PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 167 



ally in the valleys of Pennsylvania, it is not a 

 very rare occurrence for the dogs to point two 

 and even three coveys of different sizes in the 

 same field, and the shooter, observing, perhaps, 

 but one pair of old birds rise in this promiscu- 

 ous progeny, at once jumps at his conclusion of 

 two broods in a season. It is not thus, however, 

 that assertions are to be advanced and facts 

 established in the history of a bird so jealous of 

 its more occult habits and so impatient of con- 

 finement as the partridge. Still the difficulty 

 of obtaining an amount of information which 

 may be relied on, and of keeping a continuous 

 watch upon several pair of old birds, even in a 

 part of the country where the haunts of every 

 covey, for miles around, are perfectly well 

 known, almost precludes the possibility of decid- 

 ing the question. On the whole, we are inclined 

 to think that the partridge, like the woodcock, 

 as a law of her nature, rears but one brood in 

 a year. 



The cock bird relieves the hen at least once 

 during the day, and nestles close to her at night. 

 Indeed, he seldom wanders far from the nest, 

 and from the period of pairing until the young 

 birds are able to fly, is as attentive to his family 

 duties as the turtle-dove or the domstic pigeon. 



