Volume 6, Plate VI / Ornithology (Birds)

Common Francolin

Perdix francolinus

Perdix francolinus, the only European francolin, inhabits southern Europe, Sicily, the Greek islands, Africa, and India, frequenting marshy grounds and earning the name Meadow Partridge, while being everywhere esteemed at table and admired for its plumage. Scarcely twelve inches long, the male is patterned in black, white, rufous, and yellowish brown disposed in chaste contrasted markings, the female wanting the deep black, white, and rufous collar, her ground colour a yellowish brown waved with umber.