BRITISH BIRDS. 357 



THE PARTRIDGE. 



(Pcrdix Ciiicrca, Lath. Pcnlrix Grisc, Temm.) 



LENGTH about thirteen inches. Bill light brown : 

 eyes hazel; the general colour of its plumage is 

 brown and ash, beautifully mixed with black; each 

 feather streaked down the middle with buff; the 

 sides of the head are tawny; under each eye is a 

 small saffron-coloured spot, which has a granu- 

 lated appearance, and between the eye and the ear 

 a, naked skin of a bright scarlet, which is not very 

 conspicuous but in old birds; on the breast there is- 

 a crescent of a deep chesnut; the tail is short and 

 drooping; the legs are greenish white, and fur- 

 nished with a small knob behind. The female has 

 no crescent on the breast, and her colours in gene- 

 ral are not so distinct and bright as those of the 

 male. The moult takes place once a year. 



Partridges are found chiefly in temperate cli- 

 mates; the extremes of heat and cold being equally 

 unfavourable to them : they are nowhere in greater 



