MIGRATION WANDERING BIRDS. 77 



MIGRATION WANDERING BIRDS. 



iARTRIDGES do not migrate, but similar to the 

 Pheasant (Bonasa umbellus) on the approach of 

 winter, many of them shift their quarters to thicker 

 cover. The distance is not extensive, nor general; 

 they rarely move, of their own free will, to any great ex- 

 tent from where they have been hatched, not even in quest 

 of food, nor from the severity of the winter season. Al- 

 though they do not migrate, many of them, at the com- 

 mencement of autumn, are driven for miles from their for- 

 mer haunts, and from where they have been hatched, in 

 various ways and from various causes. Some of the prin- 

 cipal causes which drive them oif, are ploughing up fields, 

 where they have been hatched, and in cutting the corn off 

 of fields where they have been in the habit of roaming, 

 and were protecting themselves in its cover. When these 

 changes take place, which they do regularly every autumn, 

 many of them are compelled to travel off in search of new 

 ground to find cover; and they often travel from one field 

 to another, and are driven in this way for miles, from 

 where they have been hatched, and reared. And in wan- 

 dering around on strange grounds, they frequently become 

 lost and bewildered, and often times they do not know 

 what course to pursue, or where to go. These are the 

 birds that we usually hear of in autumn, being scattered 

 in the towns and villages of our country. When these 

 birds are moving, some persons call it their running season, 

 others calling them travelling birds. When they are mov- 

 ing they will not always lie for a dog to point them ; they 

 usually fly and alight, and commence running again before 

 the dog gets up to them. Whenever you are sure that 

 your dog is trailing a moving covey of wild and running 



