Seasonal. comparisons of climate, typical of the range of this 
subspecies with that characteristic of some parts of the United States, 
were prepared to assist those interested in the selection of trial re- 
lease areas potentially suitable for this subspecies. On this separate 
group of climacurves were plotted the average maximum (black circle) and 
average minimum (white circle) temperatures for parts of 18 States, 
mostly in the South or Southwest. The two circles were then connected 
by a black line for ready identification, These climacurvic comparisons 
are presented in figure 17. 
In general, temperatures, within the native range of the northern 
black francolin, are inclined to be somewhat higher especially in spring 
and fall than they are in southern and southwestern States, Winter aver- 
age minimums here are generally close to those in India and Pakistan 
though on the low side. Summer temperatures fall well within the averages 
given for the native range with two exceptions. In only a few cases 
would these differences appear to be of sufficient magnitude to rule out 
the possibility of survival in the sections here considered. 
Food and Water 
An omnivorous feeder, the black francolin takes a wide variety of 
plant and animal foods. Waste grain, weed seeds, many insects, greens 
and some miscellaneous grit and trash constitute its normal diet but 
more bizarre items are not shunned. 
A careful review of the literature, including the Journal of the 
Bombay Natural History Society fron 1900 to date, disclosed very few 
references to francolin food habits. With the western black francolin 
(F. £. francolinus) we were no more successful. In four birds shot on 
November 18, 1950, near Mosul, Iraq the following was found: 1. 50% wheat, 
50% one kind of need seed, 2. 95% large fleshy red fruit, 5% weed seeds. 
3. 98% wheat, 2% weed seeds. A fourth crop was empty. Six birds shot 
near Kut, Iraq on the following day contained the following: 1. 100% 
grasshoppers. 2. 30% grasshoppers, 70% wheat. 3. 90% wheat, 10% weed 
seeds, 4. 60% wheat, 40% two species of weeds. 5. 100% wheat. 
6. 40% wheat, 58% large black ants and 2% weed seeds. Birds collected 
fron Hillah, Iraq on Christmas Day, 1951 were full of date pulp. Members 
of The Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force "D" (35) indicate that “from one 
killed near Belid, Iraq, 284 grains of barley were taken but there is 
also a balance on the other side as Buxton found another bird crammed 
with the harmful locust (Decticus albifrons)." 
For the northern black francolin (F. £. asiae) there was only one 
definitive food study reported. C. E. Mason (34) an entomologist, 
identified the insects and a few of the plants found in the crops of 30 
birds collected mainly in summer near Delhi. To expand this picture, 
Shamin A, Faruqi, botanist at Sind College, Karachi, and Bump examined 
24 
