CACCABIS RUBRA. 
Red-leg'g’ed Partridg'e. 
Tetrao rufus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 276. 
Perdix rufa, Lath. Inch Orn., vol. ii. p. 647, /3. 
ruhra, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 236. 
Caccabis rufa, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 508, Caccahis, sp. 1. 
It has always appeared to me questionable whether such birds as the Red-legged Partridge and the 
Pheasant should be regarded as pertaining to the avifauna of our islands more than the Guinea-fowl or the 
Turkey. The only reason that can be assigned for giving them a place therein is the circumstance of their 
now being found in a semi-wild state, whereas the Turkey and the Guinea-fowl can only be considered as 
additions to our domestic poultry; and hence it is that British ornithologists have, by common consent, 
included the former in their enumerations of our birds, and excluded the latter. I consider that the 
Red-legged Partridge affords the acclimatizer the best evidence that a bird may become naturalized in a 
foreign country. The Pheasant, without protection and a constant sup|)ly of artificial food, would probably 
die out in thirty years ; but I believe the Red-leg would thrive and multiply to almost any extent in certain 
parts of our island; this, however, is not saying much, since a narrow strait only separates us from France, 
where the bird is strictly indigenous. 
I have often had occasion to comment in the present work upon the splitting up of natural groups of 
birds into minute genera — to agree with the propriety of the measure in some instances, and to condemn 
it in others. The separation of the present bird and its allies from the other members of the Perdicidce is 
to be commended; for although many ornithologists consider the Red-legged and the common Partridge 
too closely allied to admit of their being so treated, it will be found on a comparison of the two birds 
that they differ very considerably, both in structure and in the colouring of their plumage ; and I therefore 
think Dr. Kaupwas fully justified in separating them and in establishing the genus Caccabis for the reception 
of the former. The Red-legged Partridges are some of the most beautifully coloured members of the 
Gallimce(B\ the sexes are alike in colour; and the males are armed with powerful blunt spurs on their tarsi. 
The species (which are about seven in number) all inhabit the dry sterile sandy districts of the countries in 
which they are respectively found, while the true Partridges, for which the generic term of Perdlv is 
retained, comprise only our own well-knovvn P. cinerea, the P. Hodgsonice of Thibet, and the P. barbata 
of Central Dauuria. Of these birds the sexes differ considerably in colour, and the males are destitute of 
spurs. They dwell in the more humid and thickly clothed districts ol their native countries. 
Of the European species of the genus Caccabis, viz. C. rubra, C. petrosa, and C. saxatilis, the one here 
represented is the commonest. All three are very circumscribed in the extent of their respective habitats, 
and one rarely encroaches on the domain of the other. The grey partridge, on the other hand, ranges over 
nearly the whole of Europe, from Constantinople to Britain, from Norway to Spain. Since the introduction 
of the Red-legged Partridge into England, towards the end of the last century, some valuable papers have 
been written respecting it — its objectionable qualities, its interfering with the happiness of and displacing 
our indigenous bird, the inferiority of its flesh for the table, Nc. ; and I might have my say on these points, 
having had many opportunities of observing the bird while enjoying the pleasure of shooting in the preserves 
of several friends in Suffolk and Norfolk ; but 1 could not communicate anything more to the purpose than 
has been furnished byDr. W. B. Clarke, in the ‘ Magazine of Natural History ’ for 1839, or than is contained 
in the carefully written account by Mr. Stevenson in his recently published ‘Birds of Norfolk’ — a publication 
I strongly recommend to the notice of all who take an interest in the local faunas of our islands, and from 
which I shall transcribe some of the more important passages, with due acknowledgment ; for it would be 
unfair to rob Mr. Stevenson of any portion of the laurels he has so justly won by the good service he has 
rendered to the natural history of his county. 
“ The Red-legged Partridge,” says Dr. Clarke, “ is found in France and the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey. 
It is generally about half as large again as the Common Partridge, from which it is at once distinguished by 
the variety in the colouring of its plumage. It was introduced into England about the year 1790, by the 
Marquis of Hertford and Lord Rendlesham, each of whom had eggs procured on the continent, carefully 
brought to England, and placed under domestic fowls, — the former at Sudbourn, near Orford, in Suffolk, 
one of his shooting-residences ; the latter on his estates at Rendlesham, a few miles from Sudbourn : from 
these places the birds have gradually extended over the adjoining counties ; and in the ratio of their increase 
the Grey Partridge appears to have diminished. 
