120 PARTRIDGES 



put in a small flat basket, the young in a carrying 

 box, and all replaced in their pen on the ground 

 which is to be their home ; here they are allowed 

 their liberty after a day or two, as soon as they 

 seem to have settled down. Under this method 

 a number of birds usually nest in the main 

 enclosure, whence they are allowed to run with 

 their young as soon as hatched. In either case, 

 birds which fail to pair are turned out early in 

 the season in the hope that they may find mates 

 more to their liking in the outside world. 



In this semi-domesticated condition the hens 

 sometimes considerably exceed the natural clutch 

 of eggs, many instances of one hen producing 

 between 30 and 40 eggs being recorded ; many 

 eggs are also dropped about in the large en- 

 closure. All eggs should be utilized, nests being 

 made up to 20 or 22, and superfluous eggs 

 used in making up wild birds' nests, or else set 

 under hens. About 18 to 20 chicks are as much 

 as one hen partridge can manage satisfactorily ; 

 and it should be remembered that the eggs of 

 birds imported from Hungary often take longer to 

 hatch than those of the native birds. 



On the whole the French system has 

 much to recommend it ; the conditions 

 under which the birds are reared approxi- 

 mate fairly closely to those of nature, and 

 the stock thus produced can be fairly 



