THE COLOURS OF PARTRIDGES 63 



with growing crops I could not account for it. 

 Probably, the birds in question were systematically 

 killed off by hawks, their conspicuous colour 

 rendering them peculiarly exposed to their natural 

 enemies. 



Partridges with white wing quills, and even with 

 white markings about the head, occasionally come 

 under the observation of sportsmen. Such birds 

 seldom call for much remark, but some pied birds 

 are really interesting. One bird, for instance, killed 

 in Scotland some years ago, had every fifth or sixth 

 feather pure white, so that the bird appeared to be 

 variegated with flakes of snow. We may here remark 

 that exceptionally dark and rich-coloured specimens 

 of the partridge have sometimes been met with, 

 which were considered by sportsmen to be half-bred. 

 The Rev. M. A. Mathew states that he came 

 across such birds, and regarded them as melanistic 

 varieties ; they appeared to be slightly larger than 

 the ordinary bird, and darker than the little dark 

 partridges one is familiar with on the Scotch moors. 

 The late Mr. Stevenson was of opinion that the 

 common partridge did occasionally interbreed with 

 the red-legged species. He assigned to this cross a 

 bird killed in Norfolk in October 1850 ; the feathers 

 on the flanks and wing coverts of this specimen were 



