sorghum (Sorghum sp.), pulse (Phaseolus sp.) and wheat (Triticum sp.). 
Toward the western reaches of the desert, near Jaisalmer, where the 
annual rainfall becomes less reliable and drops to below six or seven 
inches per year, the amount of cultivation is reduced drastically." 
Within the area described, Christensen found gray francolins in 
great abundance in "the brush, fencerows, and hedgerows between fields 
and similar sites where there is good cover in the vicinity of cultivated 
fields, The predominant cover plants are Ziziphys sp., Capparis aphylla, 
Calotropis gigantea, Acacia sp., and Prosopis specigera. Grey francolins 
do tolerate the arid wasteland but they are not found in these drier, 
uncultivated tracts in any great numbers. The birds are frequently found 
in fields where such crops as millet, sorghum, wheat and pulse, in con- 
junction with native grasses and weeds, are present."" Similarly, on the 
dry Indus plains of West Pakistan, gray francolins were abundant mainly 
in, or about, irrigated fields or where there was some dry farming. 
Gray francolins are by no means limited to semi-arid regions, pro- 
vided that the cover is open in character. In India and West Pakistan 
where precipitation is recorded as from 15 to 20 inches annually, these 
birds are often resident in great numbers. The largely seasonal charac- 
ter of the rainfall, combined with the extensive distribution of saline 
ax alkaline soils encourages the growth of largely xerophytic vegetation 
on uplands and in alkaline situations, Elsewhere, especially adjacent to 
cultivation, a mixture of arid and mesophytic plants is the rule. Crops 
commonly grown include bajra or Indian millet (Pennisetum sp.), jowar or 
sorghum (Sorghum sp.), wheat (Iriticum sp.) mustard (Brassica sp.), pulse 
(Phaseolus sp.), sugarcane (Saccharum sp.) and cotton . (Grassypium sp.) 
with occasional fields of corn (Zea mays). 
The general pattern of cultivation is one of small fields, often 
combined to form extensive areas of intensive though rather primitive 
cultivation. Where there are breaks in topography, and soils are strong- 
ly alkaline or stony, or where the scrub has not yet been cleared, shrubs, 
forbs, weeds and grass occur, interspersed with patches of bare ground. 
Except in the forested areas and in the jungles of tamarisk and tall 
grasses adjacent to water, the general pattern of vegetation is so open 
and scattered that francolins can run freely and swiftly from clump to 
clump, When cultivation is extensive, and other shelter in short supply, 
these birds commonly utilize sugarcane fields as resting and escape cover. 
Several authors indicate that these francolins do not frequent grain 
fields until after they are cut. This is in error for we flushed many 
birds from such fields, irrespective of the stages of development, so. 
long as they were not too dense, 
The density of francolin populations is commonly a bird to 2 or 3 
aeres, Still higher numbers are occasionally found in particularly 
favorable situations. In numerous places, even within 60 miles of New 
Delhi, it was normal for 6 to 8 beaters to flush 75 to 100 birds in 
about 4 hours of hunting. In 1962, a group of 6 hunters killed 136 gray 
francolins in 6 hours with the aid of 12 beaters in the Gurgoan district 
of northern India. 
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