The GREEK PARTRIDGE (_Caccabis Græca_, or _C. saxatilis_) is of a blueish
grey, shaded with red on the breast and mantle; the throat is white; a
line encircling the throat, another on the brow, and a small spot on
the chin are black; the feathers on the thighs are striped alternately
yellowish brown and black; the rest of the under side is reddish yellow;
the quills are blackish brown, with yellowish white shafts, and reddish
yellow streaks at the edge of the outer web; the exterior tail-feathers
are rust-red. The eye is reddish brown, beak coral-red, and foot pale red.
The length of the male is from thirteen to fourteen inches, the breadth
from nineteen to twenty inches; the wing measures six, and the tail four
inches; the female is smaller than her mate.
This bird is met with in Central Europe, but more numerously in the
most southern parts of that continent; as also in Turkey, Asia Minor,
Palestine, and Arabia: in a westerly direction it would appear to
venture but rarely beyond the limits of the Red Sea, and in India and
Southern China is represented by an almost identical species. It is a
remarkable fact that, whilst such of these Partridges as inhabit Central
Europe decidedly prefer sunny, verdure-covered spots lying beneath the
snow-boundary of the Alps, those occupying warmer latitudes frequent the
open plains and barren lowland tracts.
Tristram tells us that this is the commonest Partridge in the Holy Land:
"In every part of the country, whether wooded or bare, it abounds, and
its ringing call-note in early morning echoes from cliff to cliff, alike
amidst the barrenness of the wilderness of Judea, and in the glens of the
forest of Carmel. The male birds will stand erect on a boulder-stone,
sending their cheery challenge to some rival across the _wady_, till the
moment they perceive themselves detected; they then drop down from their
throne, and scud up the hill faster than any dog, screening themselves
from sight by any projecting rock as they run."
According to Lindermayer, the Greek Partridge lays as early as February;
in the Alps the female does not brood till the end of May at the earliest,
and often as late as July. The nest is a mere hollow in the ground,
beneath a low bush, and is slightly lined with moss, heath, or grass.
In the south even this trifling preparation for the little family is
omitted, and the hen contents herself with making a hole in the sand.
The eggs, from twelve to fifteen in number, have a pale, yellowish white
shell, delicately streaked with light brown; the mother alone broods,
and when her young are strong enough, leads them forth to seek their
food in company with her mate. Tschudi tells us that the young display
extraordinary alacrity in concealing themselves on the first alarm of
danger, and on this account the shooting of these much-esteemed birds is
attended with no small difficulty, and frequently tries the sportsman's
patience to the utmost.