C 273 I 
“ Hue dods ftipentur aves, queis nobile fandi 
“ Jus natura aedit, plangat Phoebeius ales, 
££ Auditafque memor penitus demitteie voces 
££ Sturnus, & Aonio verfae certamine picas ; 
££ Quique refert jungens iterata vocabula perdix, 
££ Et quae Biftonio queritur foror orba cubili 
Stat, Sylv. lib. ii. eel. 4. 
* Amongft the five birds mentioned in thefe lines of Statius, 
there are four which are never taught to fpeafc at prefent, viz. 
the cock, the nightingale, tire common, and red legged par- 
tridge. 
As I fuppofe, however, that perdix Signifies this laft bird, and 
not the common partridge (as it is always tranflated ), it is pro- 
per I (hould here give my reafons why I diftent from others, as 
2lfo why I conceive that filurnus , in this pallage, is not a fi.ar- 
ling , buc the common partridge. 
None of the ancients have deferibed the plumage. of the per- 
dix ; but Ariftotle, Ovid, and Piiny, inform us of what mate- 
rials the neft of this bird is compofed, as well as where it is 
placed. 
Arifiotle fays, that the neft is fortified with wood a ; and in an- 
other chapter b , with thorns and wood-, neither of which are ufed 
by the common partridge, which often builds in a country 
where they cannot be procured. 
On the contrary, M. de Buffon informs us, that the red legged 
partridge, ££ fe tiennent fur les montagnes qui produifent 
“ beaucoup de bruyeres, & de broflailles c . 
1 Ex-^.vya’pjij.isai iA'/jv. Lib. v. c. i. Which Stephens renders making 
a. cornering of wood. 
b Lib. ix. c. 8. The common partridge, however, makes its net!; 
with hay and flraw. 
c Orn. T. II. p.433. .. 
Silius Italicus alfo deferibes the pernix as being found in the fame fort 
of country, 
“ Ceu pernix, quam denfa vagis latratibus implet 
“ Venator dumeta Lacon.” Lib. iii. . 1 . 20.^ 
As 
