THEIR HABITS AND SUFFERINGS. 163 



unusually severe winter, the breed in certain jilaces becomes 

 almost extinct. Many then perish from cold, hunger, and 

 the attacks of vermin ; but still more beneath the snow, 

 to them ordinarily a place of i"etreat or shelter ; for, on 

 its surface becoming frozen, as happens when a partial 

 thaw is succeeded by frost, they arc unable to work their 

 way through the obstruction, and necessarily die of 

 famine. The remains of whole coveys that have thus 

 miserably jierished, are often found under snow-drifts- in 

 the spring. They suffer most, it should be observed, in 

 open and exposed districts, where there is little to protect 

 them from the inclemency of the weather, and where, 

 besides, they have difficulty in obtaining sustenance ; 

 for, in partially wooded localities, especially in those 

 where the juniper bush abounds, they fare much better, as 

 they there find both food and shelter. 



To guard, in measure at least, against the effects of 

 these periodical visitations, many of the great proprietors 

 in the South of Sweden are accustomed, in the autumn, to 

 net a considerable number of Partridges in a way that 

 will be presently shown, and to retain them in confine- 

 ment until the spring, when they are restored to liberty, 

 that the breed may be replenished. 



The nesting habits of the Scandinavian Partridge are 

 similar to those of our own ; but the female seldom lays 

 until the end of May or beginning of June, when the night- 

 frosts are over; and she thus .avoids having her eggs frozen, 

 as so often happens to some of the forest birds, especially 

 the Black-Cock. Hence the poults are usually very small 

 on the .12th August, when the shooting season in Sweden 

 commences. 



The belief is generally entertained in the Peninsula, 

 that when the nest of the Partridge has been disturbed, 

 the old birds — the male, as well as the female, assisting in 

 the operation — remove the eggs elsewhere, and often to 



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