114 ON THE WING. 



fore shooting, or stir too much, you will notice that the 

 knots on the tree are one less, and that your partridge 

 is gone. 



Partridges generally make their nests on the ground, 

 in the woods, and on a hillside ; and in the manage- 

 ment of their brood they closely resemble the quail. 

 Like the quail, they have for enemies the foxes, 

 weasels, and other animals that prowl about the woods 

 at night. 



On or before the first of May, the female bird leaves 

 the company of the male, and goes to a secluded 

 place in the covert to make her nest and lay her eggs. 

 She generally selects a spot by an old partially-de- 

 cayed stump of a tree, or a log of wood, where there 

 are decayed leaves ; and by drawing a few of the latter 

 together, she makes an open, careless nest, and lays 

 from seven to twelve eggs. The eggs are of a yellow- 

 ish white color, differing somewhat in different States. 

 During the season of incubation, the male bird retires, 

 and is not allowed by the female to approach the nest 

 until the young birds are pretty well grown ; then he 

 returns, and resumes his former position in the 

 family. 



Partridges are usually shot at from the rear, and it 

 takes a heavy charge to bring them down. If the 

 hunter notices a peculiar motion or twitch in the bird's 

 tail-feathers, after having shot at him, something like 

 the motion of the lark in flying, he may be sure that 

 the bird is struck. Whether he shows it or not, if he 

 has been shot at within a fair range and with good- 

 -sized shot, it will be a good plan to follow along the 



