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ther, or an occasional descent made upon it with nets, — 

 though this unsportsmanlike mode, particularly in the interior, 

 is but seldom practised. As its flesh is not so highly prized as 

 by the fastidious palates of our city epicures, and being so plen- 

 ty, and so far removed from the markets of the river towns, as 

 a source ofgain.it would prove unprofitable. 



On Long Island it is quite abundant, notwithstanding this famous 

 shooting ground is visited annually by a great number of sports- 

 men, and were it not for the hospitable cover, which, in many 

 places, is so close as to defy its pursuer and his dogs, it would 

 long since, like the Pinnated Grouse, have been exterminated from 

 the Island. 



About the middle of April, the male perched upon a fence or 

 branch of a tree, whistles his clear and well known call ; having 

 chosen his mate, they retire to some appropriate place to build their 

 nest, usually selecting a tuft of rank grass for that purpose. The 

 nests which I have found contained from eight to fourteen plain 

 white eggs, and it is said that as many as twenty-four have been 

 found in one nest. About the last of June the eggs are hatched, 

 and by the 25th of October, are considered in good order for shoot- 

 ing. Mr. Audubon states that in Texas, the Floridas, and as far 

 east as the neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina, it breeds 

 twice in the year, first in May, and again in September ; and with 

 us it is by many believed that it rears two broods. With those who 

 are of this opinion, I am inclined to disagree. During the season 

 of shooting, we notice quite a difference in the birds of the year, I 

 admit. The younger of these, I am disposed to think, are the first 

 offspring of their parents, which are later in hatching than those 

 that have bred for several years, or it may occur when the nest has 

 been broken up before the eggs were hatched ; and in persisting to 

 raise a brood, the female may lay a second time ; but in general I 

 am well persuaded that they do not, with us, rear but one brood 

 during the year. 



The flight of the Partridge is performed by a quick flapping of 

 the wings, and it is capable of sustaining itself in the air for a con- 

 siderable time. There is a notion prevailing among some of our 

 sportsmen that the Partridge is not capable of continuing its flight 



