102 THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE. 



lower parts, and shoulders. The specimens are ge- 

 nerally less than those of ordinary plumage. 



The partridge, therefore, seems to have a more 

 extensive range of variation than almost any bird we 

 are acquainted with, and according to Temminck 

 and some other authors, is somewhat influenced hy 

 almost every change of climate. Those broods which 

 frequent and are bred on the marshy grounds of the 

 Zuyder Zee and mouth of Meuse are less in size and 

 of a duller tint than those found in the drier lands of 

 Belgium. Dry or parched districts, abundance of food 

 and water, will always influence their condition, and 

 it is to the same causes, with variation of climate, that 

 Temminck attributes the migrations of the partridge 

 on some parts of the continent, and which are also 

 said to be of a smaller size than those which do not 

 migrate. This migratory bird has by some been 

 also raised to the rank of a species, and named the 

 Damascus partridge. By the modern ornithologists 

 of this country, it is very little known, or its claims 

 upon which even the variety rests ascertained, beyond 

 the fact of its migration. And our latest, or indeed 

 only authority from actual examination, is that of 

 Temminck, who says that among many individuals 

 he has been able to discover no good distinctions. 



Our next illustration is from a very beautiful spe- 

 cies inhabiting the continent of India ; it is 



