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PARTRIDGE (Du. Patrijs, Fr. perdrix, ...
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See also:PARTRIDGE (Du. Patrijs, Fr. perdrix, from See also:Lat. perdix, apparently onomatopoeic from the See also:call of the See also:bird) , a See also:game-bird, whose See also:English name properly denotes the only See also:species indigenous to See also:Britain, often nowadays called the See also:grey partridge, the Perdix cinerea of ornithologists. The excellence of its flesh at table has been esteemed from the See also:time of See also:Martial. For the See also:sport of partridge-See also:shooting see SHOOTING. The grey partridge has doubtless largely increased in See also:numbers in See also:Great Britain since the beginning of the 19th See also:century, when so much down, See also:heath, and moorland was first brought under the plough, for its partiality to an arable See also:country is very evident. It has been observed that the birds which live on grass lands or heather only are See also:apt to be smaller and darker in See also:colour than the See also:average; but in truth the species when adult is subject to a much greater variation in plumage than is commonly supposed, and the well-known See also:chestnut See also:horse-See also:shoe See also:mark, generally considered distinctive of the See also:cock, is very often absent. In See also:Asia the grey partridge seems to be unknown, but in the temperate parts of Eastern See also:Siberia its See also:place is taken by a very nearly allied See also:form, P. barbata, and in See also:Tibet there is a bird, P. hodgsoniae, which can hardly with See also:justice be generically separated from it. The See also:common red-legged partridge of See also:Europe, generally called the See also:French partridge, Caccabis rufa, seems to be justifiably considered the type of a See also:separate See also:group. This bird was introduced into See also:England in the last See also:quarter of the 18th century, and has established itself in various parts of the country, notwithstanding a widely-spread, and in some respects unreasonable, See also:prejudice against it. It has certainly the See also:habit of trusting nearly as much to its legs as to its wings, and thus incurred the obloquy of old-fashioned sportsmen, whose See also:dogs it vexatiously kept at a See also:running point; but, when it was also accused of See also:driving away the grey partridge, the See also:charge only showed the See also:ignorance of those who brought it, for as a See also:matter of fact the French partridge rather prefers ground which the common species avoids—such as the heaviest See also:clay-soils or the most infertile heaths. The French partridge has several congeners, all with red legs and plumage of similar See also:character. In See also:Africa See also:north of the See also:Atlas there is the See also:Barbary partridge, C. petrosa; in See also:southern Europe another, C. saxatilis, which extends eastward till it is replaced by C. chukar, which reaches See also:India, where it is a well-known bird. Two very interesting See also:desert-forms, supposed to be allied to Caccabis, are the Ammoperdix heyi of North Africa and See also:Palestine and the A. bonhami of See also:Persia; but the See also:absence of the metatarsal knob, or incipient See also:spur, suggests (in our ignorance of their other osteological characters) an See also:alliance rather to the genus Perdix. On the other See also:hand the See also:groups of birds known as Francolins and See also:Snow-Partridges are generally furnished with strong but See also:blunt spurs, and therefore probably belong to the Caccabine group. Of the former, containing many species, there is only See also:room here to mention the francolin, which used to be found in many parts of the See also:south of Europe, Francolinus vulgaris, which also extends to India, where it is known as the See also:black partridge. This seems to have been the Attagas or Attagen of classical authors,' a bird so celebrated for its exquisite flavour, the See also:strange disappearance of which from all or nearly all its See also:European haunts still remains inexplicable. It is possible that this bird has been gradually vanishing for several centuries, and if so to this cause may be attributed the great uncertainty attending the determination of the Attagen—it being a common practice among men in all countries to apply the name of a species that is growing rare to some other that is still abundant. Of the snow-partridges, Tetraogallus, it is only to be said here that they are the giants of their See also:kin, and that nearly every considerable range of mountains in Asia seems to possess its specific form. By English colonists the name Partridge has been very loosely applied, and especially so in North See also:America. Where a qualifying word is prefixed no confusion is caused, but without it there is sometimes a difficulty at first to know whether the Ruffed See also:Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) or the See also:Virginia See also:Quail (See also:Onyx virginianus) is intended. In South America the name is given to various Tinamous (q.v.). (A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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