24 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PARTRIDGE 



will take its pleasure where its tastes can best be 

 developed. In quiet country places, for instance, a 

 disused quarry, that has been allowed to become the 

 home of many wild plants, is a likely enough haven 

 for the ' balming ' birds, to which the varied character 

 of the ground and its patches of small cover are 

 highly acceptable. The partridge is a bird of resource, 

 and takes his pleasure accordingly. In default of a 

 sequestered nook, he and his fellows occasionally 

 perform their toilette in the light dust that covers the 

 surface of an old turnpike road, shaking the pulverised 

 earth all Over their plumage with every manifestation 

 of pleasure. 



