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Gray
Partridge
Perdix perdix [European
Partridge]
[Published
in 1932: Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum
Bulletin 162: 1-9]
Attempts to introduce the European gray partridge into North
America have met with marked success in certain favorable
localities and with many dismal failures in other places less
congenial to it. Dr. John C. Phillips (1928) has summarized the
whole history of these attempts. Of the earlier unsuccessful
importations he says:
The earliest attempt at introduction, which so far as known
was made by Richard Bache, son-in-law of Benjamin Franklin, who
stocked his plantation on the Delaware River near what is now the
town of Beverly, N. J., with Hungarian partridges, dates back to
the latter part of the eighteenth century. There were subsequent
attempts in Virginia and New Jersey, most important of which was
Pierre Lorillard's effort in 1879 at Jobstown, N.J. Later
attempts commenced in a small way in 1899, but the real fever of
importation along the Atlantic coast began about 1905 and has
lasted up to the present, although the period 1907 and 1914 saw
the height of the industry. In Eastern States importations of
these hardy little birds have been put down all the way from
Portland, Me., and northern New York to South Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, and Mississippi. In Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New
Jersey, the work was done on a large scale and, at first, with
encouraging results. In a few places the birds undoubtedly bred
the first season, and in other places as in the Connecticut
Valley, they persisted for 8 or 10 years in considerable numbers;
eventually they vanished, however, between 1915 and 1920.
The results on the western plains and prairies have been quite
successful, of which he writes:
The results in the far Western States and in western and
central Canada may be briefly summarized. The most remarkable
success followed immediately upon the first introductions into
Alberta, near Calgary, in 1908-9. On April 20, November 16, and
December 10, 1908, Calgary sportsmen liberated about 70 pairs over
a small area mostly south and west of Calgary. More came on April
20, 21, and 22, 1909, and in all some 207 pairs seem to have
formed the basis for this wonderful result. The first birds were
placed some 15 miles south of Calgary, and after the first large
plantings, 40 pairs in one place and 30 not far away (High River
and west of that place), the rest were planted mostly in lots of
10 pairs. This stock came from Hungary. Some time later the
Northern Alberta Game and Fish Protection League liberated a fresh
importation of 230 birds in Alberta near Edmonton, but the stock
from Calgary had in the meantime spread north to that city. The
gain in territory from this nucleus has been little short of
marvelous. The birds have now spread at least 60 miles northwest
of Edmonton (Pembina River) and breed there. There has been an
open season on them in Alberta for years, and they are now by far
the commonest of imported game birds in western Canada. The spread
from this initial plant has carried the Hungarian partridge into
Saskatchewan and all over its western part as far north as
township 60 and south to the international boundary. All this
happened within only five years from the time the bird was first
recorded in the Province.
A. G. Lawrence writes to me:
First liberated in Manitoba in April, 1924, when the Game
Protective League released at Warren, Manitoba, 40 pairs imported
direct from Czechoslovakia. A second shipment was received in
January, 1925, 17 pairs being later released at Neepawa, Manitoba,
and 26 pairs at Warren. These birds are apparently well adapted to
the prairies and seem to be establishing themselves in the areas
in which they were liberated.
The experience with this partridge in the State of Washington
well illustrates the fact that it will flourish, increase, and
spread in the type of open country that it prefers, but will
barely hold its own or will die out entirely in less favorable
regions. D. J. Leffingwell says in his notes:
We find the introduction of the partridge has been most
successful in the dry nonforested areas with an elevation of 1,000
or more feet above sea level and where the game enemies are rare.
The lack of vermin and the large open fields in which the birds
may feed are probably the most important factors. The birds should
not be introduced outside of the Temperate or Transition Zone.
In the comparatively humid regions of western Washington
attempts to introduce Hungarian partridges have not been very
successful. S. F. Rathbun says of this section:
Western Washington is a picturesque region of mountains,
hills, valleys, and streams. Originally it was clothed with a
dense and luxuriant forest mostly coniferous, but now a great
change in this respect is apparent. As has been so often the case
in the past in a new country, the development of the region began
along the lines of least resistance--in this instance it being
where land and water met--and now to a large extent the tall
forests have been replaced by broad cultivated areas that steadily
encroach upon the still undeveloped ones.
On the other hand the birds have prospered and spread in the
eastern part of the State, of which he writes:
Eastern Washington, on the contrary, is a section quite
devoid of forests except along many of its streams and some of the
more rugged parts, and even then this growth lacks the luxuriance
of that of the west side; in fact, being scanty by comparison. And
many parts of eastern Washington are more or less elevated and
open, wide-sweeping plateaus rolling in turn to the water courses.
In Oregon the story is much the same. William L. Finley writes
to me:
During the years 1913-14 we liberated 1,522 of these birds
in various counties throughout the State. In the Willamette Valley
and places in southern Oregon the climate is mild, and the country
is varied with patches of timber, fields, and gardens, which from
all reports is very similar to the European home of these birds.
In the eastern part of Oregon where the partridges were liberated
the altitude is a little higher; it is colder in winter; the hills
are covered with broad grain fields with quite a lot of wild
sagebrush country surrounding, also more or less trees and brush
in the canyons. It came rather as a surprise to find that the
partridges did not increase and thrive in the Willamette Valley
and southern Oregon, but they multiplied quite rapidly all through
the northeastern part of Oregon, and especially in the
southeastern part of Washington, where quite a number of these
birds were imported and released.
According to Charles J. Spiker (1929) Hungarian partridges have
been introduced successfully in northern Iowa, where they have
spread into six counties, as well as three counties in southern
Minnesota. He says of this bird:
There is no more charming bird on the Iowa landscape than
the Hungarian Partridge, nor one which better deserves protection
at the hands of those who have brought it from its native haunts
to become acclimated and adjusted to new environments. While it is
not highly colored, like the Ring-necked Pheasant, yet it is a
beautiful bird and merits a great deal of enthusiasm from an
aesthetic point of view as well as the more mercenary point of
view of the sportsman. In size it is
somewhat larger than a Bob-white, and has some of the
characteristics of this species. Seen as it flies directly away
from the observer, especially as it first takes off from the
ground or spreads its tail in alighting, it presents it very
distinguishing field mark. This is the rich russet of the tail
feathers, visible only in flight, and concealed by the upper
coverts when at rest, but greatly resembling the sheen of that of
the Red-tailed Hawk. If one be so fortunate as to behold the bird
on a bank about on a level with his eyes or slightly above him, as
it has upon two or three occasions occurred to me, he will note
the black crescent just below the breast, practically in the
middle of the belly, but so located that the bird must be in just
the exact position for this mark to show itself.
Courtship.--The Rev. F. C. R.
Jourdain has sent me the following quotation from F. Menteith
Ogilvie:
In March courtship proper will have begun. In the great
majority of cases, the birds will have definitely selected their
partners. Here and there, where the males are in excess, constant
fights will take place, often resulting in the elder male ousting
the younger from the possession of the female, a most undesirable
occurrence when it happens, looked at from the breeding point of
view. The old males are not only more pugnacious and stronger
birds, but they are also either infertile or much less fertile
than the young male and the result of the union is likely to be a
small laying, a still smaller hatching, and a large percentage of
rotten eggs. Throughout March, while pairing is going on fighting
is generally continuous and severe. These fights are very amusing
to watch--the two males, bristling with fury, feathers raised and
wattles showing, rush at each other striking and buffeting with
their wings, generally jumping a few inches from the ground. The
"round" may last 3 or 4 minutes; the lady, close by
picking up a seed here and there and preening herself, is
apparently unconscious of the furious rivalry she is exciting. The
fighters now separate a little distance and recommence feeding and
peace seems to be declared, till one or other approaches too near
the female, when war is instantly declared again. So the battle
continues with intervals over a considerable period, possibly a
week or more, until one of the two is finally vanquished and the
happy pair are left to their honeymoon. I have often watched
fights of this kind, and I never could see that the Partridges
inflicted any real damage on each other; their principal offensive
weapon seemed to be their wings. Their bills they rarely used, and
their feet they didn't appear to use at all. The studied
inattention of the female is most amusing to watch, and I conclude
she exercises no choice in the matter at all, beyond promising her
hand to the better man.
Nesting.--The nest of this
partridge is a very simple affair, a slight depression in the
ground, lined with a few dead leaves, dry grass, or straw. It is
usually placed among bushes, or in long grass, fields of clover,
or in standing grain. Mr. Jourdain says in his notes:
It should be noted that during the time of laying (which may
last for three weeks) the eggs are carefully covered up by the hen
bird with grass or dead leaves. When she comes to the nest to lay
she scratches away the covering, deposits an egg, and then
replaces it again. Until the clutch is complete the eggs are laid
anyhow. When the hen is about to incubate she arranges them with
the greatest care and for a single day, curiously enough, leaves
the eggs uncovered and then begins to incubate. She is a good
mother and sits very closely, especially after the first few days.
The male bird takes no part in brooding but remains close at hand
for defense if necessary.
Eggs.--Of the eggs Mr. Jourdain says
that
normally the clutch ranges from 8 or 9 to about 20. I have
known cases of as many as 21 and 22, which may have been the
produce of one hen but the higher numbers which occasionally are
met with, 26 to 40 (!), are undoubtedly due to two hens laying
together in one nest. In color they are uniformly olive,
sometimes, darker, sometimes lighter, but occasionally clutches
have been found with almost white eggs, while a bluish type has
also been recorded.
One hundred British eggs measured by myself averaged 36.8 by
27.4 millimeters. The eggs showing the greatest extremes measured 38.9
by 28.4 and 37.7 by 29.4, 33.8 by 26.3 and 37.5 by 25.7
millimeters.
Young.--Mr. Jourdain writes:
Incubation lasts not less than 24
full days, as a rule, though Hanroth gives 23 1/2 as the period in
Germany. In England most birds hatch out on the 25th day. When
young are hatched both parents take charge and are most active and
courageous in defense of the young. On one occasion I heard a pair
on the far side of a hedge, and looking over the top I was
surprised to find that the bold little cock flew straight at my
head with loud outcry while the hen busied herself in getting the
young under cover as soon as possible.
Several of the early British writers have referred to an
incident related by Yarrell (1871) as follows:
A person engaged in a field, not far from my residence, had
his attention arrested by some objects on the ground, which, upon
approaching, he found to be two Partridges, a male and female,
engaged in battle with a Carrion Crow; so successful and so
absorbed were they in the issue of the contest, that they actually
held the Crow till it was seized and taken from them by the
spectator of the scene. Upon search, young birds, very lately
hatched, were found concealed amongst the grass. It would appear,
therefore, that the Crow, a mortal enemy to all kinds of young
game, in attempting to carry off one of these, had been attacked
by the parent birds, and with this singular result.
Plumages.--In Witherby's handbook
(1920) the downy young is described as follows:
Crown chestnut with a few small black spots sometimes
extending to lines; back of neck with a wide black line down
center, at sides pale buff marked black; rest of upper parts pale
buff with some rufous and black blotches or ill-defined lines, at
base of wings a spot, and on rump a patch of chestnut; forehead
and sides of head pale yellow-buff (sometimes tinged rufous) with
spots, small blotches, and lines of black; chin and throat uniform
pale yellow-buff; rest of under parts slightly yellower, bases of
down sooty.
And the juvenal plumage, in which the sexes are alike, is thus
described:
Crown black-brown finely streaked buff, each feather having
buff shaft streak; back of neck, mantle, back, rump and upper
tail-coverts buff-brown, with whitish to pale buff shaft-streaks
inconspicuously margined blackish; lores and sides of head dark
brown streaked whitish; chin, throat and center of belly whitish
to pale buff; breast, sides and flanks and under tail-coverts
brown-buff slightly paler than mantle and with whiter
shaft-streaks, faintly margined brown on flanks; tail much like
adult but feathers tipped buff and with subterminal dusky bar and
spots and central ones speckled and barred dusky; primaries brown
with pale buff tips and widely spaced bars on outer webs;
secondaries with pale buff bars extending across both webs and
vermiculated brown, shafts pale buff; scapulars, inner secondaries
and wing-coverts brown-buff with wide brown-black bars and
mottlings and pale shaft-streaks widening to white spots at tips
of feathers.
A postjuvenal molt, which is complete except for the outer two
primaries, produces a first winter plumage. The sexes are now
differentiated and resemble the two adults, except for the more
pointed tips of the outer primaries. This molt begins when the
young bird is about half grown and is sometimes prolonged through
December.
Adults have a partial prenuptial molt in May and June,
sometimes in April, and a complete molt from July to November or
December. Several observers have experienced some difficulty in
distinguishing the sexes among adults, chiefly because many
females have the dark chestnut patch on the belly more or less
well developed. There seems to be some difference of opinion as to
whether this character is more pronounced in old or in young
females. But the sexes can always be distinguished by two
characters; the light chestnut on the sides of the head is lighter
and more restricted in the female; the median wing coverts of the
female are dark brown or black, with widely spaced, pale-buff
bars; whereas these coverts in the male have no transverse bars,
but only a pale-buff shaft streak.
Food.--In Witherby's handbook (1920)
the food of the partridge is summarized by Mr. Jourdain, as
follows:
Chiefly shoots and leaves of grass and clover as well as
seeds of many species including Polygonum, Trifolium,
Alchemilla, Galium, Spergula, Persicaria,
Pao, etc. Turnip leaves, young shoots of heather, bramble
and blueberry, hawthorn berries, and corn also eaten. In spring
and summer insects are also taken, including diptera (Tipulidae
and larvae), coleoptera and hymenoptera (ants and their pupae
being very favourite food). Also aphides. Once recorded as eating
pears on tree!
Crops and stomachs of American birds also contained wheat,
barley, oats, mainly waste grain, seeds of wild buckwheat,
pigweed, and other weeds, and grasshoppers. It is said that these
birds do not pull up sprouting corn as the pheasants do. Their
food habits seem to be wholly beneficial.
Behavior.--Macgillivray (1837)
says, of the gray partridge, that it
is fond of rambling into waste or pasture grounds, which are
covered with long grass, furze, or broom; but it does not often
enter woods, and never perches on trees. It runs with surprising
speed, when alarmed or in pursuit of its companions, although in
general, it squats under the apprehension of danger, or when
nearly approached takes flight. Its mode of flying is similar to
that of the Brown Ptarmigan; it rises obliquely to some height,
and then flies off in a direct course, rapidly flapping its wings,
which produce a whirring sound.
Yarrell (1871) writes:
During the day a covey of Partridges, keeping together, are
seldom seen on the wing unless disturbed; they frequent
grass-fields, preferring the hedge-sides, some of them picking up
insects, and occasionally the green leaves of plants; others
dusting themselves in any dry spot where the soil is loose, and
this would seem to be a constant practice with them in dry
weather, if we may judge by the numerous dusting places, with the
marks and feathers to be found about their haunts; and sportsmen
find, in the early part of the shooting season, that young and
weak birds are frequently infested with numerous parasites. In the
afternoon the covey repair to some neighbouring field of standing
corn, or, if that be cut, to the stubble, for the second daily
meal of grain; and, this completed, the call note may be heard,
according to White, as soon as the beetles begin to buzz, and the
whole move away together to some spot where they jug, as it is
called--that is, squat and nestle close together for the night;
and from the appearance of the mutings, or droppings, which are
generally deposited in a circle of only a few inches in diameter,
it would appear that the birds arrange themselves also in a
circle, of which their tails appear to form the centre, all the
heads being outwards--a disposition which instinct has suggested
as the best for observing the approach of any of their numerous
enemies, whatever may be the direction, and thus increase their
security by enabling them to avoid a surprise. In the morning
early they again visit the stubble for a breakfast, and pass the
rest of the day as before. Fields of clover or turnips are very
favourite places of resort during the day. Mr. Harvie-Brown
informs the editor that when the snow lay upon the ground he has
known a covey to roost regularly on a limb of a large tree; and he
has also seen Partridges "treed" by a dog.
Considerable discussion has appeared in print on the effect, on
our native game birds, of introducing Hungarian partridges. Some
claim that where the partridges are increasing the native grouse
are disappearing. Most of our grouse are subject to periodic
fluctuation in numbers from other causes; and it does not seem to
have been definitely proved that the partridges are the cause of
any local decrease in grouse. There are certainly plenty of
suitable nesting sites for all these ground-nesting species; there
is no proof that any shortage of food supply has led to any
disastrous competition between them; and there is no evidence that
the smaller partridges ever attack the larger grouse, which should
be more than a match for them. Though there is always danger in
introducing a foreign species, it would seem that the little gray
partridge is more likely to prove a complementary than a
competitive species.
Enemies.--Partridges, like all
other ground-nesting species, are preyed upon by the whole long
list of furred and feathered enemies, but they are such prolific
breeders that their natural enemies are not likely seriously to
reduce their numbers. Their habits of feeding in the open during
the day and roosting in the open at night, make them especially
exposed to the attacks of hawks and owls. The ring-necked pheasant
may have to be reckoned with as an enemy of the partridge. Mr.
Spiker (1929) writes:
Northwestern Iowa has not until fairly recently been
afflicted with this pernicious bird, but they are on the increase,
and farmers have told me that with the coming of the Ring-necked
Pheasant, the partridges are departing. Perhaps a concrete example
would be admissible here. Mr. Raymond Rowe, a farmer living a few
miles northwest of Sibley, while plowing late last fall (1927),
observed something of a commotion in a little swale a short
distance from his plowing. Prompted by curiosity, he walked over
to the place and flushed half a dozen partridges and three
Ring-necked Pheasants. On the ground before him lay the bleeding
bodies of three partridges newly killed. It was just dusk, and
doubtless the smaller species had crept into the long grass to
spend the night and had been fallen upon by the pheasants who were
already there. Stories are also told of the destruction of the
nests of the Hungarian Partridge by pheasants.
Voice.--Mr. Spiker (1929) says that
the voice is
not unmusical, and yet not conspicuous unless listened for;
it is especially noticeable on a still spring evening when there
is little or no breeze, and the shadows of dusk follow the
disappearance of the sun. There is a single two-syllabled
chuckling note which may be represented somewhat by the syllables
"kee-uck," the second syllable being rather raspy and
throaty as compared to the first, which is high pitched and nasal.
Upon being flushed, the bird takes off with the startling whirr of
wings characteristic of this family, uttering the while a rapid
cackling which diminishes to the above given notes repeated
several times and with a gradually increasing interval between
them. In the immediate vicinity of Ashton it is not unusual to
hear from four to eight of these birds calling at the same time
from as many different directions.
Walter H. Rich (1909) writes of some birds in captivity:
In their coop they used a great variety of language; they
clucked like a Grouse; they chattered like a Blackbird; they
snapped their bills like an Owl; they "jawed" like a
Parrot; they made a guttural note of alarm like the "br-r-r-r"
of a startled Pigeon; they hissed like a Black Duck guarding her
nest, or like a Thomas cat whose dignity is ruffled not quite
enough for anger; and, in addition, they are said to
"crow" at evening.
Game.--Provided that the Hungarian
partridge does not seriously interfere with the welfare of our
native species, it seems to be a wise and valuable addition to our
list of game birds. I have never hunted it, but those who have
speak very highly of it. It is a strong, swift flier, smart and
sagacious, well fitted to test the skill of the best sportsmen. It
is a fine bird for the table. Unfortunately it will survive and
flourish only in certain favorable sections, mainly the
northwestern grain fields and grassy plains. There it can probably
survive much more intensive hunting than either the prairie
chicken or the sharp-tailed grouse.
One of the men who helped to introduce the partridge in
Washington wrote to Mr. Rathbun as follows:
From the standpoint of a game bird I believe them to be the
gamest of them all. The law of the covey is very strong, and when
they flush all of them go at the same time. There seems to be less
than a fraction of a second between the time the first one and the
last one makes his get-away. They will always be able to take care
of themselves, since they become very wild when much shooting is
done. When one is winged or slightly wounded so that he cannot fly
he will run a mile sometimes before a hunter's dog undertakes him.
During the winter months they come right into the towns and eat at
the back doors of the residences. They will help themselves to
strawstacks, haystacks, and anything edible. At night they burrow
in the snow, sometimes making little tunnels 4 or 5 feet long
under 2 feet of snow. I have hunted upland game birds in the West
covering a period of 37 years, but I believe the Hungarian
partridge, considered from every standpoint as a game bird, is the
premier one of the Pacific coast.
Winter.--Mr. Spiker (1929) says:
The species is gregarious during the winter, beginning to
flock in October and continuing till the last of February. During
this season they frequent the stalk fields left after the picking
of the corn. When the gregarious spirit is upon them they are
exceedingly wary and are up and away almost as they see the hunter
enter the field. The startling noise with which they take flight
and their extremely rapid coursing across the field make them a
very difficult target, and, although many attempts are made by
poachers, few birds fall as victims. By the latter part of
February, however, there comes a change when they begin breaking
up and pairing off, and at this time they appear to lose some of
their wariness.
Gray Partridge*
Perdix perdix
[European Partridge]
*Original Source: Bent,
Arthur Cleveland. 1932. Smithsonian Institution United
States National Museum Bulletin 162: 1-9. United States Government
Printing Office
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