NATURAL HISTORY 53 



after his second year. Here the general 

 welfare of the race, and not the con- 

 venience of the individual, is alone to be 

 considered, and no partridge could be 

 allowed to reach anything approaching 

 his allotted span of years, whatever they 

 may be, without serious detriment to the 

 rest of the community. The ideal state 

 of affairs, from the game-preserver's point 

 of view, is that each pair of birds should 

 fulfil their parental duties but once, or 

 at most twice, and then, having achieved 

 the object of their existence, make their 

 exit, leaving it to their offspring to carry 

 on the race. 



Thus, since this chapter has been de- 

 voted to the life-history of the partridge, 

 and his career traced through the various 

 stages of his existence, we may now, not 

 inappropriately, regard his life as having 

 reached its fitting termination, and con- 

 clude by following him to the scenes of 

 his last appearance the kitchen and the 

 dining-room. 



On the table, the partridge can well 



