^^i89o'"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 513 



ting under the evergreens or roosting in the trees; but when the 

 weather gets cokl and the suow lies deep and soft in the woods, they 

 begin to sleep in the drifts, going down nearly a foot in the same man- 

 ner as that described under the Prairie Chicken. 



Their food at this time is chiefly browse, birch-catkins, and rose-hips, 

 but in the summer and fall they live largely on insects, leaves, berries, 

 and nuts. In September I shot some with their crops full of acorns. 



The flesh of the partridge is ranked by many as the most delicate of 

 all our game, while the bird affords the best of sport to those who hunt 

 it fairly. But it is hard to understand the feeling of those who will 

 beat a fine partridge bush with a cur that is trained to tree the bird and 

 hold its attention by barking, while his comrade, guided by the uproar 

 stealthily approaches within a few feet and after a long and deadly aim 

 discharges half a pint of buckshot into the hapless bird, which, between 

 the shot and the cur, is so mangled before the musketeer secures it that 

 after all he gets but little more than he deserves. 



It goes without saying that an object in motion catches the eye more 

 quickly than oue at rest, and it is evident also that so small an object 

 in a landscape as a rabbit or partridge will almost certainly escape ob- 

 servation if it be completely at rest.^ This fact is so well known to most 

 wild animals, especially those that are continually harassed by the pre- 

 daceous kinds, that the moment they perceive the approach of an 

 enemy thej' become motionless as statues, and, no matter what their 

 attitude, move neither eye nor limb till they have thoroughly taken m 

 the situation and satisfied themselves that there is nothing further to 

 be gained by concealment. This habit I have often noticed in the par- 

 tridge and have observed it maintain its fixity for a remarkable length 

 of time uuder very trying circumstances. 



A second purpose served L»y motionlessuess is that of enabling the 

 animal to observe accurately the motions of its enemy. An observer 

 in motion can not accurately gauge the slight movements of another, 

 and the only resource is to pause often so that the relative movements 

 of the object watched may be gauged against the background. This 

 end I conceive is exactly met by the nodding head of the walking par- 

 tridge ; its body continues in steady progression, but its eye or base of 

 observation is for a moment in each step at a standstill, thereby giving 

 it a great advantage. 



On the 14th October, 1884, whilst Prairie Chicken shooting, we found and shot a 

 large full plumaged male partridge ou the open prairie, at least a mile from cover of 

 any kind. This species exhibits great variation in plumage, hardly any two being 

 alike. I have found the extreme phases as follows : Rufous plumage with black ruffs ; 

 gray plumage with black rutfs; both above colorations of plumage with copper ruffs 

 and black tail bars. 



Both colorations of plumage, with copper ruffs and copper tail bars ; the great 

 majority of birds, however, are intermediate between these phases. Between Oc- 

 tober 15 and December 9, 1886, near Winnipeg, I took one hundred and eighteen 

 of these birds, amongst them thirty-one adults in full plumage. The foUowiDg 



Proc. N. M. 90 33 



