^°'i9l4''^^] Recent Literature. 555 



Food of the Common Partridge {Perdix perdix) of Europe.' — Con- 

 siderable interest attaches to this article as large numbers of these birds 

 under the name of Hungarian Partridges are being imported and natural- 

 ized in this country. The authors give the result of painstaking examina- 

 tions of 295 (!) stomachs and crops from birds secured in Hungary. For 

 the month of August the results given are very complete but they cannot 

 be considered conclusive for the entire year. The different months are 

 represented as follows : January, 9 birds; February, 7; March, 4; April, 2; 

 June, 2; July,.4; and August, 257. The large number secured in August 

 were taken in the hunting season, while the months from September on 

 are entirely unrepresented. Field observations supplement the detailed 

 stomach examinations. 



The great bulk of the food as shown by tabulation is made up of vegeta- 

 ble matter of which weed seeds and fragments of plants predominate. 

 Wheat was found in 147 instances in amounts varying from 1 to 122 grains. 

 Barley was taken 87 times, oats 47 times and rye 29 times, while smaller 

 amounts of corn, buckwheat, vetch, timothy, red clover and sorghum 

 seeds were identified from the stomachs. It is stated, however, that all 

 these grains are picked up as waste in the stubble so that they do not count 

 against the partridges. . A few birds taken from January to June had eaten 

 large amounts of grass. 



Among seeds of plants that may be called weeds and others of neutral 

 value 107 species were identified as of more or less common occurrence, 

 knotweeds {Polygonum aviculare, convolvulus and lapathifolium) were 

 taken frequently and the common pigeon grass (Chaetochloa glauca) was 

 eaten 164 times, as many as 820 seeds being encountered in a single indi- 

 vidual. Bottle grass (Chaetochloa viridis) seeds too were eaten extensively. 

 A star thistle (Centaurea cyanea) was eaten 101 times and the long array 

 of other species occurred in smaller amounts. These are said to be mainly 

 seeds of plants which grow among crops and along the borders of the fields 

 so that in eating them the partridges may do a small amount of good. 



Insect remains were found in 177 instances though in only eleven cases 

 did they form any large amount of the contents. One third of the 38 

 species of beetles eaten were ground beetles {Carahidos) but some of these 

 are not predaceous species and seven of those listed are said to be actually 

 injurious. Two Coccinellids and one Cicindehd form the remaining 

 beneficial species. Several Scarahceids were secured, one of which {Phyl- 

 lopertha horticola) damages oaks while click and leaf-beetles and various 

 weevils may be noted. Ants form the bulk of the animal food listed and 

 among them Lasius alienus was eaten 72 times and Lasius niger 57 times. 

 Of the latter as many as 250 examples were taken from one bird. Cater- 



i Uber den wirtschaftlichen Nutzen des Rebhuhns-Perdix perdix (L.) — Aquila 

 1912, pp. 16&-209. 



Vcgctabilische Nahrung des Rebhuhns, von Ludwlg Thalsz. Die Insectennah- 

 rung des Rebhuhns (Perdix perdix L.) von E. Csiki. 



