PARTEIDGE SHOOTING. 75 



coui^age, so will the bird, the dog, the elephant, at 

 times, rise above instinct into heroism. 



The plumage of the partridge is too well known 

 to need specification beyond the statement, that at 

 breeding seasons its colom^s become deeper ; that, in 

 the male at that period, the skin above the eyes be- 

 comes of a pmldsh red colour ; while, in the female, 

 the feather-tips are then more distinctly marked with 

 pale yellow grey. Its plumage is subject to greater 

 variation than almost any bird in the list of the 

 Rasores; cream-coloured markings and pure white 

 spots often occurring, and umber-brown and pure 

 black blotches being observed in different specimens 

 of tliis game. It is not fomid in the moorish dis- 

 tricts of Scotland. Generic characters : bill short, 

 rather strong, bending from the base ; nostrils lateral, 

 uncovered by feathers, but protected by an arched 

 naked scale ; wings short, romided, fourth and fifth 

 quills longest; tarsi and feet naked; anterior toes 

 united at the base by a membrane. Types : Pei^dLv 

 cinerea, picta, dc. ; Europe, Asia. 



Note. — Frequent lower countries, and are partial 

 to cultivation. Not arboreal, gregarious only to the 

 amount of their broods. 



It is said that a " preponderance in the number 

 of cock birds occm^s in the breedings of each season;" 

 in consequence of which the hen partridge is so 

 tormented by a number of males, " that she drops 

 one in one place and one in another, until there re- 

 mains for her but one cock and no nest! " The best 



