NATURAL HISTORY 37 



tion (if one may thus speak of so modest 

 and Quaker-like a habit), come from light 

 and sandy soils. In some instances the 

 horse-shoe is nearly jet black, while in 

 most old hens the horse-shoe becomes 

 speckled chestnut and white, or even 

 pure white. 



Varieties in which the predominant 

 hue is light fawn, pale buff, pied or pure 

 white, are from time to time recorded 

 from all parts of the country, but instances 

 of true albinism or melanism are few and 

 far between. 



There is one type of variation from 

 the normal so constant in its recurrence 

 as to have at one time been granted the 

 dignity of being classified as a separate 

 species, under the name of Perdix 

 montana. This honour has now been 

 justly rescinded, for the question is simply 

 one of a superfluity of red-colouring pig- 

 ment in the individual, though probably 

 to some extent a hereditary tendency, and 

 doubtless one largely influenced by food. 



This seems to be a common type in 



