
Alectoris rufa intercedens, from southern and eastern 
Spain, resembles Alectoris rufa rufa more but is consistently paler 
than A.r. hispanica. The brown patch also begins at the middle 
rather than towards the front of the head. 
Weight 
The average weight of a Spanish redleg is about one pound. 
The heaviest male collected weighed 1.2 lbs. (548 grams); the heaviest 
female just over one pound (462 grams). Birds from southern Spain 
are usually somewhat smaller than are those from the North. The 
average for 40 males collected from the South near Cuidad Real was 
434 grams; of 42 females, 376 grams. Fifty males from the vicinity 
of Salamanca in northwestern Spain averaged 458 grams; 50 females 
averaged 401 grams. 
Habitat 
Unlike the chukars, the Spanish redlegs show no preference 
for steep, rocky slopes and rugged, mountainous terrain. They are 
more partial to flat or rolling country and to the adjacent, often 
rather rough hills with valleys between. They occur from sea level 
to 7,000 feet though are rarely found in numbers far above 6,000 
feet even in summer. With or before the advent of snow in early 
December, they move to lower elevations. 
Redlegs are more like Hungarian partridges than chukars in 
cover preference. Forests with dense undergrowth, thick brushlands, 
and lush grasslands are generally avoided. Attractive, instead, are 
extensive, open, cultivated fields or pastures interspersed with 
grazed woodlands or brushy areas with little to moderately dense 
ground cover. They are adaptable to a wide range of habitats, how- 
ever, being common in cultivated fields, on sandy plains and dune 
country, on rough pastures studded with oak brush, and in open 
woodlands of evergreen and deciduous oaks, ilex, rock-rose (Cistus sp.). 
rosemary (Rosmarinus sp.), Spanish broom (Retana sp.), and tirz or 
whin (Genista sp.). Birds may also be found among woodlands of 
scattered pine and oak and in the scattered forests and thickets of 
"saguazo"' and lentisco (mastic tree, Lentiscus sp.) which are trees 
of the often rough and steep hilly country in Spain. 
The birds occur on heavy clay as well as light, sandy soils . 
and are more common in dry than in moist areas. Good concentrations 
may be found on soils high in lime as well as on relatively infertile 
acid soils if food is available. 
Some permanent source of water is a necessary adjunct to 
good partridge habitat especially during the breeding and brooding 
season although, at other times of the year, birds are often found 
at considerable distances (up to 6 miles) therefrom. 
6 
