28 PARTRIDGES 



boldly barred with black, pale buff, and 

 intense red, forms a striking tout ensemble 

 which quite throws into the shade the 

 quiet, unostentatious dress of our native 

 bird. 



They seem fond of publicity, and are 

 always en evidence, strutting about in the 

 middle of the open fields, when the grey 

 partridges have sought privacy in the 

 seclusion of some quiet corner. 



They are of a restless and nervous 

 disposition, have marked and unaccount- 

 able dislikes for certain fields, and effectu- 

 ally disappoint the theorist, who would 

 base on their actions in the past any 

 guidance as to their probable behaviour 

 in the future. 



Their domestic arrangements seem 

 strange in our eyes. While our English 

 partridge is the most considerate and 

 consistent of mothers, laying, sitting and 

 hatching with a business-like punctuality, 

 and generally conducting the affairs of 

 her household with a commendable, if 

 humdrum, regularity, so that under given 



