PARTRIDGE 695 
to be unknown, but in the temperate parts of Eastern Siberia its 
place is taken by a very nearly allied form, P. barbata, and in Tibet 
there is a bird, P. hodgsonix, which can hardly with justice be 
generically separated from it. The relations of some other forms 
inhabiting the Indian Region are at present too obscure to make 
any notice of them expedient here. 
The common Red-legged Partridge of Europe, generally called 
the French Partridge, Caccabis rufa, seems to be justifiably con- 
sidered the type of a separate group.! This bird was introduced 
into England toward the end of the eighteenth century, and 
has established itself in various parts of the country, notwith- 
standing a widely-spread, and in some respects unreasonable 
prejudice against it. It has certainly the habit of trusting nearly 
as much to its legs as to its wings, and it thus incurred the 
obloquy of old-fashioned sportsmen, whose dogs it vexatiously 
kept at a running-point ; but when it was also accused of driving 
away the grey Partridge, the charge only shewed the ignorance 
of those that brought it, for as a matter of fact the French 
Partridge rather prefers ground which the common species avoids 
—such as the heaviest clay-soils, or the most infertile heaths. 
But even where the two species meet, the present writer can 
declare from the personal observation of many years that the 
alleged antipathy between them is imaginary, and unquestionably 
in certain parts of the country the “head of game” has been 
increased by the introduction of the foreigner.2 The French 
nearly each feather shews a buff shaft-stripe. Again the median upper wing- 
coverts in the cock are of a sandy-brown blotched with chestnut and black trans- 
verse lines, while in the hen the corresponding feathers are blackish-brown with 
conspicuous buff crossbars. I am much indebted to Lord Lilford and Mr. Beilby 
Oakes for kindly informing me that, after examining a great many Partridges, 
they can wholly confirm Mr. Grant’s observations, which having been originally 
published in a newspaper (Field, 21 Nov. 1891 and 9 April 1892), and only 
incidentally meutioned by him in a scientific work (Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxii. p. 
185) will be new to many persons. 
1 The late Prof. Parker first (Trans. Zool. Soc. v. p. 155) and, after him, 
Prof. Huxley (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, pp. 299-3802) pointed out that the true 
Galline offer two types of structure, ‘‘one of which may be called Galline, 
and the other Tetraonine,” to use the latter’s words, though he is ‘‘ by no means 
clear that they do not graduate into one another” ; and, according to the char- 
acters assigned by him, Caccabis lies ‘‘on the Galline side of the boundary,” 
while Perdiz belongs to the Tetraonine group. Further investigation of this 
matter is very desirable, and, with the abundant means possessed by those who 
have access to zoological gardens, it might easily be carried out. 
2 It is a singular fact that the game-preservers who object most strongly to 
the Red-legged Partridge are not agreed on the exact grounds of their objection. 
One party will declare that it vanquishes the Grey Partridge, while the other 
holds that, thongh the latter, the ‘‘ English” Partridge, is much vexed by the 
{utroduced species, it invariably beats off the ‘‘ Frenchman ” ! 
