B A R B A R Y PARTRIDGE.
Perdix petrosa, Lath.
La Perdrix rouge de Barbarie.
A l th o u g h this species is generally known by the appellation o f the Barbary Partridge, from its common
occurrence on thathue o f the coast o f Africa, nevertheless it is equally frequent in the southern portion of
Europe which borders the Mediterranean, and in the islands o f that sea ; breeding abundantly l o n g the
rocky mountains o f Spain,and m the islands o f Majorca and Minorca, in Sardinia, Cómica, Malta and Sicily I“ ”“ 1 & VCry B a“d th“ B n°r is !t known parts o f Europe. B M more northern
In the general character o f its plumage, the Perdió: petrosa bears a striking resemblance to the two other
species o f Red-legged Partridge, which are also indigenous to Europe, but may at once be distinguished by
the rufous brown collar round the neck, thickly spotted with white points. In habits and manners it is
strictly identical mth the well-known Guernsey Partridge, in the description o f which we have entered more
fiilly into the details o f the subject The female chooses barren places and desert mountains, where among
low bushes she deposits her eggs to the number o f fifteen, the colour o f which is yellowish, thickly dotted
with greenish olwe spots. Grain, and insects occasionally, form, as is the case with the others o f the genus
the food o f this species. 8
The beak and a bare space round the eyes are r e d ; the legs, which in the male are furnished with a short
lunt spur are also red ; mdeshasel; a deep chestnut stripe commences at the gape and runs oyer the top
o f die head to the back o f the neck, where it passes off on each side, forming a collar round the neck studded
with white spots; a broad line above the ey es; the cheeks and throat are o f a dull blueish-ash colour
but the ear-feathers are reddish brown. The whole o f the upper surface, with the exception o f a few
blue feathers edged with red near the shoulders, is o f a brownish grey. Breast dull ash-colour; the sides
barred transversely with ferruginous brown and black on a light ground; each feather barred with grey black
brown and white ending in a band o f darker ferruginous brown; the under parts light reddish-brown! Tail
chestnut. Length thirteen inches.
The female differs only in being rather smaller, the collar round the neck somewhat narrower the general
plumage scarcely so bright, and the absence o f spurs on the tarsi.
GRE EK PARTRIDGE .
Perdix saxatilis, Meyer.
La Perdrix Bartavelle.
Of the three species o f Red-legged Partridges which inhabit Europe, the present is the most rare. In sire
and general colouring it is not unlike its allied congeners, which, with one from the Himalaya Mountains
forms a beautiful group, embodying differences, we think, sufficiently marked to warrant its separation into á
new genus, distinct from that o f which the Common Partridge o f our corn-fields is a familiar example.
The localities o f the present species are much more northern than those o f the PeriÍD petrosa. It inhabits
the Alps, Tyrol, and Switzerland; as well as Italy, the Archipelago, and Turkey; frequenting the higher
regions o f the mountains during the summer, and descending towards the yalleys as winter approaches.
M. Temminck informs us that it breeds among the moss and herbage which covers the surface of rocks and
large stones, laying fifteen eggs or more, very much resembling those o f the preceding species. The beak
the circle round the eyes, and the legs are r e d ; the tarsi armed with a short blunt spur. Irides hazel; a black
band beginning at the beak passes through the eye down each side o f the neck and meets on the chest, inclosing
the cheeks and throat, which are white; the top o f the head, the back o f the neck, and the whole o f the upper
parts o f the body are o f a blueish ash colour, the feathers across the shoulder having a vinous tinge ; the
breast cinereous; the sides barred as in the preceding species,— with this difference, that the black bands are
not so far apart, and the intervening space is o f a delicate fewn colour; the lower part o f the belly is o f a
yellowish cream colour; the tail consists o f eighteen feathers, o f a deep chestnut.
There is no difference between the sexes, with the exception o f the female being smaller in size and destitute
o f spurs.
Our Plate represents a male o f each o f these species, o f the natural size, and in the adult plumage.