AS CONCERNING PARTRIDGE-NESTS 45 



The hen partridge employs a low clucking call-note to 

 attract the attention of her young, which respond to her 

 endearments with a complacent purring sound, pitched 

 so low as to escape the ear of any but the most 

 attentive listener. One brilliant morning in July, an 

 angling friend was returning home from a night's 

 trout-fishing ; feeling tired, he sat down behind a 

 rough stone dyke to rest and enjoy the solace of a 

 pipe. Scarcely had he taken up his position, when he 

 heard and recognised the cry of the young partridge. 

 Peering through the interstices of the wall, he saw a 

 pair of partridges and their young taking their 

 pleasure in the adjoining field, which happened to 

 be under clover. Unsuspicious of danger, the half- 

 grown birds were full of play, sparring freely with 

 their fellows as they made their way through the 

 herbage. Early as the hour was, the old cock was 

 quite on the alert. No sooner did he detect a 

 symptom of danger, than he hastened to sound a 

 cluck of alarm, after which he rose upon the wing and 

 flew further afield. The old hen and the young 

 birds disappeared instantly as if by magic and 

 were seen no more. Indeed, we have often admired 

 the readiness of resource exhibited by young par- 

 tridges. Unable to elude pursuit by flight, each 

 individual acts by a common instinct or feeling of 



