SummaryIn late 1984 and throughout 1965 the feeding habits ofPternistis leucoscepuswere studied in the north of Tanzania and in the Tsavo West National Park in Kenya.The main food of this bird was found to be the corms of the sedgeCyperus rotundus.Grass and legume seeds and insects formed a small proportion of the diet.P. leucoscepusis not dependent on free water and can occupy waterless country.The species' main habitat is the edge of flood plains with abundantC. rotundussedge, bounded by shrub and small tree cover.In the two main study areas, Ngase‐rai and Tarangire, the difference in the general density of the habitats is reflected in the occurrence ofP. leucoscepusandFrancolinus sephaenatogether in the former area, and ofP. leucoscepus, P. cranchii, F. sephaenaandF. hildebrandtiin the latter. The sympat‐ric occurrence of these related game birds and the apparent similarity of the two spurfowls' feeding habits presents a fascinating ecological problem for further st