BIRD NOTES 55 



Against this belief must be placed the fact, 

 according to Sir Thomas Browne, 1 that in his day 

 " the French Red-legged Partridge is not to be met 

 with." It was introduced into East Anglia by the 

 Marquis of Hertford and Lord Rendlesham in or 

 about the year 1770. Another consignment was 

 turned out in 1823. Booth 2 mentions that in early 

 spring numbers are frequently picked up drowned 

 in the Norfolk Broads, and that the natives look 

 upon them as fresh arrivals. He says, "I myself, 

 having often noticed their quarrelsome disposition, 

 believe that while flying in pursuit of one another 

 over the water, they become confused, and falling, 

 are unable to regain the shore." Stevenson 3 took 

 considerable pains to attempt a satisfactory solution 

 of the matter, and gives instances of the bird being 

 found on beach and Denes, both at Yarmouth 

 and Cromer. One observer "flushed a covey of 

 from twenty to thirty, which flew round once or 

 twice and then out to sea, still keeping on in a 

 direct course until he lost sight of them, although 



1 Natural History of Norfolk, p. 23. Edited by T. Southwell, 

 1902. 



2 Descriptive Catalogue of Birds, p. 84. 



3 Stevenson's Birds of Norfolk, vol. i. p, 413. 



