THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 



Verdix nvBRA. Briss. 



The genus Perdix, limited to those birds which are 

 popularly designated Partridges, differs from the other 

 subdivisions of the Linnsean genus Tetrao in the slen- 

 derness of the bill ; the nakedness of the legs, which in 

 the adult male are armed only with a short blunt 

 tubercle ; the rounded form of wing, resulting from the 

 abbreviation of the first three quill-feathers ; and the 

 comparative shortness of the tail. In the present 

 species, which is half as large again as the Common 

 English Partridge, the general colour of the upper 

 surface is reddish brown ; the breast of a bluish ash 

 colour ; the under parts reddish ; the throat pure white, 

 bordered by a deep black band, which passes upwards 

 as far as the eyes ; and the bill and legs red. The 

 plumage of the sides is marked with some regularity 

 by a series of transverse crescent-shaped bars of black, 

 white, and chestnut, which give the bird a very striking 



