46 PARTRIDGES 



family again, and it is generally not till 

 the end of February that the ties are 

 finally loosened, each pair setting up house 

 on their own. 



During the early spring, partridges are 

 very fond of fallow and pasture, staying 

 in the open all day, and we see more of 

 our little friend then than at any other 

 time of the year. 



The choice of a site for the nest seems 

 to be a very weighty matter ; a pair will 

 prospect for weeks before finally deciding, 

 and their eventual selection is often 

 governed by considerations which we 

 cannot even dimly apprehend. Any form 

 of roughness close to the open spaces 

 where they live, such as tussocks of 

 coarse grass, briars, bracken, whins, rough 

 hedgerows and the edges of young planta- 

 tions, are the favourite spots ; though in 

 these times of over-tidy farming many are 

 driven to nest in the open fields, where 

 the blades of the hay-cutter often bring 

 sudden destruction to mother and nest 

 alike. They have a strange predilection 



