PERDIX. PARTRIDGE. 213 



eye and over the ear, ba^e and generally coloured. External 

 ear small, circular. 



Head small, ovate or oblong ; forehead rounded. Neck 

 short. Body full and large. Legs generally short, especially 

 the tarsus, which is rather stout, moderately compressed, co- 

 vered anteriorly vrith two series of scutella, laterally with small 

 scales, behind with two series of large scales. Frequently the 

 males have a flattened knob on the tarsus behind. Toes rather 

 stout, covered above with numerous transverse scutella, be- 

 neath rounded, padded, and covered with round flattened gra- 

 nules ; the first toe very short and elevated, the third much 

 longer than the lateral, of which the inner is considerably 

 shorter than the outer ; the anterior toes webbed at the base. 

 The claws are stout, short, flat or a little concave beneath, with 

 a convex ridge, sloping sides, and blunt point, that of the hind 

 toe very small and curved. 



Plumage full, generally soft and blended, but various. The 

 feathers oblong and rounded, broader on the upper parts, with 

 a large tufty plumule more than half their length. The wings 

 are very short, broad, curved, and rounded ; the primary quills 

 ten, narrow, rounded, the first six cut out on the inner web 

 from near the base, so that when the wing is extended, intervals 

 are left between them ; the fourth alid fifth longest, the first 

 about the length of the seventh ; secondary quills fifteen, de- 

 curved, rounded, the first or outer very short. Tail short, 

 rounded, generally of sixteen feathers, which are nearly straight 

 and moderately strong, the two middle ones situated above the 

 line of the rest. 



The Partridges are generally distributed in the temperate 

 and warmer parts of the old continent, occurring not only in 

 cultivated fields, but in pastures, on hilly and mountainous 

 tracts, and even in thickets and sometimes woods. They live 

 upon vegetable substances, seeds as well as buds, and the her- 

 baceous parts of plants. The food is collected in the crop, 

 and undergoes the same changes as have been described in the 

 Grouse and Ptarmigans. The species have a strong, whirring 

 flight, performed by a fluttering motion of the wings, or by 

 regularly and quickly repeated beats. They run with great 



