14G FAMILIATi WILD BIRDS. 



ill llie reign of the second^ Charles, and since then it has 

 been successfully introduced by several noblemen on their 

 estates. 



This l)ird is now found more or less in all parts of 

 England, but it is most plentiful in the counties of 

 Suil'olk, Lincolnshire, Cand)ridi4eshire, Hertfordshire, Dor- 

 setshire, Norfolk, Essex, Yorkshire, and Oxfordshire. It 

 is a native of several of the countries in the south of 

 Europe, and it is also foinid in the Channel Islands. As^ 

 an arti^ of food it is not so higlily esteemed as^its 

 Eno'lisji relative, the flesh beinf]^ whiter and less succulent ; 

 while as an object of sport it certaiidy does not meet with 

 much appreciati(ni, as it is wild in its habits, and cannot 

 easily be induced to fly, but runs a very considerable 

 distance. AVhen wounded it freipiontly secretes itself in 

 some hole, rabl)it-burrow, or any similar place of conceal- 

 ment. 



The favourite haunts of these bjrcls are heaths, com- 

 mons, waste lands, and the bushes and cojises^ of hilly 

 grounds ; they are also to be fouiid, like the com mon pa rt- 

 ridge, in stubl)les, turni})-fields, and cultivated lands; they 

 run with great (j^uickness, and sometimes indulge in very 

 long^flights; indeed, they are occasionally found on the sea- 

 shore, so completely_exhausted and fatigued as to l)e quile 

 unable to escai)e capture. 



Cornfields and patches of grass or clover are (he j)l:ices 

 commonly selected by the Red-legged Partridge for nest- 

 ing. The nest is composed of di'ied grass and leaves, and 

 sometimes a few feathers roughly scratched together. 

 According to some writers, the nest has been found in the 

 thatch of a hayrick. The eggs are of a reddish, yellowish- 

 wlute, spotted and speckled with brownish-red, and vary 



