CAC CAB IS BBBBA,
Red-leg,g,ed Partridge.
Tetrao rufus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 276.
Perdix ru/a, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 647, /3..
rubra, Briss. Orn., tom. i, p.. 236.
Caccabis rufa, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. in. p. 508, Caccabis, sp. 1
always appeared! to me questionable whether such birds as the Red-legged Partridge and the
t should be regarded as pertaining to the avifauna of our islands more than the Guinea-fowl or the
Turkey. The only reason that can be assigned for giving them a place therein is the circumstance of their
now being found in a semi-wild state, whereas the Turkey and the Guinea-fowl can only be considered as
additions to our domestic poultry; and hence it is th at British ornithologists have, by common consent,
included the former in their enumerations o f our birds, and excluded the latter.' I consider that the
Red-legged Partridge affords the acclimatizer the best evidence that a bird may become naturalized in a
foreign country. The Pheasant, without protection and a constant supply of artificial food, would probably
die out in thirty years; but I believe the Red-leg would thrive and multiply to almost any extent in certain
parts of our island; this, hpwever, is not saying much, since a narrow strait only separates us from France,
where the bird is strictly indigenous.
I have often had occasion to comment in the present work upon the splitting up of natural groups of
birds into minute genera—to agree with the propriety of the measure in some instances, and to condemn
it in others. The separation o f the present bird and its allies from the other members of the Perdicidce is
to be commended; for although many ornithologists consider the Red-legged and the common Partridge
too closely allied to admit of their being so treated, it will be found on a comparison of the two birds
that they differ very considerably, both in structure and in the colouring o f their plumage; and I therefore
think Dr. Kairp was fully justified in separating them and in establishing the genus Caccabis for the reception
of the MtfBwir. The Red-legged Partridges arc «owe of the most beautifully coloured members of the
Galiinaceat; the Sexe* are alike in cmkour, and the »»aks are armed with powerful blunt spurs on their tarsi.
The species (which arc about seven i» «umber) all inhabit the dry sterile sandy districts of the countries in
which they are respectively found, while the true Partridges, for which the generic term of Perdir is
retained, com prise only our own well-known P . cinerea, the P . Iiodgsonice o f Thibet, and the P. barbata
o f Central Dauuria. O f these birds the sexes differ considerably in colour, and the males are destitute of
spurs. They dwell in the more humid and thickly clothed districts of their native countries.
O f the European species o f the genus Caccabis, viz. C. rubra, C. petrosa, and C. sa.vatilis, the one here
represented is the commonest. All three are very circumscribed in the extent of their respective habitats,
and one rarely encroaches on the domain of the other. The grey partridge, on the other hand, ranges over
nearly the whole o f Europe, from Constantinople to Britain, from Norway to Spain. Since the introduction
o f the Red-legged Partridge into England, towards the end o f the last century, some valuable papers have
been written respecting ii—its objectionable qualities, its interfering with the happiness of and displacing
our indigenous bird, the inferiority of its flesh fur the table, & e.; and I might have my say on these points,
having had many opportunities of observing the bird while enjoying the pleasure of shooting in the p
of several friends in Suffolk and Norfolk ; I Hit 1 could not communicate anything more to the purpose than
has been furnished by D r. W . B. Clarke, in the 1 Magazine o f Natural History ’ for 1839, or tharns contained
in the carefully written account by Mr. Stevenson in hi» recently published * B irds o f Norfolk’—a publication
I strongly recommend to the notice of ail who take an interest in the local faunas o f our islands, and from
which I shall transcribe some o f the more important passages, with due acknowledgment; for it would be
unfair to rob Mr. Stevenson of any portion o f the laurels he has so justly won by the good service he has1
rendered to th e natural history o f his comity.
“ The Red-legged Partridge,” says Dr. Clarke, “ js found in F rance and the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey.
It is generally about half as large again as the Common Partridge, from which it is a t once distinguished by
the variety in the colouring o f its plumage. It wa* introduced into England about the year 1790, by the
Marquis o f Hertford and Lord Rendlesham, each o f whom had eggs procured on the continent, carefully
brought to England, and placed under domestic fowls,— the former at Sudbourn, near Orford, in Suffolk,
one o f his shooting-residences ; the latter on his estates at Rendlesham, a few miles from Sudbonru : from
these places the birds have gradually extended over the adjoining counties; and in the ratio o f their increase
the Grey Partridge appears to have diminished.