LOVE AND COURTSHIP 31 



brooding partridge. Happily the loss of scent which 

 characterises sitting hens saves them from many of 

 their enemies. This is specially true of such birds as 

 choose to nest in close proximity to a well-used foot- 

 path, or beside the stacks in a farmyard. The hen 

 partridge squats very closely to her eggs when in- 

 cubation has once begun, so closely, indeed, that 

 dogs often pass close to her without detecting her 

 presence. 



One partridge, whose nest was discovered by a 

 friend of ours, strangely enough made her home close 

 to a highroad, and in immediate proximity to a stone- 

 heap. This was all the more singular because the 

 task of stone-breaking was carried on day after day, 

 while the partridge sat on unflinchingly upon her 

 treasures. She might easily have found a snug re- 

 treat under a neighbouring hedge, in thick cover ; 

 actually, she preferred the more dangerous spot, and 

 her pluck was rewarded. Unlikely as it seemed that 

 she would rear a brood, this bird brought eighteen 

 chicks safely out of the egg. A bird that nested within 

 fifteen inches of a public footpath which traversed a 

 common on the skirts of one of our large towns was 

 less fortunate. This was due, however, to an accident 

 which her vigilance was powerless to anticipate 

 indeed, her acuteness hastened the mistake. It was 



