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Genus CACCABIS. 



Perdix apud Brisson, Orn. i. p. 236 (1760). 

 Tetrao apud Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 276 (1766). 

 Caccabis, Kaup, Naturl. Syst. p. 183 (1829). 

 Alectoris apud Kaup, op. cit. p. 180 (1829). 

 Chacura apud Hodgson, Madr. Journ. 1837, p. 505. 

 Pyctes apud Hodgson in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 85 (1844). 



The Bed-legged Partridges inhabit the Palsearctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental Begions, four species 

 inhabiting the Western Palsearctic Begion. They resemble the common Partridge in habits 

 more than any of their allies, frequenting cultivated ground, fields, &c. ; but some species are 

 more frequently found in rugged mountainous localities, especially where there is close low 

 scrub. They are very swift on foot ; and when disturbed they prefer to run, or even to squat, in 

 preference to taking wing. They fly, however, extremely fast when once on the wing, and will 

 frequently traverse considerable distances. They have also a peculiar habit of flying up into a 

 tree ; and a covey may occasionally be seen sitting in a row on a fence or the roof of a barn. 

 They feed on grain, seeds, fruit, and insects of various kinds, and often obtain their food by 

 scratching. They are also partial to dusting themselves in sandy soil, and to basking in the 

 sun. 



They nest on the ground, making a depression in the soil in some well-concealed place, 

 which they line with grasses, leaves, and sometimes with feathers, and deposit numerous buff- 

 coloured eggs slightly marked with pale red. 



Caccabis rufa, the type of the genus, has the bill short, stout, straight to the nostrils, then 

 decurved to the point, which is rounded and thin-edged ; nostrils basal, lateral, covered above 

 with an exposed oblong horny operculum, the nasal groove broad and feathered ; eyelids and a 

 very small space behind the eye bare ; wings moderately long, broad, the first quill shorter than 

 the fifth, the third longest; tail moderately short, rounded; legs moderate; tarsus anteriorly 

 scutellate and without any spur behind ; anterior toes long, united at the base, the outer and 

 inner ones about equal in length ; hind toe small ; claws moderately long, slightly curved, 

 moderately sharp. 



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