PARTEIDGE 



267 



Peirtridge. 

 Perdix cinerea. 



FIG. 91. PAHTRIUUE. l natural size. 



Plumage grey and reddish brown, the male with a chestnut 

 horseshoe patch 011 the lower breast. Length, twelve and a half 



inches. 



The partridge is a favourite of the ornithologist, and of all lovers 

 of our wild bird life. A handsome and interesting bird, he is the 

 only indigenous gallinaceous species in Britain that is not adversely 

 affected by the reclamation of waste lands and the spread of cultiva- 

 tion. On the contrary, the changes that prove fatal to other game- 

 birds are advantageous to him, since he nourishes most on rich 

 soils, and where agriculture is most advanced. As a bird of the 

 homestead he is made dear by association to those who have passed 

 their early years in rural England ; to the sportsman he is more, 

 in the long run, than any other game-bird we possess, on account of 

 his greater abundance and more general distribution. 



Except during the breeding season, the partridge is gregarious, 

 keeping in coveys of half a do/en to twenty or more birds. Their feed- 



