112 



round the eye and legs red; iris hazel. Total length about 13 inches, culmen 0'9, wing 61, tail 3*75. 

 tarsus 1'85. 



Adult Female. Resembles the male, but is a trifle less brightly coloured, and, as a rule, a little smaller 

 in size. 



This Partridge is found only in Southern Europe, and North-western Africa and the Canaries, 

 and does not appear to have been acclimatized in other parts of Europe. Yarrell certainly 

 includes it in his work on the birds of Great Britain, but on very slight grounds, one specimen 

 having been said to have been picked up dead at Edmondthorpe, about six miles from Melton 

 Mowbray, in April 1842 ; and makes the improbable surmise that eggs of tbis Partridge may 

 have been introduced with those of the common Red-legged Partridge. It does not appear to 

 inhabit France, as, although Degland and Gerbe speak of it as occurring in the southern portion 

 of that country, Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye do not even include it as a straggler ; nor 

 has it been met with in Portugal. 



In Spain it is found only on the Rock of Gibraltar, where it is resident, having probably 

 been introduced there. Mr. Saunders also says (Ibis, 1871, p. 223) that he saw a specimen in 

 the Murcia Museum, and Dr. Angel Guirao informed him that, though now almost extinct, it was 

 formerly not uncommon in that province. It would appear that it is only found in a wild state 

 in the island of Sardinia, and perhaps in Corsica ; and any occasional specimens killed in Tuscany 

 or Liguria should be attributed, in Salvadori's opinion, to escaped or turned-down birds brought 

 by the trading vessels. It does not' occur in Sicily, in spite of Malherbe's statement to the 

 contrary. Writing on the ornithology of Sardinia, Mr. A. B. Brooke says (Ibis, 1873, p. 335), it 

 " is the only Partridge in the south of the island, where it is still common in many parts, and is 

 found both on the low mountains and plains. The cry of the cock bird during the months of 

 April and May is very remarkable, loud and melancholy, and can be heard always in the early 

 mornings and late evenings. I have heard several rumours of a different Partridge existing in 

 the north of the island, and I was assured by a good sportsman that he had shot P. cinerea 

 there ; but I never saw a specimen." 



It is recorded from Greece by both Von der Miihle and Lindermayer. The former says 

 that it inhabits the elevated portions of the Taygetus mountains, in the Southern Morea. It 

 does not seem to occur in Rumelia; and Lindermayer states that it is not met with in the 

 southern islands of the Archipelago, nor does Erhardt include it; but Lindermayer surmises 

 that it may be met with in Crete or Cyprus. It does not appear to occur in Asia Minor or 

 North-east Africa, but is common and sedentary in North-western Africa, and, according to 

 Loche, is the only species found there. Mr. W. T. Chambers-Hodgetts shot several specimens 

 in Tripoli, where, he writes (Ibis, 1867, p. 101), it abounded amongst the steep rocky hills 

 covered with low scrub. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., says that a friend of his and two companions 

 killed upwards of seventy brace in one day at Oran, but he adds that it is almost unknown in 

 the Sahara. Canon Tristram, however, writes (Ibis, 1860, p. 72) that he put up a covey in the 

 Wed Nca, south of the Mzab country, where water is found only for three months in the year, 

 and the whole vegetation is entirely confined to the narrow gorge of the Wed. Mr. O. Salvia 



