RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE 
CACCABIS RUFA 
(Plates XIX-XXI) 
Tetrao rufus, Linn., Syst. Nat., i, p. 276 (1766). 
Perdix rubra, Gould, Birds Europe, iv, pi. 260 (1837). 
Caccabis rufa. Dresser, Birds Europe, vii, p. 103, pi. 471, fig. 1 (1875) ; Saunders, ed. 
Yarrell, Brit. Birds iii, p. 115 (1882); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. Birds, pt. viii (1891); Ogilvie- 
Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxii, p. 118 (1893); id.. Handbook Game Birds, i, p. 96, 
pi. X (1895) ; Irby, Orn. Gibraltar, p. 237 (1895) ; Saunders, III. Man. Brit. Birds, p. 503 
(1899) ; Millais, Nat. Hist. Brit. Game Birds, p. 126, 2 pis. (1909). 
Perdix rufa, Seebohm, Hist. Brit. Birds, ii, p. 457 (1884). 
Caccabis rufa hispanica, Seoane. Mim. Soc. Zool. France, vii, p. 93 (1894). 
DULT male and female. — Fore -part of the crown grey, hinder- 
part of the crown and mantle reddish-brown; upper- 
/ parts of the body earth -brown or greyish -brown; mar- 
I gin of the forehead and eyebrow-stripes, as well as the 
I throat and cheeks, white; a black band, commencing 
_-[iC ■k.-at the base of the bill and passing round the eye, 
surrounds the throat; chest and neck rufous, the feathers of the chest, 
as well as those of the sides and back of the neck, margined on either 
web with black, and tipped or barred with white, giving these parts a 
black-spotted appearance; breast bluish-grey; feathers of the sides 
and flanks bluish-grey, tipped with dark chestnut, and barred across 
the middle with white and black ; rest of the underparts rich buff. Outer 
tail-feathers dark chestnut. The bare skin round the eye red ; the bill, 
legs and feet, bright coral-red. The legs of the male are armed with one 
or sometimes two pairs of blunt, wart -like knobs. 
Dimensions. — Male, total length 13*5 inches; wing 
6*2 inches ; tail 3*7 inches; tarsus 1*7 inch. Female, 
total length 13*0 inches; wing 6*0 inches; tail 3*6 
inches; tarsus 1*6 inch. (Plate XIX.) 
Young birds shot in September which have partly 
assumed the adult plumage, but still retain the 
barred scapulars and inner secondary quills of the 
first plumage, are often mistaken for hybrids be- 
tween the red-legged and common partridge. The 
first flight -feather, which is pointed, is dark brown, 
with a buff spot at the tip (flg. 1). 
Young in first plumage . — Crown and back of the neck 
148 
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 
Fig. 1. End of first fiight-feather 
of young in first autumn-plumage, 
showing buff spot at tip. 
Fig. 2. End of first flight-feather 
of adult. 
