58 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PARTRIDGE 



tail had been shot away ; the tarsi and feet are pale 

 brownish-yellow.' 



In the autumn of 1876, six birds of this variety 

 were shot at Glasshough, near Partsoy, N.B., in the 

 month of October, and fell into the hands of Mr. 

 George Sim, of Aberdeen. Mr. Sim stated that the 

 females, of which there were four, were all alike in 

 plumage, being brown on the breast, while the upper 

 parts are beautifully marked with transverse bars of 

 light brown over a ground colour of drab, the brown 

 being of greater density in some individuals than in 

 others. The males differed markedly from the females, 

 having a preponderance of the rich grouse-like chest- 

 nut-brown on the back as well as on the breast. 



In the year 1868, the late Mr. Robert Gray saw 

 in the hands of a Dundee bird-stuffer a pair of par- 

 tridges that had been shot on the higher grounds 

 of Forfarshire a short time previously. They were 

 strikingly handsome birds, and agreed precisely with 

 the partridge figured by Sir William Jardine as Perdix 

 cinerea, var. montana. The keeper who shot them 

 distinguished them as ' hill partridges,' and Mr. Gray 

 was informed that small numbers of this variety were 

 occasionally seen in the lower grounds, mixing with 

 coveys of the common species. Mr. J. A. Harvie 

 Brown suggested that the variation of the Forfarshire 



