The RED-NECKED PHEASANTS (_Pternistes rubricollis_) are principally of a
pale greyish brown, almost all the feathers, except those on the head,
being decorated with a triangular yellowish white spot, and edged with
white. The primary quills are black, bordered with yellow on the outer,
and spotted with the same shade on the inner web; the tail-feathers are
irregularly striped with yellow and brown. The eye is light brown, the
bare circle that surrounds it cinnabar-red; a patch upon the throat is
yellow, edged and spotted with black; the beak deep brownish grey, with
red base and nostrils; the foot dark brownish grey. The male is sixteen
inches long and twenty-five broad; his wing measures seven inches and
two-thirds, and the tail four inches; the female is an inch and a half
shorter and one inch narrower than her mate.
As far as has been at present ascertained, the habitat of this species
extends over all the low-lying country near the African coast, from the
northern boundary of Abyssinia to Somali; we have never seen it upon
mountains, although it occasionally frequents their immediate vicinity.
The Red-necked Pheasant, like other Francolins, is extremely shy, and if
disturbed runs with great quickness to a place of security, and only when
very hard pressed employs its wings. Its flight is noisy but light, and
resembles that of the _Lyrurus tetrix;_ upon the ground, however, it is
far more at home than in the air, running over its surface with almost
incredible ease and rapidity. Like its congeners, this species has but
one mate, and lives on excellent terms with its companions, as several
pairs and their young usually keep together, forming small parties. In
spite of this usually peaceful mode of life, the males, like the rest of
their kind, occasionally indulge in regular pitched battles. Their cry
is very similar to that of the Partridge; about April or May the males
become much excited, and may be heard calling almost incessantly during
the evening hours. A nest found by Brehm in a thick, dark bush near the
ground, was formed of leaves and feathers, and contained within its
deep walls, six pure white eggs, closely resembling those of a Domestic
Fowl. "My attention," he tells us, "was attracted to the nest in the
first instance by the movements of the hen, who ran out of the bush at
my approach, and placing herself in an open space near me, spread and
beat her wings, and by her cries endeavoured to lure me from the spot. I
carefully marked the bush that contained the brood and at once pretended
to follow the anxious mother, who, after leading me some five hundred
paces, suddenly rose and flew back to her home in a series of large curves
quite after the manner of the rest of her congeners. The cock was not to
be seen, but no doubt was in the immediate vicinity." The flesh of this
species is much esteemed, and large numbers are snared for the table.
In many European houses it is to be seen caged, yet, though it endures
captivity well, it never becomes really tame.
* * * * *
The AMERICAN PARTRIDGES (_Odontophori_) are delicately-framed birds,
possessing a short high beak, compressed at its sides, high, much arched,
and furnished at its margin with two strong, tooth-like projections. The
moderately long tail is composed of twelve feathers, the external of which
are frequently much shortened; the fourth, fifth, and sixth quills of the
very decidedly-rounded wings exceed the rest in length; the tarsi are
high, without a spur, but the toes are long and furnished with long, sharp
claws. The thick plumage is more or less brilliantly coloured and always
beautifully marked; some species have a bare patch around the eye. All the
members of this group are strictly American, and by far the greater number
of them are natives of that portion of the continent lying between 30°
north latitude and the equator. Four species are now included in the fauna
of North America, and four have been discovered in Brazil; some few extend
their range to the larger of the West Indian Islands, and several others
inhabit the vast mountain ranges of the Andes.
The American Partridges form a large and well-defined group,
distinguishable from the Partridges and Quails of the Old World by the
absence of any spur, or spur-like appendage on the tarsi, and by the
tooth-like processes in the upper mandible. They are pugnacious in their
disposition, seem arboreal in their habits, and deposit their eggs in
a depression of the ground or in a very inartificial nest. Their food
consists of seeds, berries, fruits, and the tender leaves of grass and
other vegetables. Their flesh is white, tender, and well flavoured. In the
morning and evening twilight they perch on a low branch near each other,
when the males frequently give utterance to their cries, which reverberate
through the forest to a great distance. If alarmed when on the ground,
they usually hasten to some neighbouring branch, along which they run, and
crouching down conceal themselves amongst the foliage.
The female lays from eight to fifteen eggs.