GAMK BIRDS. 123 



RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE, GUERNSEY PARTRIDGE, BARBARY 

 PARTRIDGE. 



In the present species, which is half as large again as the com- 

 mon English partridge, the general colour of the upper surface is 

 reddish-brown ; the breast of a bluish ash-colour, the under part 

 reddish; the throat pure white, bordered with a deep, black band, 

 which passes upwards as far as the eyes; and the bill and legs 

 red. The plumage of the sides is marked with some regularity, 

 by a series of transverse crescent-shaped bars of black, white 

 and chesnut, which gives the bird a very striking appearance, 

 and at once distinguishes it from the common species. 



The red-legged partridge is plentiful in France, Spain, Portu- 

 gal, and Italy, but does not inhabit Switzerland, Germany, or 

 Holland. In England, it is frequently termed the Guernsey 

 partridge, from being met with in that island, from whence it is 

 supposed, but rarely, to extend its flight to the southern coast of 

 Britain. Of late years, it has been successfully introduced into 

 our preserves, and the birds that have escaped from them will, 

 probably, at no very distant period, render it an abundant native 

 with us. Wherever it obtains ground, it drives the common 

 species out of the preserves, and threatens to exterminate the 

 Aboriginal race. It prefers hilly situations, and nests in fields 

 and copses, like the common species, but is by no means of so 

 sociable a disposition ; for, though it forms large coveys, the in- 

 dividuals comprising them neither keep so close together, nor 

 take flight at the same moment. They are rather preferred for 

 their size and beauty than as game birds, as they will run for the 

 length of the day, without rising, to the manifest spoiling of the 

 dogs. The female lays from fifteen to eighteen eggs, of a dirty 

 white, with scattered, reddish spots. In captivity, they are more 

 easily tamed than the common bird, the flesh is light-coloured, 

 and in high estimation. 



Mr. Daniel, in his field sports, says they are plentiful near 

 Oxford, the Marquis of Hertfort having imported many thousand 

 eggs, which were hatched under hens and liberated. He says he 

 saw a covey consisting of fourteen of these birds, several of which 

 he shot They are likewise to be found in the neighbourhood of 

 Ipswich, and seem to prefer heathy grounds to corn fields. They 

 are found, but not very abundantly, in the county of Dublin ; but 

 are rather more plentiful in the neighbourhood of Galway than 

 the common sort. Wheat, and corn of all sorts, with the leaves 



