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CHAPTER V 



PARTRIDGES AS PETS 



THERE is a charm about the habits and actions of 

 many of our native birds which renders it pleasant 

 to detain individual specimens in captivity. Some 

 species, it is true, are little suited to bear confine- 

 ment ; either they chafe at the involuntary loss of 

 their liberty, or they retain their natural fear of man, 

 and resist all efforts intended to win their confidence. 

 With the grey partridge it is otherwise. Domesticated 

 partridges are, generally speaking, birds that have 

 been brought up under a domestic hen. This was the 

 case with a covey of nine birds which Mr. James 

 Hutchings reared under a little bantam. The birds 

 grew with great rapidity, and enjoyed a regular supply 

 of insect food. The bantam hen was a kind and 

 watchful foster-mother, and the covey seemed as fond 

 of her and as obedient to her call as if she had been 

 the parent bird. For some three weeks they were 

 confined to a crib and pitched courtyard, but their 



