THE PARTRIDGE. 23 



though it were a grass field a mistaken confidence which, 

 of course, results in their speedy destruction. 



A well-known writer observes : " The art of the 

 Partridge is familiar to the sportsman, and excites admi- 

 ration in all the lovers of nature. At the signal for 

 silence and retreat, the infant young may be seen to run 

 to the nearest cover, while the parent seems seized with 

 sudden lameness and inability to fly ; or the male will 

 flutter off to a distance, and then suddenly dropping as if 

 dead return to the place he had left by some circuitous 

 route. Sometimes the hen flutters along the ground with 

 drooping wings in a direction opposite to that taken by 

 the brood, and not until she has successfully misled the 

 observer does she resume her power, and wing away to a 

 greater distance ." 



The flight of the Partridge is very noisy, and rapid, 

 consisting of several strokes of the wing in quick suc- 

 cession, followed by a long skim, in which the wings are 

 extended and motionless. They seldom rise to a greater 

 height than is necessary to pass over hedges or other 

 obstacles. 



The length of the Partridge is about twelve inches. 

 The forehead and sides of the head are a light yellowish 

 chestnut, edged with grey, the upper mandible a good deal 

 curved ; chin and throat, a light yellow chestnut ; breast, 

 bluish-grey, freckled with blackish-brown, and on its 

 lower part a horseshoe-shaped mark of brownish-red on a 

 white ground ; sides barred with chestnut, and back banded 

 with dots of brownish-black, and lines of brownish-yellow 

 and grey; the wings are short and rounded; and the tail 

 short and much hidden by the coverts. In the female the 

 plumage is very similar, the patch on the breast being 



