PARTRIDGE 



Pe rdix c in ere a 



HE Partridge is a resident in all the cultivated districts 

 of the British Islands where game is preserved. In some 

 of the eastern counties of England it has been nearly 

 exterminated by the introduction of the Red-legged 

 Partridge. It is not found in the Outer Hebrides, but 

 has lately been introduced into the Orkneys with 

 great success. 



The Partridge is a most fastidious bird in the choice of a haunt. The 

 district may be too wet, or the fields too large and open, or there may not 

 be sufficient cover in the hedges for nesting purposes. Rich, well-cultivated 

 districts, where the soil is light and sandy and the fields are not too large, 

 but divided with thick, low hedges, meet its requirements best. It 

 rarely enters woods, but is fond of straying to waste ground covered with 

 whins and coarse herbage. Like the Pheasant, the Partridge runs with great 

 speed, but when not alarmed will walk about and feed like the domestic fowl. 

 It is rarely known to perch on trees, and it always prefers to escape from 

 its enemies by running, threading its way along some thick hedge-bottom with 

 great speed, and only taking to its wings as a last resource. It often squats 

 down on the bare earth when any danger approaches, trusting for safety to 

 its protective colouring. 



The flight of the Partridge is performed by rapid beats of its short, 

 rounded wings, which make a loud, whirring noise ; often, when about to 

 alight, the wings are held out and the bird skims through the air. During 

 the heat of the day the Partridge is especially fond of frequenting some bare, 

 sandy spot, where it loves to dust its plumage and rid itself of troublesome 

 parasites. 



The food of the Partridge in the early part of the year is chiefly composed 

 of the young shoots of plants, and the scattered grain which it picks up on 

 the newly sown fields. In summer it subsists chiefly on insects and their 

 VOL. iv. K 65 



