314 PHASIANID^. 



General Distribution. — The Partridge inhabits Europe and 

 western and central Asia, ranging from Scandinavia eastwards, 

 across Russia to the Barabinska Steppes, the Tian Shan, and 

 Altai Mountains^ southwards to north Spain and Portugal, 

 Italy, the Caacasus, Asia Minor, and northern Persia. In the 

 southern parts o£ its range it inhabits the more mountainous 

 districts. In the Pyrenees and mountains o£ north Spain 

 it ascends to 10,000 ft., and has been distinguished as P. p. 

 charrela, while a slightly smaller alpine form, which visits 

 the plains of central and southern Europe in winter, has been 

 named P.p. damascena ; individuals from the Altai Mountains 

 have been distinguished as P. p. rohusta on account of their 

 supposed larger size. In eastern Asia it is represented by 

 three distinct species. 



Genus COTURNIX Bonnaterre, Tabl. Bncycl. Meth. Orn. i. 

 1790, p. Ixxxvii. 



Type : C. coturnix (Linn.) . 



Cotumix = a Quail, in classical Latin. Etymology unknown. 



Coturnix coturnix. Quail. 



Tetrao coturnix Linnwus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 161 : 



Sweden. > 



Coturnix communis Bonn. ; B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 143 ; 



Saunders, Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 505. 

 Coturnix coturnix (Linn.) ; Ogilvie- Grant, Cat. Birds B. M. xxii. 



1898, p. 231. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A regular Summer 

 Visitor, occasionally remaining throughout the winter. 

 Formerly it was far more plentiful, especially in East 

 Anglia, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, and other counties. 

 In Scotland it has been found nesting as far north as 

 Caithness and Sutherland, and in the Orkney and Shetland 

 Islands and the Outer Hebrides. In Ireland it was common 

 and resident up to 1850, but is now comparatively scarce 



