95 
THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. 
I’erdix ci erea. -Aldrovandus, Ray. 
PLATE I. 
Perdix einerea, Montague, Latham, Bewick, Selby, &c. 
A detailed description of this familiarly known 
bird is unnecessary. It is distributed extensively 
over Europe, and, according to Temminck, extends 
to Barbary and Egypt, where it is migratory. It 
is almost everywhere abundant in our own island, 
the more northern muiry districts excepted. It fol- 
lows the steps of man as he reclaims the wastes, 
and delights in the cultivation which brings to it as 
to the labourers a plentiful harvest of grain. They 
are perhaps most abundant in the lower richly culti- 
vated plains of England, but even the south of Scot- 
land supplies many of the more northern markets 
with this game. 
Very early in spring — the first mild days even of 
February — the partridges have paired, and each 
couple may be found near the part selected for their 
summer abode, long before the actual preparations 
for incubation has commenced. These are begun at 
a later period than generally imagined, and even in 
the beginning of September, particularly in the wilder 
