Introductions 
Successful introductions of gray francolins, together with those 
of black francolins are discussed on page 3 of this report. 
Common Names 
Fewer common names have been applied to the gray francolins than 
to the black. Those in common usage include the following: 
Grey partridge English (India) 
Grey francolin English (India) 
Gray francolin English (U.S.A.) 
Common partridge General 
Titur. Urdu, Hindi (Pakistan, India) 
Ram titur Hindi (India) 
Gora .titur Hindi (India) 
Safed titur Hindi (India) 
Khyr Bengali (India) 
Karuthari Maduri (India) 
Tauzuari Pushtu (Afghanistan) 
Jirufti Iranian and Punjabi 
Titur, after the clear ringing call, is by far the most commonly used 
name in the Indian subcontinent. 
Distribution and Abundance 
Of the three subspecies of gray francolins, the Makran gray (F.p. 
mecranensis), ranging through southeastern Iran to the hills west of 
the Indus River in West Pakistan, is the most limited in range and abun- 
dance (6 and 42). To the east, through India, south of the Himalayas, 
to Poona, the Godavary River and Bihar, the northern gray francolin 
(F.p. interpositus) is found in favorable coverts, often in great abun- 
dance. South of the range of the northern gray, to northwestern Ceylon, 
the southern gray francolin (F.p. pondicerianus) is common, Considera- 
tions of climate, habitat and abundance combined to focus the attention 
of Foreign Game Introduction Program biologists on the northern subspecies. 
Over most of the range of the gray francolins they are by far the 
most common resident game bird. In 1880, Hume (26) wrote, "...a man 
walking 10 miles through the desert (no water but heavy dew) may shoot 
10 to 15 birds; around cultivated fields one might shoot 100 in the same 
distance." We found this still to be true in many parts of India and 
West Pakistan. This francolin's adaptability to habitat which is un- 
favorable for most other game birds, its keenness in meeting adversity 
and its high reproductive potential explains its ability to still maintain 
good to fair numbers even in the face of oppressive pressure from hunters, 
48 
