BIRCH PASTE ID GE. 107 



4 



birch partridge is rather larger than the Scotch grouse, 

 it is capital eating, not unlike an English pheasant, and 

 though it is the game most sought after by gunners, it does 

 not, except in the immediate vicinity of the towns, seem to 

 decrease in numbers as fast as one might suppose. This 

 is owing to the fact that there is still a thick belt of woods 

 for these birds to fall back on and to breed in, and the fur- 

 bearing animals which prey upon them are being rapidly 

 thinned off. They are, moreover, very prolific. The 

 hen brings out twelve or fifteen of a brood in June ; she 

 is a capital mother, and will face a dog in defence of her 

 family. On coming suddenly on a brood in the woods, 

 the old hen will advance defiantly to within a yard or two 

 of the intruder's feet, and occupy his attention till the 

 young ones have hidden themselves away. I have never 

 been able to catch a chicken. They fly in a very few 

 days after they leave the shell, and this is lucky for them, 

 ts they have many enemies on the ground ; the fox, the 

 loup-cervier, the sable, the black cat, and the weasel are 

 all great partridge hunters, but none of these animals 

 can catch them on the trees. The birch partridge has 

 been called a stupid bird, because when disturbed by the 

 gunner or his dogs, it takes refuge on the nearest branch, 

 where it considers itself perfectly secure, and peers 

 curiously at the strange animals underneath ; but this 

 seems to me no sign of stupidity. How is the poor bird 

 to know that the strange animal, whom it has never seen 

 before, carries in his hand a weapon which can reach the 

 top of the highest tree ? By similar tactics it has no doubt 

 often before baffled its other enemies, all except the hawk ; 

 and when the latter appears, the partridge knows well 



