tHE BOOK OF MlkRAtORY BlRDS 



madding crowd" is not by any means applicable to this 

 species of bird, for invariably he chooses the most 

 frequented parts. 



During the incubatory period they are extraordinarily 

 tame, and will allow the keeper or even strangers to 

 approach to within a foot or two of the nest. Neither 

 are they, at times, particular as to the companionship 

 they keep, for I have discovered on more than one occa- 

 sion quite a complex array of eggs. For instance, last 

 year I came across a combination of partridge and mallard 

 duck eggs, in the proportion of eight to six. I visited 

 the spot several times, and usually found the partridge, 

 but once I discerned the duck, as if one had kept watch 

 for the other, and had taken their turns. Never were they 

 seen sitting together. As a naturalist, I was particularly 

 interested in the development of this phenomenon, and 

 anxiously awaited the forthcoming strange brood. I was, 

 however, denied this, for the nest was ultimately harried. 



That the parent birds sedulously protect their young is 

 conclusively proved, and the crows and similar rapacious 

 birds have been seen to beat a hasty retreat. 



I have seen that the partridge can adopt different forms 

 of defence, and it has been known to feign lameness, and 

 even death, as a stratagem to get rid of the aggressor. 

 They utter, at these times, terrified screams, and appear 

 to be retreating with broken limbs, and, like the wary 

 peewit, will conjure up all kinds of devices to draw the 

 trespasser, be he human or animal, from the vicinity of 

 the nest. 



During the breeding season, like most birds, they 

 assume a deeper and more majestic coloration, and in the 

 male there is seen a slight imitation of the wattle incident 

 to the true grouse, and this shows a pinkish colour. 



In the female the tips of the feathers become more 

 decidedly marked with somewhat pale yellowish-gray. 

 There is no other bird, however, with, perhaps, the excep- 

 tion of the pheasant, that is so liable to variation, and 



