AS CONCERNING PARTRIDGE-NESTS 41 



We have said nothing, hitherto, of the eggs of the 

 partridge, and, indeed, their delicate olive coloration 

 calls for little description or comment. But this olive 

 coloration is by no means invariable. In rare 

 instances the eggs of the partridge are white, or, in 

 other words, entirely devoid of colouring pigment, a 

 deficiency due, no doubt, to some abnormal suppres- 

 sion of the secretions of the mother a"t the time that 

 the egg was passing through the oviduct. A really 

 pretty variety is of a uniform pale blue, without any 

 blurring or surface-tracing, affording a graceful contrast 

 to the usual olive ground colour. 



When at length the three weeks during which 

 the development of the chicks is accomplished have 

 terminated, and the tiny morsels of down chip the 

 interior of their egg-shells, preparatory to emerging 

 into independent life and action, the patience with 

 which the partridge has shielded her treasures from 

 harm is replaced by the fond anxiety with which she 

 and her faithful mate endeavour to provide for the 

 wants of their precocious family. As soon as the 

 chicks have dried their down, and recovered from 

 the helpless sprawling condition to which they are 

 momentarily reduced by the frantic efforts that they 

 have made to release their small bodies from the 

 shivered egg-shells, the old birds lead their nurslings 



