THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
partridge includes Europe and Western and Central Asia ; extending in the 
west to Scandinavia and the British Isles, in the east to the Barabinska 
Steppes, Tian Shan and the Altai Mountains, and in the south to Northern 
Spain and Portugal, Italy as far as Naples, the Caucasus, Asia Minor and 
Northern Persia. In the more southern parts of its range it inhabits, as a 
rule, the higher and more mountainous districts, being met with up to 
about 4,000 feet, while above that elevation a slightly different race is 
met with, of which we shall speak presently. 
Allied species. — Further east its place is taken by the bearded partridge 
{Perdix dauricd)^ which ranges from Central Asia, to Amurland, Manchuria, 
and the sources of the Yangtze -kiang. The bearded partridge is easily 
recognized by the elongate feathers on the sides of the throat, which 
form a beard, and by the buff -coloured breast and black horse -shoe- 
shaped patch. Other allied species are Prjevalsky’s partridge (P. sifanicd)^ 
from Northern Tibet and Western China, and Mrs Hodgson’s partridge 
(P. hodgsonice)^ which inhabits the highlands of Southern Tibet, and extends 
into Northern India. The two last named are both Alpine species, met with 
at elevations ranging from 10,000 to 19,000 feet, and are readily distin- 
guished by having the breast white, barred with black ; P. hodgsonice has also 
a black patch on the breast, which is wanting in P. sifanica. 
It is not surprising to find that a species so widely distributed as the 
common partridge has received more than one specific name in different 
parts of its range, apart from the numerous names which have been 
bestowed on mere individual variations. Altum has named the birds 
from North Holland (Eastern Friesland), P. sphagnetorum ; those from 
Scandinavia, P. scanica ; and those from East Prussia, P. lucida ; but his 
reasons for doing so are not apparent. 
Examples from Northern Spain have been separated as Perdix charrela 
by Seoane, and as P. hispaniensis by Reichenow ; and those from the Altai 
Mountains, which form the eastern limit of the range of the species, have 
been described as Perdix robusta by Homeyer and Tancre on account of 
their supposed larger size. There appears, however, to be no tangible 
specific difference between examples from Western Europe and those 
from Asia, if allowance be made for very slight variations caused by 
individual differences and varied surroundings. A smaller high -ground 
or Alpine form known as the migratory partridge was distinguished as 
Perdix damascena by Brisson in 1760. It is perfectly similar in plumage 
to the common partridge, but somewhat smaller ; the feet and toes, and 
142 
