62G THE PARTRIDGE. 



This bird, so dear to British sportsmen, is found spread over the greater part of Europe, 

 always being found most plentifully near cultivated ground. It feeds upon various 

 substances, such as grain and seeds in the autumn, and green leaves and insects in the 

 spring and early summer, In all probability this bird, although it may do some damage 

 to the corn-fields, may still be very useful to the farmer by its unceasing war upon the 

 smaller "vermin," that devastate the fields and injure the crops. Small slugs are a 

 favourite diet with the Partridge, which has a special faculty for discovering them in the 

 recesses where they hide themselves during the day, and can even hunt successfully 

 after the eggs of these destructive creatures. Caterpillars are also eaten by this bird, and 

 the terrible black grub of the turnip is consumed in great numbers by the Partridges. 

 Even the white cabbage butterfly, whose numerous offspring are so hurtful in the kitchen 

 garden, falls a victim to the quick-eyed Partridge, which leaps into the air and seizes it 

 in its beak as the white-winged pest comes fluttering unsuspectingly over the bird's head. 



The Partridge begins to lay about the end of April, gathering together a bundle of 

 dried grasses into some shallow depression in the ground, and depositing therein a clutch 

 of eggs, generally from twelve to twenty in number. Sometimes a still greater number 

 have been found, but in these cases it is tolerably evident from many observations that 

 several birds have laid in the same nest. Now and then a number of pheasants' eggs are 

 found in the nest of a Partridge, and vice versa, the pheasant seeming, however, to be the 

 usurper in most instances. The Partridge is singularly careless of the position of her 

 nest, placing it in the most exposed situations, and sitting upon the eggs with perfect 

 contentment, although within a yard or two of a footpath. Indeed, I have found the nest 

 of this bird, with six or seven eggs, so close to a frequented pathway running through a 

 little copse, that a careless step to one side might have broken the eggs. In colour the 

 eggs are not unlike those of the pheasant, being of a smooth olive-brown. 



The mother-bird sits very closely, and is not easily frightened from her charge ; and 

 during the last day or two of incubation she is so fearless that she will not suffer herself 

 to be disturbed, and will allow the scythe of the mower to kill her on her nest rather than 

 desert her home. Sitting Partridges have sometimes allowed themselves to be taken by 

 hand. When imminent danger threatens the nest, the mother-bird has been known to 

 carry off 1 the eggs and convey them to a place of safety, executing the task in a wonder- 

 fully short space of time. Mr. Jesse mentions one such instance, where there were 

 twenty-one eggs, the whole of which were removed to a distance of forty yards in about 

 twenty minutes. It is probable that the cock bird assisted his mate in her labours. 



When the young are hatched they are strong on their legs at once, running about with 

 ease, and mostly leaving the nest on the same clay. The mother takes her little new-born 

 brood to their feeding-places, generally ant-hills or caterpillar-haunted spots, and aids them 

 in their search after food by scratching away the soil with her feet. The nests of the 

 wood-ant, which are mostly found in fir plantations or hilly ground, being very full of 

 inhabitants, very easily torn to pieces, and the ants and their larval and pupae being very 

 large, are favourite feeding-places of the Partridge, which in such localities is said to 

 acquire a better flavour than among the lower pasture lands. 



The young brood, technically called a " covey," associate together, and have a very 

 strong local tendency, adhering with great pertinacity to the same field or patch of land. 

 When together they are mostly rather wild, and dart off at the least alarm with their well- 

 known whining flight, just topping a hedge or wail and settling on the other side till again 

 put up ; but when the members of the covey are separated they seem to dread the air, and 

 crouch closely to the ground, so that it is the object of the sportsman to scatter the covey 

 and to pick them up singly. They are always alarmed at a soaring bird, whether of 

 prey or not, and squat closely to the ground. When they are very wild and shy, the 

 sportsmen take advantage of this propensity, and fly a kite shaped like a hawk over them, 

 thus inducing them to lie frightened on the ground until the dog can point them in the 

 proper fashion. Even a common, long-tailed, round-shouldered boy's kite will answer the 

 purpose well enough. Some punctilious sportsmen, however, denounce the kite as a trick 

 only worthy of a poacher, and would rather walk after the birds all day without getting 

 a shot than secure a full bag by the use of such a device. 



