This is a Philby's Partridge (Alectoris philbyi) in a confrontation with an Arabian Cobra (Naja arabica). The bird is of a restricted range in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and there is a need for conservation efforts. Rabbi Chaim Loike of the Orthodox Union in New York is working on preserving the species, for which he has found a Mesorah, that is, a written record of its kosher status. I will be working more on this species this year, and also on a type of kosher white Mallard which Rabbi Loike keeps in his aviary, along with the partridges. Earlier this year he held a paint-and-tell session at the Orthodox Union where I met his duck and he gave me some of her eggs, with which I will paint it in tempera grassa, that is, egg yolk and hemp oil.
