intake of weed seeds is high. In addition, they consume an unusually 
large proportion of insects. Mason (34) found that of 948 recognizable 
insects found in 30 black francolin crops, 6 were beneficial, 203 in- 
jurious and 739 neutral in importance to agriculture. 
Usefulness 
As_a source of food -- The flesh of the black francolin is white 
and sweet, though rather dry and not particularly gamey in flavor. Few 
would consider it the equal of the bobwhite for there is a certain bland- 
ness and lack of strong flavor that creates partialities for the meat of 
certain kinds of game. Hume (26) considers francolins excellent table 
birds, especially roasted but only time will tell where they will stand 
in the hierarchy of American delicacies. 
As a fighting bird -- Unlike the gray, the black francolin never 
impressed us as a pugnacious species. We have seen but few birds suc- 
cessfully caged for calling or fighting though Baker cites Pittman as 
indicating that they are occasionally trained for these purposes, In 
West Pakistan the trappers did catch some 500 males and a handful of 
females for us by enticing them within reach of handnets utilizing caged, 
calling males. In Bihar, India, these birds are also caught by the leg 
in an ingenious snare attached to a cage in which a male francolin has 
been confined. 
As a game bird -- Throughout their range black francolins rate as 
excellent game birds. They lay well to a dog, rise quickly and fly 
straight and fairly fast. Where heavily pursued, however, birds soon 
learn to keep ahead of the hunter by running. The shooting is mostly 
Singles or doubles, for they do not run in coveys except when driven to 
the edge of cover. Then 4 or 5 may rise individually in a matter of 
seconds, They are easy to bring down with 7% shot but very difficult to 
find when wounded. In India, possibly half of the birds put up and 
missed can be reflushed. 
Where not too persistently hunted, large bags are not uncommon. 
In a four hour beat through tamarisk bottoms and cultivated fields 
adjacent to the Tigris River in Iraq, seven hunters flushed about 250 
black francolins and brought 86 to bag. Near Delhi in India it was not 
unusual for eight beaters to put up 50 to 75 birds in a morning from 
which the normal bag for three hunters was 20 to 25 birds. In many 
coverts mixed bags of black and of gray francolins are the rule. 
As a pet -- The black is much less commonly kept in cages than is 
the gray francolin, Baker says that, once caught, they tame rapidly 
and we have had half grown blacks that became fairly domestic but never 
one that, kept in a cage, could be given its freedom about the house and 
garden without fear that it would wander off. The striking coloration 
of the males, and the ease with which they can be kept in captivity 
recommends them to aviculturalists for display purposes. 
38 
