92 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXVI 



broods of twenty are frequently to be seen. 

 Should casualty overtake the female, the male 

 will bring up the family. 



"The birds are extremely hardy, are of economic 

 value, and seem to relish not only insects, but a 

 great many of the weed seeds, such as wild buck- 

 wheat, etc. 



"Our birds were imported direct from Hungary 

 by Wenz and MacKensen of Yardley, Pennsyl- 

 vania. The business is now operated by Mr. Wm. 

 J. MacKensen, who, by the way, is a Canadian. 



"I have had repeated enquiries from various 

 parts of Canada, and from numerous clubs who 

 wish to secure these birds. During the war, of 

 course, it was impossible to obtain any, and while 

 I have renewed efforts since, Mr MacKenzen 

 informed me that he thought it would be some 

 time before he could renew the importation of the 

 birds, as the prices were prohibitive." 



As a general principle, the introduction of foreign 

 birds or animals is a very dangerous proceeding, 

 for, although the introduced species may thrive, 

 it may also become detrimental to the welfare of 

 the native and more desirable species of animal 

 life, and the benefits derived may not compensate 

 for the losses sustained. For proof of this, we 

 might cite the introduction of the rabbit into 

 Australia, and the liberation of the House Sparrow 

 on this continent, both of which, in their new 

 environments, have become pests of the worst 

 kind. With the view to finding out what effect 

 the introduction of the Hungarian Partridge had 

 had on the native game birds of Alberta, I referred 

 this matter to Mr. de B. Winter, who, I am 

 pleased to say, anticipates no serious developments 

 along this line, as may be seen by his reply, which, 

 in part, is as follows: 



"I am glad you mentioned this phase of the 

 subject, because I should have added that these 

 birds are not antagonistic to our native birds in 

 any way whatever, and knowing what I do of 

 them in European countries, I did not expect they 

 would be. Pheasants on the other hand, as you 

 know, do interfere with partridges, often laying 

 their eggs in partridges' nests." 



So much for Alberta's contribution to the es- 

 tablishment of this bird east of the Rockies. We 

 will now return to the facts that relate to Saskat- 

 chewan. The first intimation received by the 

 Department of what was undoubtedly the Hun- 

 garian Partridge, was from Mr. Geo. H. Coulter, 

 of Piapot, Sask., who, under date of November 

 23rd, 1921, wrote as follows: 



"Have seen some small birds around here this 

 fall, thought they were quail. Have been told 

 they are Hungarian Partridge from Alberta. 

 Have a close season put on them, so they will get 

 a chance to multiply. They flush together and 



run on the ground, so will need protection." 



About the same time we were advised by Pro- 

 fessor J. S. Dexter, that a specimen of the Hun- 

 garian Partridge had been sent to the Saskatchewan 

 University for identification by Mr. Russell 

 Martin, of Rutland, which point is located in 

 township 41, range 25, west of the 3rd meridian, 

 about 20 miles east of the Alberta boundary. Mr. 

 Martin writes that he "Saw a flock of 15 or 20 of 

 these birds at the edge of a wheat field, about the 

 first of September, and about the first of Novem- 

 ber, picked one up from beside the road three 

 miles from where he saw the flock. It had ap- 

 parently been killed by flying against a telephone 

 wire. This is a hilly rough country, with con- 

 siderable brush and sloughs and pot holes. About 

 half the land is farmed." 



Our first introduction to this bird in the flesh 

 was through the kindness of Mr. C. H. Martin of 

 Wilkie, and the manner in which the two birds 

 submitted by him were obtained is worthy of 

 note. They were hit by a passenger train just 

 west of Wilkie, on the evening of January 5th, 

 1922, and were found on the front of the engine on 

 the arrival of the train at the station. It is 

 reported there was quite a flock of these birds, 

 but no information as to the approximate number 

 is given. Both these specimens are now on 

 exhibit in the Natural History Museum at Regina. 



Many other reports in substantiation of the 

 advent of this bird have been received. Mr. D.J. 

 Huntley, Saskatchewan Landing, writes: "While 

 riding in the river brakes this fall, I startled a 

 pair of birds identical to the partridge found in 

 England. Is this the Hungarian Partridge?" 



We are also advised by Mr. F. Doiton, of 

 Valor, that a covey of eight birds were seen south 

 of Twelve Mile Lake, township 5, range 2, west 

 of the 3rd meridian, about 200 miles east of the 

 Alberta boundary, and that other birds have been 

 seen in that locality, and Mj^. C. A. Millie, of 

 Piapot, informs us that he saw a covey of Hun- 

 garian Partridges about ten miles southwest of his 

 town. 



With such a pleasing nucleus of birds for breed- 

 ing purposes, at widely separated points in the 

 southwestern portion of the province, there 

 seems every likelihood of the Hungarian Partridge 

 becoming well established, and with the object 

 of afi'ording the protection necessary to enable it 

 to increase by natural process. The Game Act has 

 been amended, making it unlawful to shoot these 

 birds at any time. 



The co-operation of all persons interested in the 

 welfare of this new game bird is respectfully 

 solicited, and the Department will be interested 

 to hear from any other persons who observe this 

 bird for the first time. 



