108 PARTRIDGES. 



Near Fort Churchill, on the shores of Hudson's Bay, 

 in the Winter season, they may be seen by thousands 

 feeding on the willow-tops peeping above the surface 

 of the snow. The crew of a vessel wintering there, 

 killed one thousand eight hundred dozen in the 

 course of the season. They are provided with a 

 plumage well calculated for the severe weather to 

 which they are exposed, each feather being in a 

 manner doubled, so as to give additional warmth. 

 Our British Partridges huddle together in the stub- 

 bles, but these birds shelter and roost by burrowing 

 under the snow; in the snow, too, they practise a 

 common mode of escaping observation and pursuit, 

 as they will dive under it as a Duck does in water, 

 and rise at a considerable distance. The Indians, 

 as well as European settlers, catch them in great 

 abundance, in traps, and live upon them throughout 

 their long Winter. 



From the earliest ages, Partridges seem, indeed, to 

 have been a favourite food, and the pursuit of them 

 as favourite an amusement. In the Scriptures, " to 

 hunt the Partridge on the mountains," is alluded to, 

 as a well-known sport, and to this day, though not 

 exactly with the same weapon, it is practised by the 

 Arabs of Mount Lebanon. They make a slight 

 square-frame of wood, of about five feet in height, 

 over which they stretch an ox-hide perforated in 

 three or four places. The ox-hide is moved quietly, 

 in an upright position, along the ground, and the 

 Arab, concealing himself behind it, is hidden from 

 the view of the game, which unsuspectingly allow 

 the sportsman to come within shot of them. The 

 Arab, seeing through one of the apertures, quietly 



