362 TETRAOXID^. 



other instances, are recorded as having been found in one 

 nest ; but there is little doubt, in these cases, that more 

 than one bird had laid eg^s in the same nest." This may 

 be ; but I find in a French author an instance in which 

 no less than forty-two eggs were laid by a Partridge in 

 captivity, all of which, being placed under a hen, would 

 have produced chicks, but for the occurrence of a thunder 

 storm accompanied by a deluge of rain Avhich flooded the 

 nest, when the eggs, which all contained chicks, were on the 

 point of being hatched. The average number of birds in 

 a covey is, I believe, about twelve ; quite enough to supi^ly 

 the sportsman and to account for the abundance of the 

 bird. 



The character of the Partridge's flight is familiar to 

 most people. Simultaneously with the startled cry of 

 alarm from the cock comes a loud whirr -r-r as of a spinning- 

 wheel : away fly the whole party in a body, keeping a 

 horizontal, nearly straight line : in turns each bird ceases 

 to beat its wings and sails on for a few yards with ex- 

 tended pinions ; the impetus exhausted which carried it 

 through this movement, it plies its wings again, and if it 

 have so long escaped the fowler, may, by this time, con- 

 sider itself out of danger, for its flight, though laboured, 

 is tolerably rapid. 



The call of the Partridge is mostly uttered in the even- 

 ing, as soon as the beetles begin to buzz. The birds are 

 now proceeding to roost, which they always do in the 

 open field, the covey forming a circle with their heads 

 outwards, to be on the watch against their enemies, of 

 whom they have many. They feed for the most part in 

 the morning and middle of the day, and vary in size 

 according to the abundance of their favourite food. In 

 some districts of France, it is said, the weight of the Par- 

 tridges found on an estate is considered as a fair standard 

 test of the productiveness of the soil and of the state of 

 agricultural skill. 



