G A L L I N I D M. 



and first discovered. The farmer, whose name was 

 Bell, apprised us of the circumstance, which he 

 laughed at, as being the report of his workmen, and 

 saying that it was only a wood-pi<reon they had mis- 

 taken for a partridge. But Master Bell, who had 

 killed some hundreds of partridges, so positively 

 affirmed his having beheld the bird upon the nest on 

 the tree, and also, at another time, having told the 

 eggs to the number of sixteen, that he was persuaded 

 to ride to the spot, where the partridge was seen 

 sitting. In a few days she hatched the sixteen eggs, 

 and her brood scrambling down the short and rough 

 boughs which grew out all around from the trunk of 

 the tree, reached the ground in safety. The female 

 sits three weeks, and during that period undergoes 

 a considerable moult, for the feathers of the belly 

 drop : the great hatch is about the first ten days in 

 June ; the earliest birds begin to fly towards the lat- 

 ter end of that month. 



Partridges are not every year equally plentiful : 

 in general, when the season is dry during May and 

 June, the birds are numerous ; on the contrary, 

 heavy and frequent rains during the time of laying 

 and incubation, may chill or drown the eggs. If 

 the weather is wet when the young first leave the 

 shell, the cold benumbs the little strength they then 

 possess in their legs, and they die whilst the mother 

 is leading them in search of food to sustain life. At 

 this time too much drought is likewise unfavourable ; 

 the ground cracks from the heat, and into these cre- 

 vices they fall and inevitably perish ; and this latter 

 spreads a more universal destruction than the former, 

 especially in clayey lands. The old partridge has 

 other dangers to encounter from weasels, stoats, &c., 

 crows, magpies, curs, and shepherds' dogs ; all of 

 which suck the eggs, not to mention the shepherds 

 anfl farmers themselves, who, in some counties, very 

 kindly destroy them. It is not, under all these dis- 

 advantages, an unfair calculation to suppose that 

 one half of the broods in any one year are never 

 reared. When the eggs are destroyed in any of the 

 above ways, the partridges frequently lay again, and 

 the produce of these second hatchings constitute 

 those small birds that are not perfectly feathered in 

 the tail until the beginning of October, and always 

 continue a puny, sickly race, that seldom outlive 

 the rigours of the winter. The affection for ito 

 young, which the partridge shows, is peculiarly 

 strong and lively ; by her mate she is greatly aided 

 in the care of rearing them ; together they lead them 

 out, call, and point out to them their proper food, 

 and assist them in finding it, by scratching the ground 

 with their feet : they frequently sit close to each 

 other, covering the young with their wings like the 

 hen ; in this situation they are not easily sprung, nor 

 will the sportsman who is attentive to the preserva- 

 tion of his game, disturb a scene so interesting ; but 

 should the pointer come too near, or unfortunately 

 run in upon them, there are few who are ignorant of 

 the confusion which ensues. The male first gives the 

 signal of alarm, by a peculiar distressful cry, throw- 

 ing himself at the same moment more immediately 

 in the way of danger, in order to mislead the enemy ; 

 he flies, or rather runs along the ground, hanging his 

 wings, and exhibiting every symptom of debility, 

 whereby the dog is decoyed, by a too eager expecta- 

 tion of an easy prey, to run further from the covey. 

 The female flies off in a contrary direction, and to a 

 greater distance, but soon after secretly returning 



she finds her scattered brood closely squatted among- 

 the grass ; and, hastily collecting, she leads them from 

 the danger, before the dog has had time to return 

 from his pursuit. Mr. Markwick says he has seen, 

 when a kite has been hovering over a covey of young 

 partridges, the old birds fly up at the kite, screaming, 

 and fighting with all their might to preserve their 

 brood. It is no uncommon thing to introduce par-, 

 tridges' eggs under the common hen ; when she has 

 set the regular time, if the young do not appear, the 

 feathers are glued to the inner surface of the shell, 

 from being exposed to too great heat from the hen. 

 To remedy this, dip the eggs five or six minutes in 

 water, and the moisture will soak through the shell 

 and loosen the feathers ; and this kind of bathing may 

 also, perhaps, refresh the young bird, and give it ad- 

 ditional strength to break its prison. It is said that 

 the partridge, bred under a hen, retains through life 

 the habit of calling when it hears the clucking of 

 hens. The first food for the young partridges should 

 be the eggs of the small ant ; afterwards fresh curds, 

 mixed with lettuce, chickweed, or groundsel. It will 

 be some time before they can eat grain readily. 



Even when fostered by hand, the partridge seldom 

 forgets its wild origin, and, at its full growth, soon 

 acquires a habit of estranging itself from the house, 

 however intimately it may have been connected with 

 the place and its inhabitants, in the early stages of its 

 existence. This species of partridge is very generally 

 distributed over the eastern continent, most abun- 

 dantly in the temnerate regions, though it also occurs 

 in high latitudes,^ and, seasonally at least, in hot 

 countries, such as Egypt, and the coast of Barbary. 

 In a bird which is so generally distributed, consider- 

 able varieties of colour may be expected, and two of 

 these varieties have sometimes been described as sepa- 

 rate species : these are the Damascus partridge, which 

 is only about half the size of the common variety, pale 

 ash colour above variegated with black and red, and 

 yellowish white on the under side ; and the hill par- 

 tridge, which is smaller than the common variety, and 

 darker in the colour. These and some others can be 

 regarded as little else than climatal varieties, and 

 there are instances also of albinos, or specimens 

 nearly or altogether white. 



The Red-legged or Guernsey partridge (P. rufus*), 

 is larger than the common one ; and the following are 

 its characters : the bill and irides are red, the fore- 

 head is grey-brown, the hind head is red-brown, the 

 chin and throat white encircled with black, to which is 

 added a band of white over each eye to the hind 

 head; the forepart of the neck and sides of it are 

 cinereous, with two spots of black on each feather, the 

 hind part of the neck red-brown, the back, wings, and 

 rump greyish brown ; the breast pale ash colour ; 

 belly, sides, thighs, and vent red ; the sides marked 

 with similar streaks of white, black and orange ; 

 quills grey brown, with the outer edges yellowish ; 

 the tail composed of sixteen feathers, the four middle 

 ones grey brown, the next on each side the 

 same, but rufous on both sides ; the legs are red, 

 and the male only has the blunt knob or spurs 

 behind them. This species is abundant in the south 

 of France, and generally in the warmer parts of the 

 south of Europe ; and it is probable that it may be a 

 climatal variety of the Greek partridge, which is very 

 abundant in Greece, in the islands of the Archipelago, 

 and in the west of Asia. It is not understood as 

 being a native of any part of the main land of Britain ; 



