THE 



Perdiv cii erea. -ALDROVANDUS, RAY. 



PLATE I. 

 Perdix einerea, Montague, Latham, Bewick, Selby, &c. 



A detailed description of this familiarly known 

 bird is unnecessary. It is distributed extensively 

 over Europe, and, according to Temminck, extends 

 to Barbary and Egypt, where it is migratory. It 

 is almost everywhere abundant in our own island, 

 the more northern muiry districts excepted. It fol- 

 lows the steps of man as he reclaims the wastes, 

 and delights in the cultivation which brings to it as 

 to the labourers a plentiful harvest of grain. They 

 are perhaps most abundant in the lower richly culti- 

 vated plains of England, but even the south of Scot- 

 land supplies many of the more northern markers 

 with this game. 



Very early in spring the first mild days even of 

 February the partridges have paired, and each 

 couple may be found near the part selected for their 

 summer abode, long before the actual preparations 

 for incubation has commenced. These are begun at 

 a later period than generally imagined, and even in 

 the beginning of September, particularly in the wilder 



