THE PARTRIDGE. 



THIS bird is about thirteen inches in length. 

 The general colour of its plumage is brown 

 and ash, elegantly mixed with black ; each fea- 

 ther is streaked down the middle with buff co- 

 lour; the sides of the head are tawny; the 

 eyes are hazel, and under each eye there is a 

 small saffron-coloured spot; between the eye 

 and the ear is a naked skin of a bright scarlet, 

 which is not very conspicuous but in old birds ; 

 on the breast is a crescent of a deep chestnut 

 colour : the tail is short ; the legs are of a 

 greenish white, and are furnished with a small 

 knob behind. The bill is of a light brown. 

 The female has no crescent on the breast, and 

 her colours in general are not so distinct and 

 bright as those of the male. 



Partridges are found principally in temperate 

 climates ; the extremes of heat and cold being 

 unfavourable to them. Yet they exist in Green- 



(79) 



