MODERN FARRIER. 553 



quired.' Some put a little heath in the bottom of 

 the box, and wrap the birds separately (without 

 being drawn) in paper. 



Partridge-shooting. 



The partridge is a simple, timid bird, and may be 

 easily beguiled ; they are often driven into a tunnel- 

 net, by which poachers seldom miss taking a whole 

 covey at once. These birds generally pair about 

 the second week in February ; but in a mild season 

 they are found in pairs as early as January : should 

 the weather afterwards prove severe, they again as- 

 semble in numbers, or, according to the sporting 

 term, in packs. Their nest consists of a few blades 

 of withered grass and leaves, constructed without 

 art, and chiefly found in corn-fields, amongst clover, 

 long grass, or in the bottom of hedges. The female 

 lays from thirteen to twenty eggs, and som.etimes 

 more. The egg is about the size of a pigeon's, but 

 more obtuse, and of a greyish colour. The period 

 of incubation is three weeks ; and so closely do they 

 sit on their eggs, particularly when near hatching, 

 that instances have frequently occurred of a hen 

 partridge being cut in two by a scythe. The great 

 hatch is about the first ten days in June, and the 

 young birds begin to fly about tlie end of that 

 month. If a partridge's nest be destroyed, she ge- 

 nerally lays again, and this brood, which is termed 

 by sportsmen dackbig, is not game till October ; 

 these birds are always weak, and generally fall vic- 

 tims to the inclemency of the weather. 



The brood are able to run as soon as they are 

 hatched, and are, indeed, sometimes seen carrying 

 part of their shell with them. They are immedi- 

 ately led by the cocks and hens to ant-hills, their 

 principal food being, at this time, the eggs of those 

 insects ; and such is the excellence of this food, that 

 M 4 a 



