first introduction it was much prized and sought after by sportsmen, as
: a larger bird for the table, although very inferior 1n Dees and flavour to the common Grey
ee . ‘Il preferred by some, from its flesh being whiter and more delicate. Being also of
ee ne and rising at a greater distance, and consequently more difficult to Secures its
rtsman-like credit upon him who possessed the skill to bring it
it was found that a great difficulty attending the shooting of this
on which account the dogs coming upon

‘«¢ For several years after its

Partridge; and 1
bolder disposition,
acquisition was thought to reflect more spo

down. Its habits becoming better known, ey
1 to a distance after alighting,

oe ae its practice of runnir
species 1s due to its practic § : irds will i
the scent were baffled, being induced to draw upon their game; and even Soe Ene nae

i i i rt Ce -efore be expected, unless the weather be extremel
at a very considerable distance. Very little sport can ther efore I j y
‘se at a lesser distance, and the sportsman has a greater chance of
success. The most effectual means of securing them is to attack them during severe weather, in the snow,
when the birds resort to the hedgerows for shelter, whence they may be dislodged and then easily shot.
‘S ali : reckled with very minute reddish-brown
«The female lays from ten to fifteen eggs, of a light stone-colour, fre wean y a :
i ith s arger Si é r darker colour. e nest
varied here and there with spots of a larger size, and of a rathe is
and leaves, on the ground in some warm and sheltered part of a field of growing

wet; they then are less inclined to run, r

spots,
constructed of dried grass
corn, grass, Or clover.”
Perhaps the most interesting
supposed immigration from the pathy
Newton in believing that the birds found on the beach and denes of Norfolk are individuals which have been
‘nfluenced by a desire to seek other countries, but, finding the attempt beyond their powers, have returned in

portion of Mr. Stevenson’s account of this species is his remarks on its
Continent to this country; and I quite agree with him and Mr. Alfred

a tired state to the shores they had left.

“ Both Mr. Lubbock and Messrs. Gurney and Fisher,” says Mr. Stevenson, ‘have alluded to the supposed
migratory habits of the Red-legged Partridge; and my own inquiries amongst naturalists and others residing
in the vicinity of the sea certainly confirm their statements as to small coveys of these birds, generally in an
exhausted condition, being met with in the spring of the year on the various parts of the coast. Captain Longe,
of Yarmouth, informs me that in many successive springs, about March or April, he has found French
Partridges early in the morning running about the beach close to the water, and on one occasion flushed a
covey of from twenty to thirty, which flew around once or twice and then out to sea, still keeping on in a
direct course until he lost sight of them, although using a good glass. Every year about the same time
many are captured under the boats and fishing-baskets lying on the beach, and others are run down by lads
in the gardens near the denes, and sometimes even within the town itself . . . They have been observed in
like manner on the Suffolk coast, near Lowestoft, so exhausted as to allow themselves to be picked up by
hand. . . . At Cromer, also, the beachmen seem to be fully aware of the annual appearance of these birds
on the coast about the end of March. On this point both Mr. William Barclay, of Leyton, and myself have
received reliable testimony from one of the most experienced and intelligent fishermen at that favourite
watering-place. In answer to my inquiries, William Mayes writes :—* All the information I can give you
about French Partridges is that they come over about the middle of March or beginning of April, some ten
or twelve in a flock, the wind mostly south-east and south. I have seen them when I have been out to sea
Sour and five miles from land. None come over in the autumn.’ That these concurrent testimonies are
indicative of some migratory movement of the Red-legged Partridge there can be no doubt; but while it is
by no means easy to decide from what part of the continent we might look for an influx of this species, and
there is really no place abroad that these birds could have come from to alight on the Cromer beach, the
above statements are by no means incompatible with the idea that emigration, and not immigration, is the

true explanation of this somewhat difficult subject. In this view, I know, Mr. Alfred Newton entirely con-
curs; and the fact that the French Partridge w

as unknown in this county until introduced is one of the
strongest arguments against its vernal immigr

ation at the present time. On the other hand, after the
success which has attended its importation and its rapid incr

ease throughout the eastern counties, it is far
from improbable that

ee. a portion should annuallly seek to extend their area, and, finding themselves stopped
vy the | erman Ocean, auerapt to cross it. ‘These birds, or a portion of them (some probably falling short
and being drowned at sea), misjudging the distance and their ow

. n powers of flight, would return again to
our shores in a exhausted state

; e, and when picked up under such circumstances would very naturally be
regarded as foreigners just arrived on the coast.”
The Plate repre a mi :
; e se a a male, a female, and a brood of young, of the size of life. The plants are the
ommon Heath (Zrica cinerea) and the Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia).