2 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ately upon the first introductions into Alberta, near Calgary, in 1908-9. On 

 April 20, November 16, and December 10, 1908, Calgary sportsmen liberated 

 about 70 pairs over a small area mostly south and west of Calgary. More 

 came on April 20, 21, and 22, 1909, and in all some 207 pairs seem to have 

 formed the basis for this wonderful result. The first birds were placed some 

 15 miles south of Calgary, and after the first large plantings, 40 pairs in 

 one place and 30 not far away (High River and west of that place), the rest 

 were planted mostly in lots of 10 pairs. This stock came from Hungary. 

 Some time later the Northern Alberta Game and Fish Protection League liber- 

 ated a fresh importation of 230 birds in Alberta near Edmonton, but the stock 

 from Calgary had in the meantime spread north to that city. The gain in 

 territory from this nucleus has been little short of marvelous. The birds 

 have now spread at least 60 miles northwest of Edmonton (Pembina River) 

 and breed there. There has been an open season on them in Alberta for years, 

 and they are now by far the commonest of imported game birds in western 

 Canada. The spread from this initial plant has carried the Hungarian partridge 

 into Saskatchewan and all over its western part as far north as township 60 and 

 south to the international boundary. All this happened within only five years 

 from the time the bird was first recorded in the Province. 



A. G. Lawrence writes to me : 



First liberated in Manitoba in April, 1924, when the Game Protective League 

 released at Warren, Manitoba, 40 pairs imported direct from Czechoslovakia. 

 A second shipment was received in January, 1925, 17 pairs being later released 

 at Neepawa, Manitoba, and 26 pairs at Warren. These birds are apparently 

 well adapted to the prairies and seem to be establishing themselves in the 

 areas in which they were liberated. 



The experience with this partridge in the State of Washington 

 well illustrates the fact that it will flourish, increase, and spread 

 in the type of open country that it prefers, but will barely hold its 

 own or will die out entirely in less favorable regions. D. J. Lef- 

 fingwell says in his notes : 



We find the introduction of the partridge has been most successful in the 

 dry nonforested areas with an elevation of 1,000 or more feet above sea level 

 and where the game enemies are rare. The lack of vermin and the large 

 open fields in which the birds may feed are probably the most important 

 factors. The birds should not be introduced outside of the Temperate or 

 Transition Zone. 



In the comparatively humid regions of western "Washington at- 

 tempts to introduce Hungarian partridges have not been very suc- 

 cessful. S. F. Rathbun says of this section : 



Western Washington is a picturesque region of mountains, hills, valleys, 

 and streams. Originally it was clothed with a dense and luxuriant forest 

 mostly coniferous, but now a great change in this respect is apparent. As 

 has been so often the case in the past in a new country, the development of 

 the region began along the lines of least resistance — in this instance it being 

 where land and water met — and now to a large extent the tall forests have 

 been replaced by broad cultivated areas that steadily encroach upon the still 

 undeveloped ones. 



