44 Grey Partridge 



hunting, up and down hedgerows, selecting a suitable residence. I 

 don't think they ever select the exact spot for the nest at once. 

 Their first step is to select the fence they will nest in, and in this 

 fence they, or possibly only the cock, scrab here and there as if the 

 nest were being begun, but these " scrabs " never get any further, 

 and sometimes one finds nine or ten such " scrabs " in a fence which 

 is only tenanted by one pair of birds. 



Partridges are very curious in the sites they select. Fences* 

 are by far the commonest choice, and it is very hard to tell why 

 some particular fences are so very popular. Thus, I know a fence, 

 perhaps 200 yards long, which year after year holds eight or nine 

 nests ; and another close by, in much the same condition, which 

 rarely holds more than one. Speaking generally, I think they like 

 fences that are not too high, as these latter often get thin at the 

 bottom ; on the other hand, they dislike too thick a bottom ; 

 possibly it holds the wet too much, or, possibly, they cannot see 

 enough of their surroundings when on the nest. Of course, they by 

 no means confine themselves to fences, sometimes nesting in clover 

 fields and sometimes on the commons, in the latter case choosing 

 small whin bushes, and sometimes choosing sites so open that one 

 has to screen the nest artifically with a branch or two of dead whin 

 or an armful of brambles. 



But it is the hedgerows that will hold the bulk of the nests. 



They have a most annoying tendency to select fences by public 

 roads, or by the side of public paths, or even a small whin bush on 

 the quarter of a grass road on the common. In fact, they seem to 

 find some satisfaction in choosing the most public site they can. 

 In the case of the nest I am thinking of on the grass road, at least 

 one cart and often more (besides foot traffic) passed over this road 

 every day during the whole period of sitting, and yet the bird hatched 

 out in safety. 



The birds, having chosen their site, proceed to scratch a slight 

 '^aucer-like concavitv in the earth, and into this they rake a few 

 blades of grass or dead leaves, but for all practical purposes, there is 

 no proper nest. 



It is not much use looking seriously for Partridge nests before 

 the 20th April, and the bulk of birds will not be laying before 

 the last days of that month or the early days of May ; but there are 

 always a few pairs that lay earlier than this. I have found an egg 

 on Aprill nth, and in the last week of that month they are quite 

 numerous. It is commonly said that one egg is laid every day, 

 but this is not correct. I investigated the point rather carefully, 

 for a number of years. I marked each season about a dozen nests. 

 I noted the number of eggs in the nest, and the date, and then 

 later noted the date on which the bird sat. 



In this wa}^ one found, for instance, that on April 26th, 1894, 

 a certain nest had one egg in it. On May 15th there were 15 eggs 



*i.e., Hedges. — Editor. 



