THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGES. 9 1 



Ciurabis sa.xatiiis, Dresser, B. Europe, vii. p. 93, pi. 470 (1875) ; 

 Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. iii. (1893). 



Adult Male and Female. — Above greyish olive brown ; breast 

 grey ; belly pale rufous-buff; outer tail-feathers dark chestnut ; 

 top of the head dull vinaceous-grey ; white throat and fore- 

 neck surrounded by a black band ; feathers of the chest uni- 

 form, not margined with black on the sides ; lores black: ear- 

 coverts black, mixed with buff. 



Male: Total length, 15 inches; wing, 6"6; tail, t^'G; tarsus, 

 1-8. 



Female: Total length, i3"6 ; wing, 6-2; tail, 3*4; tarsus, 

 17. 



Range. — Mountains of Southern Europe. Eastern Pyrenees, 

 Alps, Carpathians, Apennines, and Balkans; also Sicily. It still 

 remains uncertain whether it is this species or the closely allied 

 form, C. chukar, which is found in the mainland of Greece ; it 

 is certainly the latter which is met with in the Grecian Archi- 

 pelago, but so far I have been unable to obtain examples of 

 the mainland bird. 



Hybrids. — Crosses have been described between this species 

 and the Barbary Red-legged Partridge (C petrosa) ; and also 

 with the Common Red-legged Partridge (C. rufa). 



Habits. — This species inhabits the desolate stony hillsides, 

 and its mode of life and habits are very similar to those of its 

 eastern ally, the Chukar, w^iich are fully described below. 



Professor Victor Fatio records a curious variety of this 

 species, with a black head. For this bird, of which he has 

 seen three examples from Switzerland, he proposes the name 

 of C. saxatilis, var. jnelaiiocephaliis {nee Riipp.). 



SUB-SP. a. THE CHUKAR RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. CACCABIS 

 CHUKAR. 



Perdix chitcar, J. E. Gray, 111. Ind. Zool. i. pi. 54 (1830-32); 

 Gould, Cent. B. Himal. pi. 71 (1832). 



