8 Game and Foxes. 



danger is increased as time progresses. For- 

 tunately for the partridge she seldom tramples 

 upon or otherwise kills any of her chicks, but it 

 has been noticed that if the nest does contain a 

 dead chick, the possibility of a fox discovering it 

 is vastly increased owing to the smell emitted by 

 the defunct nestling. If eggs are late in hatching 

 the cock bird will take charge of chicks ready to 

 leave the nest, and hover them close at hand 

 while his mate endeavours to bring off the late 

 eggs. Should a dead chick be in the nest, its 

 smell becoming stronger with each hour that 

 passes, readers will understand the risk run by the 

 whole family. 



During cold, wet, and unfavourable weather the 

 parent partridges are sometimes reluctant to leave 

 the nest with their brood, although the latter may 

 long have been fit to run ; but if they do remain it 

 is at great risk, as readers will gather after having 

 perused what has been v/ritten. 



Another reason for a fox discovering a nest at 

 hatching time is that the sitting bird becomes 

 restless as chicks begin to emerge, sits higher on 

 the nest, ruffles her feathers, and is altogether 

 plainer to be seen. A partridge breeding for the 

 first time is even more restless than an older bird 

 which has already passed through a similar 



