CHAPTER III 



LOVE AND COURTSHIP 



THE season of courtship among the field birds 

 possesses an interest for every one who really cares 

 for country life, marking as it ^oes* the revival of 

 amatory passions that have remained dormant through 

 the autumn and winter months. The partridge, like the 

 red grouse, begins to pair long before frost and snow 

 have disappeared from the higher grounds ; but the 

 former bird is more gregarious than the grouse during 

 the first days of spring ; and though its erotic tempera- 

 ment induces it to form attachments that result in the 

 break up of a covey, yet the partridge selects its 

 mate before seceding from the common life. The 

 paired birds do not at once retire from the society 

 of their companions. For a few days or weeks they 

 continue to forage in company, at night they ' jug ' 

 together ; a trained eye, well versed in detecting the 

 subtle and fine gestures of the birds, takes notice 

 of the attention which the cock birds have begun to 



