THE PARTRIDGE. 



155 



THE PARTRIDGE, 



THE Hebrew name of this bird, KER, was evidently taken froni 



: nnto 



its note 



' I love to hear the cur 



Of the night-loving partridge.' 



Forskal mentions a partridge whose name in Arabic is kurr ; and 

 Latham says, that in the province of Andalusia, in Spain, its name 

 is churr : both taken, no doubt, like the Hebrew, from its note. As 

 this bird is so well known in every part of the world, a particular 

 description is unnecessary. 



There are only two passages of scripture in which the partridge 

 is mentioned ; but these will repay an attentive examination. The 

 first occurs in the history of David, where he expostulates with 

 Saul concerning his unjust and foolish pursuit of him : ' The king 

 of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a part- 

 ridge on the mountains,' 1 Sam. xxvi. 20. 



The learned Bochart objects to the partridge in this place, and 

 contends that the ker is more likely to be the woodcock, since the 

 partridge is not a mountain bird. This, however, is a mistake : there 

 is a species of the partridge which exactly answers to the description 

 of David ; and those of Barakonda, in particular, are said to choose 

 the highest rocks and precipices for their residence. The method 

 iby which Dr. Shaw states the Arabs to hunt the partridge, affords a 

 lively comment on the words of the Psalmist : ' The Arabs have 

 another, though a more laborious, method of catching these birds ; 

 for, observing that they become languid and fatigued after they have 

 been hastily put up twice or thrice, they immediately run in upon 



