110 THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW GAME-BIRD INTO ESSEX.
and apposite paper, made some remarks on the introduction of the Red-legged or
French Partridge into Essex, at St. Osyth [see note in Essex Naturalist, vol.
ii., page 39]. The "Red-legs" had now become more abundant than the com-
mon partridge at St. Osyth. He thought, judging from what Mr. Harting had
said, that there was a possibility of the Tinamu overcoming the dangers which
confront every new denizen, and becoming a welcome addition to the game birds
of Essex and East Anglia.
Mr. F. C. Gould said that as naturalists they would all welcome the new comer,
but he was afraid that climatic influences would be against it. The Tinamu was
also, he understood, a very silly bird, and it would therefore be easily caught or
shot, and it had a decided taste for com. It was spoken of as a "new game
bird," but, of course, it was not legally included among "game," and Parliament
would be very unwilling to increase the number of birds and animals protected by
the game laws.
Mr. Harting said that the marshes in Essex approximated very closely to the
natural haunts of the bird in South America. As to its taste for corn, that was
probabably an acquired habit, and owed its origin to the fact that the young birds
which had been turned out had been reared upon corn. The Tinamu could be
protected by being included in the Wild Birds Protection Act. Seeing how hardy
the bird is reported to be, he thought that a few experiments in the acclimatization
of it deserved encouragement, and he hoped that those which had been turned
down in Essex would be protected, or, at least, allowed to remain unmolested,
so that they might have a chance of increasing.
Mr. T. V. Holmes asked whether the Tinamu was in anyway inferior to the
Red-legged Partridge in activity or powers of flight. Remembering that the
latter bird had apparently become thoroughly acclimatized, it was not difficult to
realize the possibility of a like success with the Tinamu, provided its habits were
such as would enable it to live in England.
Mr. Walter Crouch said that the general quail-like appearance of the bird was
suggestive of its power of holding its own in England.
Mr. Greatheed enquired whether the Tinamu was a migratory bird.
Mr. Hatting understood that it was an extremely active bird, and would fly a
mile at a time. He thought that its chance of survival in England would be at
least equal to that of the Red-legged Partridge. The Tinamu was not strictly
migratory, though it wanders in its native haunts over a very considerable extent
of country.
Mr. Fitch remarked that the migratory habit of the quail rendered its occur-
rence in any locality very vacillating. Some years ago quails were very common
in Essex, but they were rarer now. He enquired whether the Barbary Partridge
(Caccabis petrosa, Gmelin), had been seen in Essex.
Mr. Harting said that the records of the Barbary Partridge in England were
very unsatisfactory. It was possible that in some cases the birds might have been
introduced through their eggs having been imported with those of the Red-legged
Partridge, which they much resemble. He would like to have information as to
whether the Virginian Quail (Ortyx virginianus) had ever been turned out in
Essex, and if so whether it had survived.9 Such records would be very useful for
the " Catalogue of the Birds of Essex," now being prepared for the Club by Mr.
Miller Christy.
9 In the early part of this century several pairs of Virginian Quails were turned out in Norfolk
by the late Earl of Leicester, but these, according to Mr. Stevenson in his "Birds of Norfolk,"