RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE 
which inhabits the stony hill-sides of the mountains of Southern Europe, 
the Eastern Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians, Apennines and Balkans, and is 
also met with in Sicily. It is distinguished by having the white throat 
bordered by a plain black band, as in its close ally the chukor (C. chukar) 
of Asia, and it differs only from that still more eastern form in having 
the lores or patches of feathers in front of the eyes black, whereas in the 
latter they are white. The chukor is very widely distributed, extending 
in the west to the Ionian Islands, and possibly to the mainland of Greece, 
in the east to China, in the north to Turkestan and Mongolia, and in the 
south to the Persian Gulf and the southern ranges of the Himalaya. In the 
island of St Helena it has long been introduced and flourishes. It is a 
wonderfully hardy species, and appears to be equally indifferent to the 
influences of climate and to the physical features of the country which 
it inhabits. The late Mr Allan Hume, the well-known author of the 
“ Game-Birds of India,” writing of the species, says : ‘‘ The chukor 
may be found in different localities, from sea -level, as in Southern Sind 
and Baluchistan, to an elevation of at least 16,000 feet, as in Ladak and 
Tibet. It will be found in comparatively well-wooded, watered and culti- 
vated hills, as throughout the lower, southern and outer ranges of the 
Himalaya ; in absolute deserts like those of Ladak and the Karakorum 
plateaux; or in utterly barren and rocky ranges, like the Mekran and 
Arabian coasts, where the abomination of desolation seems to reign 
enshrined. In one place it faces a noonday temperature of 150° F., in 
another braves a cold about daybreak little above zero; here it thrives 
when the annual rainfall exceeds 100 inches, and there flourishes where 
it is practically nil. But all these differences of physical environment 
affect appreciably the size and colour of the species.” 
The chukor might probably be introduced with success into parts of 
the British Isles, and the experiment would certainly be worth attempting. 
Yet another closely allied species is Prjevalsky’s red-legged partridge 
(C. tnagna), met with in the rocky mountains of South Koko-nor, Northern 
Tibet and the Tsaidam Plains. 
Lastly, mention must be made of the very distinct black-headed 
species (C. melanocephala)^ which inhabits south-western Arabia and 
ranges southwards to the neighbourhood of Aden. It is much the largest 
species of the genus, and is easily recognized from all its allies by its 
black crown and grey outer tail-feathers, as well as the general slaty - 
grey colour of its plumage. 
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