
ish They are fast runners and in open situations often. prefer to 
run ‘ahead of the hunter rather than to wait and take their Shances: ‘in. 
flight. 
Flight. 
The flight is direct, though the birds may swerve skillfully 
when being driven over shooting butts. Redlegs are moderately fast 
fliers, unless scared when, for short distances, they can really 
travel. Paced with a car, one bird, flying slightly ae but 
rather leisurely, was clocked at 47 miles an hour. 
- - Most flights are short ones, of 800 to 1500 out. but driven 
birds have been known to cover over a mile in a single flight. ‘In 
hilly country birds may walk to the edge of a narrow valley and span 
it in one flight, usually alighting near the top of the opposite crest. 
Like all of the Alectoris group, redlegs are apt to fly 
downhill and run up, unless pressed, when they will run or skim for 
shelter irrespective of topography. 
Wariness 
When unmolested these birds are rather tame all year round 
but quickly become wary when hunted. Any unusual action excites imme- 
diate suspicion causing the birds to walk away. In captivity they tame 
down less readily than do chukars and are therefore not as mach used as 
callers to lure other birds within gun range. 
Resting and roosting 
Normally redlegs rest and roost on the ground. They are rather 
less likely than are chukars to attract notice by calling from the summit 
of a boulder or the edge of a cliff. Of a somewhat more subdued and 
practical disposition, they prefer to do most of their calling and rest- 
ing on a brushy hillside or a rise without unduly exposing themselves, 
although it is not uncommon for them to perch on the thicker limbs of 
a stout tree. Several thousand birds held in captivity seldom alighted 
on narrow roosts as do pigeons and poultry but did not hesitate to 
roost and rest above the floor on sand tables or on wide, bare boards. 
At night these birds prefer to sit in fairly tight coveys of — 
10 to 40 individuals. Lowland or valley areas are preferred, the crest 
of a slight rise in such situations often DEINE: chosen. 
} Roosting sites are seldom found in thick grass. or. Esenee shrab 
growth. Selected instead are open, and occasionally plowed; fields and 
grazed lands often with but a scattering of grass, weeds,:.or brush. Nor 
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