PABTEIDGES. 417 



Contrary to the Grey Partridge, the Red-legged, and those 

 allied to it, have the tarsi provided with tubercles. 



The Red-legged or Guernsey Partridge owes its name to the 

 predominant colour of its plumage, and also to the pink shade 

 of its beak, tarsi, and feet. Uncultivated wastes, thinly covered 

 with heath, and undulating uplands adapted to the vine, are its 

 favourite resorts. In France it is principally found in the south ; 

 in the northern departments it is not so plentiful as the Common 

 Grey Partridge. It is also a native of Spain and Italy, and is 

 very common in portions of Asia and Africa. 



The brush- clad mountains are its home, and in fine weather it 

 ventures even as far as the regions of perpetual snow. It is 

 very fond of grapes and the edible variety of snails. In some 

 parts of France it is scarce ; the Jura, the Upper and Lower Alps, 

 the mountains of Auvergne, and the Pyrenees are the districts 

 where it is most abundant. In Greece, Turkey, and Asia Minor 

 it is more plentiful. 



Another variety, the Rock Partridge, or Gambra, which differs 

 but little from the Red-legged Partridge, is almost unknown in 

 France. Its habitat is Spain, Corsica, Sicily, and Calabria. 



The COLIN, YIRGINIAN or AMERICAN PARTRIDGE (Ortyx vir- 

 ginianus, Wilson), has a thick and convex beak, smooth tarsi, 

 and a longer tail than the Partridge. These characteristics would 

 hardly entitle us to make any difference as to genus, if a study 

 of their habits had not revealed certain details which justify us in 

 doing so. 



When these birds are flushed, they do not all of them fly 

 towards the same spot, but disperse in every direction, and 

 conceal themselves in the brushwood or trees. Under such cir- 

 cumstances, if one can only manage to re-find them, all may be 

 killed in succession. They are more prolific than the Partridge, 

 also less suspicious, and will readily enter snares set for them. 



These birds are in the habit of making arrangements for sleeping 

 which are peculiar, to say the least. All the individuals of the 

 same flock begin by placing themselves in a circle at a certain 

 distance from each other; then they all walk backwards, con- 

 verging towards a common centre, until they are close to one 

 another, side to side : in this position they pass the night. By 



E K 



