Karin King, age 8, of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, for her question:

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE PARTRIDGE?

During the recent Christmas holidays, the partridge received a bit of notice in one of the season’s most popular songs. Remember the line, “ A partridge in a pear tree”? It isn’t so much that the game bird spends most of his life in pear trees. It’s just that the song’s composer undoubtedly felt such a sight would present a very pleasant mental picture. And, of course, the phrase itself is pleasing to the ear.

A group of birds found in the Eastern Hemisphere are considered to be true partridges by scientists. There are about 150 different kinds of these birds.

One of the types is called the Hungarian partridge. It is an excellent game bird that was brought to America for breeding purposes many years ago. In its native location you’ll find him in northern Africa and western Asia as well as throughout Europe. In North America where he does very well now, he is often called the European partridge.

The partridge, quail and pheasant are all related. The names sometimes get mixed up a bit. For example, the true partridge is often called a quail or bobwhite by people in the Northern and Western parts of the United States. In New England, the term partridge is often used for the ruffed grouse while many Canadians call the Canada spruce grouse the swamp partridge or spruce partridge.

Partridges are about one foot long. The upper parts of their bodies are ashy gray with brown and black markings. Often you’ll find a crescent shaped spot of deep chestnut on the partridge’s breast.

Tender shoots of plants, grains and insects are favorite diet items for the partridge. When it is time to mate, the birds build nests on the ground. The female partridge will lay from eight to 20 eggs. Nesting time is in the spring, and during the early months of the baby partridges’ lives, the mother is very protective.

In the prairie provinces of Canada and in the Northwestern part of the United States, the Hungarian partridge is one of the most important game birds. The chukar partridge, a native of Asia and Europe, is also a very popular game bird in the Northwestern part of the United States.

A francolin is also a kind of partridge. He also grows to be about one foot long. The birds are usually spotted, the males being black and white and the females brownish. The male also has a handsome black head with white ear patches.

The official family name for the partridge is Phasianidae. In this family you’ll also find the pheasant and quail.

Here are several other scientific classifications: the gray or Hungarian partridge is from the genus perdix while the chukar is called alectoris.