The Partridge or Quail, 285 



file northern sections of our country, the ground is frequently 

 (Covered for v^'eeks with snow ; and, all access to food being thus 

 eut off, these poor birds, driven by stern necessity, often become 

 quite tame, visiting the barnyards, and even mixing with the 

 poultry, to gain a scanty subsistence, which not unfrequently pre- 

 .serves them from actual starvation. 



"Partridges commence pairing in the month of March, early or 

 late, according to the state of the weather and, even after separ- 

 ating for the purposes of procreation, it is not unusual for them tc 

 reassemble in coveys as before, provided the v/eather should again 

 become stormy and cold, as is often the case in our chfingeable 

 climate. 



*' They generally complete their nests in five or six weeks after 

 pairing. A small tuft of grass, sheltered by a bush or a tree, the 

 uorner of a vf orm fence, or the foot of an old stump, are the spots 

 usually selected for the building of their nests, which are composed 

 of leaves, dry grass, and a few feathers plucked from her own 

 person. The little habitation is rudely but often ingeniously con- 

 structed ; andy being so well concealed from observation, it not 

 unfrequently bids defiance to the searching glances of the most 

 inquisitive eye, as well as affording ample protection on every 

 side from the inclemency of the weather. The eggs are white, 

 and average from fifteen to tvfcnty in number, and, in some rare 

 instances, greatly exceed that quantity. If the birds be in their 

 prime, and the season very favorable, it is not improbable that the 

 female may deposit twenty-five or even thirty eggs, but such cases 

 are anomalies ; and we should be more disposed to attribute the 

 imusual increase of eggs to an occasional propensity that some 

 birds have of laying in each other's nests. Mr. Daniel, speaking 

 of the amazing fecundity of the English Partridge, which is closely 

 allied to our species, states that a nest was discovered with thirty- 

 three eggs in it, another with twenty-eight, and another with 

 thirty-three. The greatest number we have ever seen in the nest 

 i)f the American bird is twenty-four; but we have often been told 

 by farm hands that twenty-five is no unusual number. For the 

 truth of these vague assertions we cannot, however, vouch. The 

 period of incubation is about twenty -one days ; some contend for 

 n longer period, but we believe the former statement the more 

 correct, although, in proof of the latter assertion, it has been 

 argued that it requires four weeks to hatch the eggs when placed 

 under a common hen. This, however, proves nothing, as the 



