JULY. 123 



although she sat for weeks upon bad eggs, she is now 

 the proud " mother " of the chicks that were rendered 

 unborn orphans by the cat, while her own children 

 are scattered in twos and threes with other " mothers " 

 in different fields. This is one of the many ways in 

 which a prudent keeper increases the year's partridge 

 crop. 



RETARDED NATURE. 



Perhaps all nature, including ourselves, is equally 

 retarded with the partridges' eggs when exposed to 

 unseasonable chills. If we could calculate the frac- 

 tions of an inch that a boy ought to grow in May 

 and June, we might find that the standard of height 

 in the British Army ten years hence will be affected 

 by the same bad weather that made our birds late in 

 hatching this year. Certainly all plant-life is visibly 

 retarded by cold and horticulturists have at last 

 begun to turn this fact to useful account in producing 

 fruit and flowers out of season more easily and surely 

 than by " forcing " them while birds are affected in 

 other ways beside the time of incubation. The same 

 swans, for instance, which were eight days longer in 

 hatching their cygnets the nest having been placed 

 in a terribly exposed position also began to moult 

 their flight-feathers exactly eight days later than 

 usual. 



