456 



FIELD BUSTARNELLE. 



the wing, and the upper tail -coverts, are pure 

 white : the whole of the upper parts of the body 

 are bright yellowish, varied with zigzag dusky 

 stripes, following the outline of the feathers, and 

 sprinkled with large black spots : beak and feet 

 grey : irides orange. The female and young male 

 have the throat white : the sides of the head, the 

 neck, and the upper part of the breast, of a bright 

 yellowish, varied with brown stripes, and a broad 

 longitudinal bar in the centre of each feather : the 

 breast, the sides, the edge of the wing, and the 

 upper and under tail-coverts, are white, varied 

 with transverse black stripes : the upper parts are 

 the same, but more varied with black. 



This species inhabits the arid and open plains 

 of the southern parts of Europe, being most 

 abundant in Turkey, Italy, and Spain ; in France 

 and Germany it is rarer, and in this country is 

 extremely scarce, not more than ten or a dozen 

 specimens having been captured in the course of a 

 long series of years, and those principally females : 

 it is not found far to the north : it subsists prin- 

 cipally upon grain, seeds, and other vegetable 

 productions, also on insects and worms : the female 

 lays her eggs in June, to the number of four or 

 five, of a glossy green-colour : as soon as the young 

 are hatched she leads them about as the hen does 

 her chickens : they are able to fly by the middle of 

 August. It is frequently taken in France in nets, 

 like the Partridge, for the sake of its flesh, which 

 is excellent, and is said to resemble that of the 

 hare : its eggs are also a great delicacy. Like 



