Tasty, testing and English to its wing tips

The sight of chirruping English partridges breaking over a hedgerow in a howling gale is a rare sight. I count myself extremely lucky to have witnessed it more than once. The grey — or English — partridge is one of the most testing and beautiful game quarries to engage.

The grey partridge is native, making it inarguably British. So you feel strangely proud as the birds emerge in their coveys towards you with bewildering speed and agility. They used to outnumber the red-legged (or French) partridge due to the combination of land enclosure, increased cultivation and intensive predator control in the 18th and, especially, the 19th century. These farming conditions boosted its numbers considerably and it became