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12. Guernfey Partridge, Gen, Sjn, iv, p. 768.
V a r . A.
■ •-GUERNSEY P. j p R O M this fpecies being now and then met with at Targe in>
this kingdom, one might be induced to think that it may be
by degrees naturalized thereto. Several gentlemen, and efpecially
the late Duke o f Northumberland, have turned out many brace for
thepurpofe. It has alfo been mentioned, that fo far back as the
time o f Charles the Second, feveral pairs were turned out about
Windjor, for the purpofe o f increaling; but it is fuppofed that
they at laft perilhed, though fome o f them, or their defendants,
were feen a few years afterwards. Indeed they feem to thrive fuf-
ficiently well in a confined ftate, as I myfelf have known them, to
d o ; but have been informed, that, on their being put out afterwards
to Ihift for themfelves, they died foon after, as was the cafe
with fome in the pofleffion o f Mr. Tunjlall, Is not then this climate
o f too moiff or too chilly a nature for this bird, or perhaps
both ? I have once taffed their flefh, and thought it very delicate,
as do the inhabitants o f every place to which they are indigenous,
efpecially in France, where they are made into pies, and.
efteemed greatly.
A bird fimilar to the above, or rather the Greek Partridge, inhabits
India, but feems fomewhat larger, being fourteen inches in
length. I learn this from various drawings, efpecially thofe of
Lady Impey and Mr. Middleton, This laft-named gentleman informs
me, that it is far from uncommon, and "often kept tame. It
is known in India by the name of Cheuequoir: is called' by the
Englijh, Firelock, as it will peck at fparks of fire on the ground.
Mr. Boys, of Sandwich, lately informed me, that fome Partridges
ml
were received not long fince from Bojlon, in New England, by a
perfon, who turned them into the fields at large; and that they
molt certainly have bred, as a covey of them was afterwards feen.
The fpecies he could not afcertain from his own knowledge, not
having feen them.
Pondicherry Partridge, Gm, Syn. iv. p. jy \, N° ry.
T E N G T H ten inches. Bill black : the chin, round the eye;
and beneath it, yellow; the reft o f the head, neck, and breaft,
pale brownifh white, marked with large roundifh black fpots : a
bar, compofed of narrow lines o f black and white, divides the middle
of the breaft, beneath which it is white : the belly is brown,
marked with fhort tranfverfe bars of black : back whitifh brown,
croffed with narrow tranfverfe dafhes of black, pointed at each
end : the prime quills are black at the tips : tail reddifh clay-coloured
brown, crofted with nine or ten oblique bars of black; tips
o f the feathers white: legs very pale before, the hind part and
toes black: hind claw very fmall: legs not furniihed with fpurs.
Inhabits India, where it is called Ghoori tetur, or Rock-Pigeon,
It is met with for the moft part in pairs, feldom in covies; nor
indeed is it very common, f t is lhy, flies high, and is not eafily
fhot. It is called by fome a Partridge, but its cry is very unlike
that bird *. From the great fimilarity in markings to the Pondicherry
Partridge, and its not having a fpur, I apprehend it to be
the female o f that fpecies.
* Mr. Middleton•
$aj
PONDICHERRY
P.
D e s c r i p t i o n .
P l a c e a n d M a k -
N ERS,
Common