COCK PARTRIDGES ‘ MOTHERING’ CHICKS HATCHED 
IN AN INCUBATOR. 
R. FORTUNE, F.Z.S., 
Harrogate. 
SoME interesting experiments have recently been successfully 
tried with Partridges upon an estate near Harrogate. The 
keeper had a number of cock birds which had been imported 
from Hungary, and were kept in pens. The keeper gathered 
a number of Partridge eggs from dangerous positions on the 
road sides, and hatched them in an incubator. The method 
adopted was to put the cock Partridge in a small coop, in a 
little clearing in a corn field, then from 15 to 20 chicks were 
placed in the coop with him, and they were left over night. 
In the morning the keeper, operating from behind a hedge, 
withdrew the sliding front from the coop by the aid of a long 
cord. Very soon the chicks commenced to run out, and ina 
short time they were followed by the old cock. I have watched 
several lots released, and have photographed one successtully. 
The old birds vary in their conduct: one will dash straight 
out of the coop into the corn, another will peer out cautiously 
then make straight into the corn, and another will hang about 
a bit before making to cover. Im every case, however, the 
old bird commenced almost immediately to call the chicks to 
him, and they responded to the call at once. The last bird I 
saw released stayed. in the coop quite ten minutes after the 
shutter had been withdrawn, the young ones running in and 
out all the time, then he came to the entrance, and, in a cautious 
manner, peered about him, and, without undue haste, made 
for cover, calling the chicks to him. This bird was seen the 
following day in the same place with the young ones following 
him, indeed, at the time he was brooding them, and upon 
corn being thrown into the clearing from behind the hedge, he 
immediately commenced picking it up. The experiment is 
most interesting, and, as far as I can see, is a complete success, 
and should solve a very difficult problem. It must be in- 
finitely better than hatching the eggs under an ordinary fowl. 
and may help to again bring up the numbers of the best sporting 
bird in the world, which has sadly decreased of late years. 
——_@@—__ 
More piffle from the daily press. According to the Western Daily 
Mercury a cow was found to be suffering from an enormous swelling 
in the udder. The cause was at once attributed to the bite of a viper. 
‘The milk was accordingly set aside, and on looking at it some three 
hours afterwards the form of a snake was distinctly seen in the cream 
which had collected on the surface. There was an exact model of the 
reptile ; the head, with the V mark, the eyes, and the tongue projecting 
from the mouth—perfect throughout to the tail. Moreover, by aid of a 
magnifying glass, the scales of the skin could be distinctly seen. All this 
was seen by Mrs. Heale, her two grown-up daughters, the servant girl, 
and the boy groom.’ And soon. 
Ig11 Aug. I. 
