PARTRIDGE, WARBLER. 125 



THE PARTRIDGE. 



Though the partridge is incapable of domestication, it 

 lives no less under the protection of man, at least in this 

 country, than if it were private property. It may change 

 its master, indeed, but it is always supposed to belong to 

 persons of a certain rank. If a person not qualified, that 

 is, a poor man, should kill it, he becomes liable to certain 

 penalties, and even imprisonment: yet the farmer is 

 obliged to maintain it, although he often has not the 

 smallest interest in its preservation. 



The partridge is found in every country, and in every 

 climate ; as well in the hyperborean regions, as under the 

 tropical circles. Wherever it resides, it seems to adapt 

 itself to the nature of the climate. In Greenland, it is 

 brown in summer, but in winter it becomes white, and is 

 clothed with a warm down beneath. 



The manners and habits of these birds, in many respects, 

 resemble those of the domestic poultry ; but their cunning 

 and instincts are much superior. Accustomed to hostile 

 aggression, they practise several little arts of evasion for 

 safety, and frequently not without success. 



Partridges make no nests, properly speaking, but lay 

 their eggs on any spot of ground adapted to their purpose. 

 A covey generally consists of from ten to fifteen ; and it is 

 supposed that a partridge will live about fifteen years, 

 though it is seldom allowed to reach that period. Corn- 

 fields are the principal delight of this much valued bird, 

 especially while the grain is standing. Here they not 

 only find shelter, but food; and, even after the corn is cut 

 down, they prefer stubble fields to any other. 



THE GARDEN WARBLER, 



Whose song is inferior only to that of the nightingale, is 

 of the same size as that bird, but of a lighter colour. It 

 is found in many parts of Europe, frequenting fields and 

 gardens, and building its nest in a thick bush, or among 

 pea-sticks ; the nest is of a very common and flimsy struc- 

 ture, and contains generally four eggs, of a dirty white, 

 blotched with light brown ; its most general food is of 

 insects, but it also eats fruits. 



M2 



