300 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



enemies who may approach their tender young, but 

 we have never been personally attacked by a bird of 

 this species, as we have by a pair of Virginian Colins 

 [Ortyx virginianus), who had just hatched near a 

 footpath not far from Lilford. We may here mention 

 that in spite of various attempts to establish this latter 

 species in our county and many other parts of England, 

 as well as in Scotland and Ireland, our efforts have all 

 ended in failure, as the Colins, after doing well and 

 breeding freely in many cases for two or three 

 seasons, eventually disappeared entirely. To return 

 to our Partridge : happy is the covey hatched off in 

 our old pasture-lands, remote from footpaths, with an 

 abundant supply of ants and their eggs at hand, and 

 a disused and broken ant-hillock on which to take its 

 frequent dust-baths ; no need to resort to roads for 

 that purpose, or to the corn-lands for food, and safe 

 from all but natural enemies till September. These 

 grass-bred birds seldom voluntarily leave the grass- 

 lands except when hatched in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of corn, to which, in such cases, they resort 

 to feed soon after daybreak and again in the evening ; 

 but we feel sure that a very considerable number 

 of our Lilford Partridges never touch corn at all. 

 Besides all kinds of grain and many " green stuffs," 

 Partridges are great devourers of insects in all 

 stages of development, and do infinite service to the 

 farmer ; in fact this bird is desirable from every point 

 of view : beautiful in shape and plumage, super- 

 excellent as food, affording healthy exercise and 

 inexpensive sport to great numbers of all classes, the 

 Partridge is, in our opinion, the most worthy of 

 protection of any of our British birds, and even its 

 call, though not strictly speaking musical, defies 



