102 TETRAON1D.I. 



BASQUES. TETRAONIDJF. 



PLATE CLVI. 



VIRGINIAN PARTRIDGE. 



PERDIX VIRGINIANA. 



The Virginian Partridge having lately been introduced 

 into Great Britain, with a view to its naturalisation, and 

 spreading over the ground when opportunity offers, has as 

 much right to be numbered among the list of British birds 

 as the pheasant has. 



The name this bird bears sufficiently indicates to what 

 quarter of the globe we must look for its habitat, namely, 

 North America, and particularly Virginia, where they occur 

 in great numbers. 



The best information respecting the habits of this bird 

 Ave have consequently from American ornithologists : and 

 with what we have ourselves observed of their manners, 

 there appears great resemblance between them and the 

 common Partridge of our isles, although the present species 

 at times perches on the branches of trees of low growth, 

 and builds a nest for the deposit of its eggs, differing in 

 these acts from the habits of our native bird. 



The food of the Virginian Partridge consists in grain and 

 insects ; and it is not improbable that the want of its favourite 

 food, Indian corn, is in a great measure the reason why the 

 bird does not thrive well in Europe. 



Our plate was taken from specimens in the Zoological 



