PARTRIDGES. 99 



In cultivated areas the chukar feeds upon gleanings from the fields, 

 but in wilder parts it lives upon mosses, lichens, berries and the tender 

 shoots of young plants. 



It occurs wherever there are hills or mountains, though it does 

 not seem to care for altitudes over 8,000 feet. It is had country indeed 

 where the chukar is not to be found. 



The eggs are laid in May, and in July the mothers may be seen 

 with their broods of ten or a dozen tiny chicks. The latter can fly in 

 August and by September are fully fledged, when as already stated 

 they gather into large coveys. 



Throughout the winter these birds are in excellent condition, 

 forming a valuable contribution to the menu. A full grown male is 

 about the size of a hen pheasant. The Chinese name is Shih chi (Stone 

 fowl). 



In China partridge shooting does not hold the place that it does in 

 Great Britain. The reason for this is chiefly that there is very little 

 of the right kind of cover, except in out of the way hilly or mountainous 

 districts. Cultivation in China differs very markedly fromi that at 

 home. The farmers spend a great deal more time in their fields, 

 usually raise two crops a year, and, unlike farmers at home, gather in 

 every stalk and blade of vegetation before the winter comes on. All 

 this is not calculated to encourage the partridges to leave their safe 

 home in the hills, and it is only when driven by hunger during a specially 

 cold winter that they will do so. Then, too, as already shown the 

 birds themselves differ considerably from those in Europe. The chukar 

 keeps to the steep loess hills and ravines, or precipitous rocky ridgv-^s, 

 iwhile the bearded partridge is only plentiful on the open slopes of the 

 very higili mountain ranges. 



Thus he who wishes to indulge in partridge shooting must be 

 prepared to travel far and, owing to the nature of the country in- 

 habited by these birds, must be prepared to work hard. As a matter of 

 fact it is seldom that those, even, who live within easy reach of part- 

 ridge coverts .go out specially for them, preferring rather to take them 

 as the chance offers when out after more profitable quarry. 



Still one can recall several occasions when partridges formed the 

 main item during a days shoot, and as they were typical of what 

 the sport is like in this country they may be recounted. 



One such day, especially, stands out in my memory. It was in 

 the early spring of 1910, when my wife and I were returning from a 

 winter's work in the mountains of Western Shansi. We had just 

 left behind some magnificent forest country, and were travelling down 



