A HAND-LIST OF BRITISH BIRDS. 217 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Resident. Introduced in England 

 before 1066, in Scotland and Ireland about five hundred years later. 

 Now generally hybridized with P. c. torquatus, introduced about 

 1700, and other races more recently. Generally distributed but not 

 Shet lands and unsuccessfully introduced Orkneys. Scarce Ireland 

 in places not preserved. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Various Pheasants have been introduced 

 into almost every part of Europe and many suitable places in North 

 America. In no part of Euroj^e are the}' indigenous. True home 

 of P. colchicus colchicus is in west parts of Transcaucasia, basins of 

 rivers Rion and Chorokh, or districts round east and south-east 

 Fhores of Black Sea generally, not further north Ihan Sukham-kale. 

 Represented by more or less closely-allied forms in Caucasus, east 

 Transcaucasia ,'Talysch, and many parts of west, north, and central 

 Asia. 



PERDIX PERDIX 



467. Perdix perdix perdix (L.)— THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. 



Tetrao Perdix Linn?eus, Syst. Xat., ed. x, i, p. 160 (1758 — Europe. 



Restricted typical locality : Sweden). 



Perdix cinerea Latham, Yarrell, iii, p. 105 ; Savinders, p. 501. 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Resident. Generally distributed, 

 but local in Scotland, not present Shetlands, but introduced (not 

 successfully) 0. Hebrides and Orkneys. Becoming scarce Ireland. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Difficult at present to define with cer- 

 tainty distribution of P. perdix perdix, but it appears to be dis- 

 tributed over greater part of Euro]De, and to l:e replaced by closely- 

 allied forms on alpine meadows of Pyrenees, and north Sixain, 

 eastern Europe and western Asia, east to foot of Altai Mountains. 



COTURNIX COTURNIX 



468. Coturnix coturnix coturnix (L.) — THE QUAIL. 



Tetrao Coturnix Linnaeus, Syst. Xat., ed. x, i, p. 161 (1758 — Europe, 



Asia, Africa. Restricted typical locality : Sweden). 



Coturnix communis Bonnaterre, Yarrell, iii, p. 123 ; Samiders, p, 505. 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Summer-resident, occasionally stay- 

 ing winter. Formerly much more plentiful, especially Lines, and 

 East Anglia. Now scarce, but numbers fluctuate. Rare north- 

 wards in Great Britain, but has bred as far as Sutherland and 

 Caithness, as well as Orkneys, Shetlands, and 0. Hebrides. In 

 Ireland previous to 1850, practically resident and plentiful, now 

 much scarcer and chiefly summer-resident in eastern half. 



