolinus), but even the same species from various districts in India 
and Pakistan vary somewhat in size and weight. Generally those from the 
northern part of these ranges are the largest. Birds from Sind in West 
Pakistan and the Deccan in India are noticeably smaller. Males from 
northern India average about 13 inches, females about 12 inches in length. 
In weight, males of the Indian black francolin (F. f. asiae) usually 
run from 14 to 18 ade females from 12 to 16 ounces. Six adult males 
of the western black (F. £. francolinus), collected near Hillah in Iraq on 
November 14, 1952 varied between 15 and 20 ounces; 5 females between 14 
and 17 ounces. Nineteen males of F. £. asiae trapped near Delhi in 
January 1962 averaged 17 ounces; 18 females, 15 ounces. 
Habitat and Cover Preferences 
Cover 
Originally the black francolins were probably denizens of tall 
grasslands and adjacent brushy areas but they have proven also to be well 
adapted to cultivated crops tall enough to afford shelter and sufficiently 
open beneath to provide for easy travel, Though not forest birds, brush- 
lands and woods edges are also frequented, but usually in close associa- 
tion with the primary cover types mentioned above. Well~watered habitats 
or those where the water level in the soil is high are attractive. 
In the drier areas, where annual precipitation is often 10 inches 
or less these birds frequent the stream banks and adjacent jungles, often 
of tamarisk or of tall grasses and weeds. Equally attractive are the 
irrigation ditches flanked by weeds and brush with crop or grassland near 
by. In such situations the birds are seldom found in great number over a 
mile or two from open water, even though cover, otherwise suitable, is 
present, unless the general water table in the soil is close to the surface. 
It is likely that the factor limiting colonization in desert regions 
is not the presence or absence of free water for drinking but rather the 
occurrence of the rank, though open, often succulent vegetation, that is 
characteristic of many arid areas where water lies close to the surface. 
11 
