102 
THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE. 
lower parts, and shoulders. The specimens are ge- 
nerally less than those of ordinary plumage. 
The partridge, therefore, seems to have a more 
extensive range of variation than almost any bird we 
are acquainted with, and according to Temminck 
and some other authors, is somewhat influenced by 
almost every change of climate. Those broods which 
frequent and are bred on the marshy grounds of the 
Zuyder Zee and mouth of Meuse are less in size and 
of a duller tint than those found in the drier lands of 
Belgium. Dry or parched districts, abundance of food 
and water, will always influence their condition, and 
ft is to the same causes, rvith variation of climate, that 
Temminck attributes the migrations of the partridge 
on some parts of the continent, and which are also 
said to be of a smaller size than those which do not 
migrate. This migratory bird has by some been 
also raised to the rank of a species, and named the 
Damascus partridge. By the modern ornithologists 
of this country, it is very little known, or its claims 
upon which even the variety rests ascertained, beyond 
the fact of its migration. And our latest, or indeed 
only authority from actual examination, is that of 
Temminck, who says that among many individuals 
he has been able to discover no good distinctions. 
Our next illustration is from a very beautiful spe- 
cies inhabiting the continent of India ; it is 
