236 PERDICINJE. PERDIX. COTURNIX. 



before the dogs, the individuals composing a covey dispersing, 

 and rising one after another. 



Red-legged Partridge. Guernsey Partridge. French Par- 

 tridge. 



Perdix rubra, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 485. Perdix ru- 

 bra, Red Partridge, MacCillivray, Brit. Birds, i. 215. 



153. PERDIX CINEREA. GREY PARTRIDGE. 



Male with the bill and feet greyish-blue ; upper parts mi- 

 nutely barred with ash-grey, yellowish-brown, brownish-black, 

 and brownish-red ; scapulars and wing-coverts darker, with 

 longitudinal whitish streaks ; forehead, cheeks, and throat 

 light red ; neck ash-grey, minutely undulated with black ; 

 sides broadly banded with brownish-red, of which there is a 

 large patch on the breast. Female similarly coloured, but 

 with the upper parts more brown, their markings larger, the 

 top of the head streaked with yellowish, and the spot on the 

 breast smaller. 



Male. 12, 20, 6, T \, 1 T * , 1 T \, T V Female, 12, 19. 



Generally distributed, and permanently resident, the Grey 

 Partridge, although not peculiar to cultivated land, thrives 

 best in those parts which are most extensively covered with 

 crops. It is fond of rambling into waste or pasture grounds, 

 which are covered with long grass, furze, or broom ; but it 

 seldom enters woods, and never perches on trees. Its flight 

 is direct, performed by rapid flaps, producing a whirring noise. 

 It runs with great speed ; feeds on grass, corn, grain, pease, 

 field beans, seeds of various plants, insects, pupae, and larvae ; 

 and reposes at night on the ground, generally in an open place. 

 In winter the Partridges keep in coveys, but separate and 

 pair early in spring. The nest is a slight hollow, with some 

 straws ; the eggs from ten to fifteen, are pale greenish or yel- 

 lowish-brown, an inch and a half long, an inch and a twelfth 

 in breadth. 



Common Partridge. 



Tetrao Perdix, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 256. Perdix cinerea, 

 Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 488. Perdix cinerea, Grey Par- 

 tridge, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, i. 218. 



GENUS LXXX. COTURNIX. QUAIL. 



Bill very short, compressed ; upper mandible with its dor- 

 sal line sloping at the base, then arcuato -decimate, the edges 

 direct, arched, the tip very narrow ; lower mandible with its 



