COMMON PARTRIDGE 
apparently also the bill are said to be yellowish in the adult, instead of 
horn-grey. Large flocks of these so-called migratory partridges visit 
the plains of Central and Southern Europe during the winter months, 
and are reported not to associate with birds of the common species. 
They are probably merely individuals which breed at higher elevations 
and are driven down in cold weather to the plains and valleys in search 
of food. Very little, however, has been recorded about this migratory 
form, and although its existence has been known for more than a century, 
very few examples are available at the present time for examination. 
Those which have come under our notice have all been birds of the year, 
which still retained the pointed first flight-feather. Their feet certainly 
appear to have been yellowish horn -colour, but that characteristic 
would be accounted for by their comparative youth. It would be very 
interesting if some one, with the opportunity of doing so, would shoot 
and preserve a series of birds of this migratory form, and would 
carefully record the weight, and the coloration of the bill and feet in each 
individual. 
It is well known that in certain parts of the Grampians, in Scotland, 
and elsewhere, coveys of partridges which have been bred comparatively 
high up on the mountains move down to the low ground in winter, while 
there are also many moorland partridges which never visit the arable 
lands, but remain on the lower moors and heaths all the year round. 
It is by no means uncommon to fall in with an isolated covey or two of 
these birds on the edges of a grouse -moor. Such hill -birds are, as a 
rule, smaller and more brightly coloured than the low -ground birds and, 
when handled, seem to be very much lighter in weight than examples 
from the southern counties of England. When measured, however, the 
differences in the length of the wing are comparatively trifling, but the 
average weight of the hill -birds is considerably less. 
In the Proceedings of the Fourth International Ornithological Congress 
1905 (pp. 494-512), Dr Louis Bureau has published an elaborate account 
of the somewhat isolated race of partridges inhabiting the higher parts 
of the mountains of Northern Spain and the Pyrenees (4,000 to 10,000 feet). 
As already mentioned above, these have been distinguished as Perdix 
charrela by Seoane, and as P. hispaniensis by Reichenow. The male is said 
to have transverse buff bars on the median wing -coverts, as in the female 
of the common partridge; and the latter is said to be distinguished by 
having the upperparts and chest marked with yellowish -white ovate 
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