NATURAL HISTORY 49 



The cock takes no part in the actual 

 incubation, but remains in close attend- 

 ance on the hen while she is sitting. 

 When the hen indicates that the eggs are 

 due to hatch, the cock comes and sits close 

 alongside of the nest, waiting patiently 

 for the young birds to emerge ; he then 

 takes them under his wing, one by one, 

 as the hen hands them over to him. 



Partridges, though generally a fairly 

 hardy and healthy race, suffer at times 

 from various diseases ; in a wet autumn 

 numbers die from inflammation of the 

 lungs, due to contact with the wet ground 

 when their breasts are almost denuded of 

 feathers ; enteritis and tuberculosis will at 

 times claim their toll of the race ; while in 

 districts where poultry-farming is largely 

 carried on terrible epidemics of gapes 

 occur at intervals, especially after a dry 

 summer. 



When overcrowded, young partridges 

 are liable to a form of purulent oph- 

 thalmia, ending in total blindness or 

 death. 



