10 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as 

 the sand of the sea, and He let it fall in the 

 midst of their camp round about their habita- 

 tions ; so they did eat and were well filled, for He 

 gave them their own desire." * But a verse in a 

 subsequent psalm even more distinctly points to 

 the bird in question : " The people asked and 

 He brought quails, and satisfied them with the 

 bread of heaven." ^ 



The introduction into this country of the red- 

 legged partridge (perdix rubra), called also the 

 Guernsey partridge and the French partridge, is 

 a subject of regret with most sportsmen, espe- 

 cially in some parts of Norfolk, where the value 

 of certain manors has been much deteriorated by 

 its increase. In the first place, their extreme 

 wildness, the rapidity with which they run, and 

 their reluctance to take wing, are serious objec- 

 tions, as they not only spoil the dogs, but disap- 

 point the shooter. In the next, even when 

 killed although their varied plumage, and espe- 

 cially the brilliant colour of the beaks and legs, 

 cannot fail to be admired yet the flesh is far 

 inferior to that of any of our game-birds; in- 

 deed, in my opinion, scarcely to be distinguished 

 from that of a guinea-fowl. Lastly, it has been 

 found that in those districts where they have 

 * Psalm Ixxviii. 26-29. t Psalm cv. 40. 



