66 SHOOTI^•G. 



CHAPTER VI. 



PABTUIDGE SHOOTING. 



'SepteBiber comes to dieer the fowler's heart, 

 And raise his anxious hopes; day after day 

 He marks the fruitful country change arouiid 

 Witli eager eye. First, from the fertile meads, 

 Divested of tiieir widely waving load, 

 The pregnant hay-rick rises. Gentle swains, 

 If chance should lead you to the chosen spot, 

 Where the shy partridge forms her simple neat. 

 The embryo olfspriiig spare; and «hen your scythe 

 Levels the grassy valleys, should your foot 

 Approach the helpless brood, step back with care. 

 Nor our fond hopes destroy." 



Vincent. 



The Pau-tridge of Britain {Tetrao Perdix, Linn.) is of two kinds; 

 the one is the gray or common partridge, and the other is some- 

 times termed the Prench partridge. Bewick describes the common 

 Cartridge as follows : — It is about thirteen inches in length. Bill 

 ght brown, eyes hazel, the general colour of its plumage is brown 

 and ash, beautifully mixed with black. Each feather is streaked 

 down the middle with buff, and the sides of the head are ta^vny. 

 Under each eye is a small saffron-coloured spot, which has a 

 granulated appearance, and between the eye and the ear there is a 

 naked portion of skin of a bright scarlet, which is not very con- 

 spicuous but in old birds. There is a crescent on the breast of a 

 deep chestnut ; and the tail is short and drooping ; the legs are a 

 greenish white, and furnished with a small nob behind. The 

 female has no crescent on her breast, and her plumage in general 

 is not so distinctive and bright as that of the male._ The moul^ 

 takes place once a year. Partridges are chiefly found in temperate 

 climates, the extremes of heat and cold being equally unfavourable 

 to them. They are nowhere in greater plenty than in this island, 

 where, in their season, they contribute to the entertainment of a 

 vast number of sportsmen. It is much to be regretted, however, 

 that the means taken to preserve this valuable bird should, in a 

 variety of instances, prove its destruction ; the proper guardians d 

 the eggs and young ones, tied down by ungenerous restrictions, are 

 led to consider them as a growing evil, and not only connive at 

 theii- destruction, but too frequently assist in it. Partridges pair 

 early in the spring ; and once united it is rare that anything out 

 death separates them. The female lays from fourteen to eighteen 

 Six twenty eggs, making her nest of dry leaves and grass upon the 

 ground. The young birds run as soon as hatched, frequently 

 encumbered with a part of the shell attached to them. It is no 



