PARTRIDGES. 297 



season, in cases of dispersion, and in the morning and evening, like 

 a roll-call, to see that none are wanting. In those which inhabit 

 northern regions or Alpine districts a considerable change takes 

 place in the colour of their plumage, that of winter differing mate- 

 rially from their spring or summer garb. 



In this family are arranged the Partridges, the Francolins, the 

 Bush Quails, the American Partridges, the Grouse proper, and fiie 

 Sand Grouse. 



Sub-Family I. 

 THE PARTRIDGES. PERDICIN.^. 



General Characteristics. — Margin of the bill entire, and the nostrils protecred by 

 a naked hard scale ; the tarsi long, naked, covered in front with divided scales, and 

 sometimes armed with spurs or blunt tubercles. 



The true Partridges are peculiar to the temperate climates of 

 the Old World, remaining sedentary in some places, and in others 

 migrating according to the season. Some species frequent cul- 

 tivated lands, while others are found in forests, where they may 

 occasionally be seen perched on the branches of trees. They 

 search the ground during the early portion of the morning, and 

 again before the sun disappears, for their food, which consists of 

 grain, bulbous roots, and insects. 



Partridges are, fortunately for the sportsman, very prolific, their 

 eggs being from twelve to twenty in number. The nest is merely 

 a hole scratched in the dry mould, generally under the shelter of 

 some bush or tuft of grass ; the incubation lasts three weeks. 

 The female sits exceedingly close on her nest during this period, 

 especially towards the end of it, and offers a bold resistance to 

 any birds seeking to plunder her ; but being quietly approached, 

 both she and her eggs may be gently removed, and she will hatch 

 her brood in confinement, departing with them to the fields as soon 

 as the young are able to accompany her. The male partridge 

 takes no part in the labour of incubation, but, like all birds that 

 pair, he is attentive to his mate, assists her in the defence of the 

 brood, and uses many arts to lure visitors from the nest. The 

 young ones generally leave the nest on the same day that they 

 break the shell, for their legs are at that time as strong, in pro- 

 portion to the weight of their bodies, as those of mature birds, 

 although the wings are scarcely developed. 



