156 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



morning, then follow the birds into the roots as the day 

 advances. 



Partridges are most wild and restless during the evening, 

 particularly if the coveys have been split up during the 

 day. This applies specially in the shooting season, 

 when, perhaps, as evening settles, the leader of the covey 

 finds that two or three of his fold are missing, whereupon 

 the birds are to be seen flying restlessly from field to 

 field, calling and listening. On such occasions I have 

 observed a covey to split in two, one parent going in one 

 direction, followed by some of the chicks, and the other 

 going in the opposite direction, all the birds in a much 

 agitated state. Should they find the stray, they fore- 

 gather almost immediately at their roosting place, but 

 if darkness finds the family still incomplete, the birds 

 are to be heard flying and calling till long after dark. 



Theoretically a covey consists of the two parent birds 

 and their chicks of that year, but the partridges of a given 

 area all seem to be on good terms with one another, and 

 very often two or three families will temporarily or 

 permanently unite. A covey which becomes reduced in 

 numbers, or which is small to begin with, will thus 

 unite with another covey, the two families living together, 

 and, so far as one can judge, in perfect harmony. This, 

 of course, explains the exceptionally large coveys one 

 sometimes comes across, a family of five or six having 

 joined forces with one already numbering twelve or 

 more. 



Invariably one of the adult male birds is elected leader 

 of the covey. His duties are separate and distinct from 

 those of the mother or mothers of the clan, and it is a 

 curious fact that while among birds the leader is invariably 

 a male, the reverse appHes in wild animal Hfe. It is an 

 old she rabbit that heads the movements of the colony, 

 and whom the rest follows, and the same condition rules 



