HUNGARIAN PARTRIDGES QUAILOLOGY X-I 



The constantly growing popularity of the Hungarian Partridges 

 for propagation purposes has induced us to embody in QUAILOL- 

 OGY a brief description. 



The depletion of game in all civilized countries caused a search for 

 a game bird which would thrive even under adverse physical and 

 climatic conditions; offer sport for the gunners and a choice bird to 

 bag for the table. All these qualities were found in the Hungarian 

 Partridge which soon resulted in a demand for these birds in large 

 quantities. 



In order to meet the heavy demand Julius Mohr, Jr. of Ulm, Ger 

 many purchased from several Manorial Estates in Hungary the sole 

 right of capturing partridges. In 1906 some 30,000 pairs were ex- 

 ported, several thousand pair coming to America through Wenz & 

 Mackensen of Yardley , Penn ; 1060 of these were purchased by the 

 State of Illinois, 200 by the State of Kansas and the remainder by 

 clubs and private parties. 



The Hungarian Partridge belongs to the species Perdix Cinerea 

 which ranges over Europe, Western and Central Asia and is found 

 in Sunny Italy as well as in cold Scandinavia, plainly showing its 

 adaptability to all climates. It is a- 

 bout the size of our Bob White and 

 resembles it in general coloring very 

 much. The sides of the head and 

 throat are of a light reddish brown 

 while the top of the head is brown 

 with yellow stripes. Across the 

 gray back there are a number of 

 rust brown stripes extending to the 

 lower part of the body The breast 

 is adorned by a brown shield more ^ " -" 



or less distinctive and is the shape of a horse shoe- Until recently 

 the chestnut horse shoe mark on the breast was considered as dis- 

 tinctive of a male, the female having this reduced to a few chestnut 

 spots, or absent. It is true, indeed, that in old birds the difRerence 

 in this patch is generally characteristic of the male and female, 

 but in the majority of immature females the horse shoe is well de- 

 veloped and nearly or quite as large as in the adult male. 



Owing to the most favorable territorial, climatic and agricultural 

 conditions in Hungary the partridges have become numerous, larger 

 and more vigerous in that country than anywhere else. 



Well watered woodland tracts in the vicinity of arable lands are 



