GALLINE. PERDIX. 313 
trils basal, and lateral; pierced in a large membrane, and 
partly concealed by an arched naked scale. Wings short, 
and concave; the three first quills (in most species) shorter 
than the fourth and fifth, which are the longest. Tail of 
fourteen or eighteen feathers, short, and generally bending 
towards the ground. Feet with three toes before, united by 
a membrane as far as the first articulation, and with one 
hind-toe. Tarsus, in the male bird, frequently furnished 
with one, or more than one, spur or tubercle. 
This genus, first established by Latuam (who very pro- 
perly separated the different species that compose it from the 
Genus Tetrao, in which it had been left by Linnzus, Gue- 
Lin, &c.), is divided by TEmMMrincxk into four sections, mem- 
bers of three of which are found in Europe; the fourth is 
founded on geographical distribution, containing the species 
peculiar to America, where none of those that mhabit the 
Old World have yet been discovered. Most of the species are 
natives of the temperate and warmer climates, and im some 
countries they are sedentary, in others regularly migratory ; 
the latter being more particularly applicable to the section 
that contains the Quails, which also differ in being polyga- 
mous. ‘The birds of the other species pair, and the male 
assists his mate in the care and protection of the brood, which 
continue united till the following sprmg. They are all (with 
the exception of the first section, or Francolins) inhabitants 
of cultivated countries, feeding upon grain, seeds, bulbous 
roots, and insects. ‘Their moult is simple, but the males may 
generally be distinguished by a superior richness of plumage ; 
im one section by the tarsal spurs, and in another by the tu- 
bercles growing upon the same part. 
In the British Fauna, we reckon but two species of this 
genus, the common or cinereous partridge, belonging to Trm- 
MINCK’s second section; and the common quail, included in 
the fourth. 
