PARTRIDGE 695 



to be unknown, but in the temperate parts of Eastern Siberia its 

 place is taken by a very nearly allied form, P. barbata, and in Tibet 

 there is a bird, P. hodgsonise, which can hardly with justice be 

 generically separated from it. The relations of some other forms 

 inhabiting the Indian Region are at present too obscure to make 

 any notice of them expedient here. 



The common Red-legged Partridge of Europe, generally called 

 the French Partridge, Caccabis rufa, seems to be justifiably con- 

 sidered the type of a separate group. 1 This bird was introduced 

 into England toward the end of the eighteenth century, and 

 has established itself in various parts of the country, notwith- 

 standing a widely - spread, and in some respects unreasonable 

 prejudice against it. It has certainly the habit of trusting nearly 

 as much to its legs as to its wings, and it thus incurred the 

 obloquy of old-fashioned sportsmen, whose dogs it vexatiously 

 kept at a running-point ; but when it was also accused of driving 

 away the grey Partridge, the charge only shewed the ignorance 

 of those that brought it, for as a matter of fact the French 

 Partridge rather prefers ground which the common species avoids 

 such as the heaviest clay-soils, or the most infertile heaths. 

 But even where the two species meet, the present writer can 

 declare from the personal observation of many years that the 

 alleged antipathy between them is imaginary, and unquestionably 

 in certain parts of the country the " head of game " has been 

 increased by the introduction of the foreigner. 2 The French 

 nearly each feather shews a buff shaft-stripe. Again the median upper wing- 

 coverts in the cock are of a sandy-brown blotched with chestnut and black trans- 

 verse lines, while in the hen the corresponding feathers are blackish -brown with 

 conspicuous buff crossbars. I am much indebted to Lord Lilford and Mr. Beilby 

 Oakes for kindly informing me that, after examining a great many Partridges, 

 they can wholly confirm Mr. Grant's observations, which having been originally 

 published in a newspaper (Field, 21 Nov. 1891 and 9 April 1892), and only 

 incidentally mentioned by him in a scientific work (Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxii. p. 

 185). will be new to many persons. 



1 The late Prof. Parker first (Trans. Zool. Soc. v. p. .155) and, after him, 

 Prof. Huxley (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, pp. 299-302) pointed out that the true 

 Gallinse offer two types of structure, ' ' one of which may be called Galline, 

 and the other Tetraonine, " to use the latter's words, though he is ' ' by no means 

 clear that they do not graduate into one another " ; and, according to the char- 

 acters assigned by him, Caccabis lies "on the Galline side of the boundary," 

 while Perdix belongs to the Tetraonine group. Further investigation of this 

 matter is very desirable, and, with the abundant means possessed by those who 

 have access to zoological gardens, it might easily be carried out. 



2 It is a singular fact that the game -preservers who object most strongly to 

 the Red-legged Partridge are not agreed on the exact grounds of their objection. 

 One party will declare that it vanquishes the Grey Partridge, while the other 

 holds that, though the latter, the " English" Partridge, is much vexed by the 

 Introduced species, it invariably beats off the " Frenchman " ! 



