DCHP-1 Online

willow partridge

• 1 a widely distributed ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus albus.

  See also: willow ptarmigan  

  • 1743  (1949)  The willow Partridge which is Larger than those above mention'd is the same colour Excep't the black from the Eye to the Bill. . . .
  • 1896  One, the willow-partridge, is a very handsome bird, with a black throat and head and scarlet eyebrows, and a brownish body handsomely mottled with orange.
  • 1959  Willow Ptarmigan [is also called] willow partridge (. . . "Keewatin")

• 2 a partridge-like game bird, Bonasa umbellus, occurring in many subspecies across Canada.

  See also: ruffed grouse  

  • 1959  Ruffed Grouse [is also called] willow partridge (Man.).