f l l i p
Genus PERDIX, Lath.
Gen. Chak. B i l l short, strong, naked at the base; upper mandible convex, with the point
bending considerably downwards. N o s tr ils basal, lateral, pierced in a large membrane,
and partly concealed by an arched naked scale. Wings short, concave, the first three
quills shorter than the fourth and fifth, which are the longest. T a il of fourteen or eighteen
feathers, generally bending towards the ground. F e e t with three toes before, which are
united by a membrane as far as the first articulation, and one behind. Tarsi in the male
bird frequently with one or more than one spur or tubercle.
R E D- L EG G ED PARTRIDGE .
P e rd ix ru b ra , R a y .
L e P e rd r ix rouge.
F kom this peculiar and beautiful group the Common Partridge may with great propriety be separated as
their habits and characters vary considerably, the Red-legs being spurred, and accordihg to some authors
perching on trees, which the common species never does; and it is also destitute o f spurs.
O f the Red-legs five distinct species are now recognised, three o f which are natives o f Europe: o f these the
species here represented is the most common, and is, we believe, confined entirely to the Continent and the
islands o f Guernsey and Jersey. Like the Pheasant, the Red-legged Partridge is now naturalized in the British
Islands, but it must nevertheless be considered an introduced species, and consequently as not strictly belonging
to our Fauna; and we much question whether those who have them on their estates have not cause
to regret their introduction, for although highly ornamental in their appearance, their flesh is not equal to that
o f the Common Partridge (Pe rdu cinered), which from its diminutive size and less pugnacious habits is compelled
to retreat and give place to its more powerful opponent. It is more shy and wary than the common
species, and is very difficult to approach, even at the commencement o f the shooting-season, a covey being
seldom flushed without having run before the dogs for a considerable distance, when they mostly rise out o f gunshot.
It is now becoming extremely numerous in many parts o f England, particularly Suffolk and the adjoining
counties. Although it does extremely well in preserved manors, arable lands, &c., still it appears to
evince a partiality for sterile wastes and heathy grounds. It is very abundant throughout the plains o f France
and Italy, is rarely found in Switzerland, and scarcely if ever in Germany or Holland. It is very prolific, the
female laying from fifteen to eighteen eggs, o f an orange yellow freckled all over with markings o f a red
colour. The young before the second monlt have their plumage striated somewhat after the manner o f the
young o f the common species, but by the end o f October this colouring is exchanged for the transversely
marked plumage o f the adult: the old birds o f both sexes are so nearly alike in the colouring and markings,
that were it not for the blunt spur, which always forms an appendage to the male, it would be difficult to
distinguish them. Its food consists o f wheat and other grains, vegetables, insects, &c. Its flesh is whiter
and more dry than that o f the common species.
The male has the forehead g re y ; crown o f the head and whole o f the upper surface greyish brown with a
tinge o f rufous; throat white surrounded by a black band, which dilates upon the chest and the sides o f the
neck into a number o f small black spots on a grey ground ; abdomen and under tail-coverts sandy red ; feathers
o f the flanks grey at their base, to which succeeds a broad transverse band o f black, the tips being
chestnut r e d ; outer tail-feathers rufous, the centre ones more grey ; legs, bill, and eyelids red.
The Plate represents a male o f the natural size.