THE PARTRIDGE AT HOME AND ABROAD 9 
men, who have recognised white and pied birds 
which could not be mistaken for strangers. 
The range of the partridge in Britain includes 
such a variety of districts, from the water-meadows 
of the midlands to the slopes of western isles that are 
bathed in the mists of the Atlantic for many months 
of the year, that we can hardly affect surprise at 
learning that its range in Europe is very extensive, as 
becomes a hardy and vigorous species, which has 
maintained its position in the face of many difficulties. 
It is not. found in Eastern Asia, where its place is 
taken by an allied species, smaller in size, having the 
horse-shoe of the breast deep black instead of chest- 
nut, as in our home bird. The only other representa- 
tive of the Old World genus to which our partridge 
belongs, and of which it is the type, must be looked 
for in Thibet and along the Himalayas from the 
borders of Cashmere to Sikkim. This has a promi- 
nent horse-shoe, but is more distantly related to our 
bird. The latter is local in Asia east of the Urals, 
but appears to be generally distributed over the 
steppes of Southern Russia. Nor is the partridge 
peculiar to the steppe region. Of recent years its 
range has extended northwards, and now embraces 
governments to which it was an entire stranger within 
the knowledge of many residents. It seems, in fact, 
