THE COLOURS OF PARTRIDGES 63 
with growing crops I could not account for it.’ 
Probably, the birds in question were systematically 
killed off by hawks, their conspicuous colour 
rendering them peculiarly exposed to their natura] 
enemies. 
Partridges with white wing quills, and even with 
white markings about the head, occasionally come 
under the observation of sportsmen. Such birds 
seldom call for much remark, but some pied birds 
are really interesting. One bird, for instance, killed 
in Scotland some years ago, had every fifth or sixth 
feather pure white, so that the bird appeared to be 
variegated with flakes of snow. We may here remark 
that exceptionally dark and rich-coloured specimens 
of the partridge have sometimes been met with, 
which were considered by sportsmen to be half-bred. 
The Rev. M. A. Mathew states that he came 
across such birds, and regarded them as melanistic 
varieties ; they. appeared to be slightly larger than 
the ordinary bird, and darker than the little dark 
partridges one is familiar with on the Scotch moors. 
The late Mr. Stevenson was of opinion that the 
common partridge did occasionally interbreed with 
the red-legged species. He assigned to this cross a 
bird killed in Norfolk in October 1850 ; the feathers 
on. the flanks and wing coverts of this specimen were 
