54 Grey Partridge 



cocks, 14.99 *J^- Anything over ib oz. is a remarkable weight tor a 

 Partridge, and I have only a note of live of that weight or over, out 

 of a large series which I weighed and tabulated. The weights after a 

 long spell of cold are of interest, shownig how well the Partridge is 

 able to look after itself, and how httle it suffers, when the Passerine 

 and other birds are perishing in large numbers from cold and 

 starvation. 



Another point which my table of weights brought into 

 prominence was the comparative weights of the young and old 

 birds. The young cocks, I found, were always heavier than the 

 <jld ones. Not a very great difference, perhaps i ounce, but it 

 was constant. In the case of the females, the reverse condition 

 was the rule ; the only ver}- large female I have ever seen (165 oz., 

 a most exceptional weight) was an old bird — and the average of a 

 considerable series showed a small but constant difference in favour 

 of the old bird. 



Here is a table of the average weights of 87 English Partridges 

 shot in the season 1892-1893. 



26 male JHV. .... 14.91 oz. 



17 male ad. .... 14.63 oz. 



23 female //«'. . . . 14.16 oz. 



II female ad. ... 14.44 •''^- 



87 



This may seem a trivial point, but there must be some reason 

 for the decreasing weight of the cocks, and the increasing weight of 

 the hens, and, I conclude, that this must be due to the effects 

 produced on the males and females respectively, during the season 

 of reproduction. The male never recovering quite the same weight 

 as he possessed before the first nesting, while the female seems to 

 feel the effects much less, or even to be benefited by them. 



I propose now briefly to consider the French Partridge, selecting 

 mainly those points in their domestic economy in which they differ 

 from the English bird, and contrasting them. And then to say a 

 few words about the creatures that prey upon Partridges, English 

 or French (the one race suffering equally with the other). 



The French Partridge is not indigenous to the country. They 

 were first introduced b}- the Marquis of Hertford in 1770 on his 

 Suffolk Estate of Sudbourne, near Orford. Here the climate and 

 the light, sandy soil suited them, and they multiplied exceedingly. 

 Lord Rendelsham introduced some in the same year on an adjoining 

 estate. Other centres in the Eastern Counties were also chosen for 

 the introduction, and in the course of a few seasons, these birds 

 had become firmly established. From East Anglia they gradually 

 spread over the country, sometimes by natural wanderings, more 

 often by deliberate introduction artificially, until there was hardlv 

 a county in England or Wales that had not at some time or another 



