Partridge

The partridge (Hebrew kore, meaning caller or crier, from its characteristic call) is mentioned twice in the Old Testament, both times in figurative contexts. In 1 Samuel 26:20, David uses the image of hunting the partridge in the mountains to describe Saul's relentless pursuit of him: the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains — evoking the exhausting chase of an elusive quarry across rocky terrain.

Jeremiah 17:11 employs the partridge in a proverb about ill-gotten wealth: As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days. The reference to a partridge gathering eggs it did not lay — a behavior observed in nature — becomes a metaphor for wealth accumulated through injustice that ultimately cannot be kept. The Caccabis species common to Palestine would fit both references.