348 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Red-legged Partridge. Caccabis mfa (Linn.). 



The range of the Red-legged Partridge (Plate 149) does not 

 extend beyond south-western Europe, though allied species 

 occur in various parts of Asia and Africa. It is not a British 

 native, and its introduction for sporting purposes much more 

 recent than that of the Pheasant, indeed shortly before the close 

 of the eighteenth century. In the north and west, where a few 

 attempts have been made to establish it, no colonisation has 

 been accomplished, but in south-eastern and midland counties 

 it has settled, multiplied, and spread. Under the impression 

 that determined colonisation was detrimental to the resident 

 Partridge, sportsmen, regretting their haste, strove to wipe it 

 out, but it refused to be evicted, and now that driving has 

 largely replaced shooting over dogs, it is tolerated rather than 

 encouraged. As exhausted birds have been found upon the 

 shore, and others noted at sea, it has been argued that 

 migrants may reach us from time to time, and that our birds 

 may attempt to emigrate. Southwell and others were of 

 opinion that these over-water excursions were merely abortive 

 attempts to extend the range, due to wandering habits, or to 

 coveys having been driven out to sea, and that the weary, 

 disappointed birds were returning to the land they had just left. 

 Dr. N. F. Ticehurst, however, is convinced " that occasional 

 birds or coveys do wander across " the Channel, and believes 

 that the early records of the species in Kent cannot be explained 

 by spread from any area of introduction. His evidence cannot 

 be lightly cast aside, but so far there is no suggestion of regular 

 migration. Solitary birds, apparently wanderers, turn up in 

 unexpected places, but Partridge as well as Pheasant eggs are 

 bought for the purpose of stocking preserves, and it is always 

 possible that eggs of the Red-leg might be included. 



The plumage of the " French Partridge," as it is still called 

 in East Anglia, is more striking than that of the common bird ; 



