254 COMMON PARTRIDGE. 



same extent. In our county the Partridges are left 

 entirely to themselves to rear their broods, care being 

 taken by the keepers to guard their nests and them- 

 selves from poachers. 



The Partridge is found in well-cultivated districts, 

 and although it is not a bird of the woods and covers, 

 but rather of the open fields and meadows, yet it is 

 not abundant where there are not plenty of hedges to 

 afford it protection in the breeding season. 



In their daily habits Partridges form a very happy 

 family. The old birds and their young are constantly 

 together, frequenting the same feeding-ground, running 

 together and flying away together if disturbed, while 

 at night they roost together on the ground, nestling up 

 in a clump with their heads turned outwards. The 

 birds always prefer to run rather than fly, and if 

 alarmed by the approach of the sportsman will crouch 

 flat upon the ground, their dusky colour rendering 

 them so indistinguishable from the soil that they often 

 escape their destroyer. They scarcely ever perch upon 

 trees. 



Their flight is rapid, the birds shooting away with 

 a loud whir-r-ring of the wings, which has more than 

 once alarmed a passing horse, so startling is the noise 

 when unexpected. 



Partridges pair in April, and remain paired for life, 

 which is generally too short for one or both of these 

 sociable and devoted birds. Eggs are laid in May, ten 

 to twenty in number, though sometimes many more 

 are found in a nest ; this is probably, however, the 

 result of two birds laying in the same place. The eggs 

 are unspotted and are pale brown in colour, though 

 they go through the same variations of colour as the 

 Pheasant's. The nest is on the ground, generally 



