Partridge

(Heb. kore) occurs only (1 Samuel 26:20) and Jere 17:11 The "hunting this bird upon the mountains," (1 Samuel 26:20) entirely agrees with the habits of two well-known species of partridge, viz. Caccabis saxatilis, the Greek partridge (which is the commonest partridge of the holy land), and Ammoperdix heyii. Our common partridge, Perdix cinerea, does not occur in Palestine. (The Greek partridge somewhat resembles our red-legged partridge in plumage, but is much larger. In every part of the hill country it abounds, and its ringing call-note in early morning echoes from cliff to cliff alike amid the barrenness of the hills of Judea and in the glens of the forest of Carmel, and you can find more about that here on st-takla.org on other commentaries and dictionary entries. Tristram's Nat. Hist. of Bible. The flesh of the partridge and the eggs are highly esteemed as food, and the search for the eggs at the proper time of the year is made a regular business.-ED.)