THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. 63 



different times from November to April inclusive, of which I 

 noticed the contents, exhibited blades of grass of a rich soft kind 

 as the chief food ; the seventh (killed in mild weather) contained 

 mosses only, of which there was a considerable quantity. In ad- 

 dition to grass in the others, were the fresh green-tops of different 

 plants ; in one, the tender leaves of a thistle ; in two of them 

 were a few minute seeds, and grains of oats. Fragments of 

 stone were in all the gizzards. A sportsman informs me that he 

 has often found " clocks " (coleopterous insects) in those killed in 

 the mountains : — the partridge not uncommonly frequents mountain 

 and lowland heaths contiguous to cultivated ground. It has been 

 well observed by Mr. Poole, that " When snow lies on the 

 ground their scratchings may be frequently seen ; and it is then 

 curious to trace their footsteps, and observe the marks of their 

 quills where they have taken flight." 



Mr. St. John, writing of the partridge, remarks, that he is con- 

 fident " Most if not all granivorous birds amply repay the farmer 

 for their food by the quantity of weeds they destroy during a 

 great part of the year/'* Another author observes : — " In allud- 

 ing to the game which may be' reared profitably upon a farm, 

 partridges cannot be omitted. I do not believe they ever pull 

 a single ear of corn from the stalk ; it is only after the stubbles 

 are cleared of the crop that they ever feed upon grain at all. In 

 summer, insects and seeds of grasses, and in winter the leaves 

 of weeds and coarse grasses from below the hedges, constitute 

 their food ; in the latter season they become, upon such nutri- 

 ment, exceedingly fat. During the continuance of a severe frost, 

 and when the ground has been covered to a considerable depth 

 by snow, I have repeatedly examined the crops, both of partridges 

 and pheasants, and found them filled with the leaves of grasses 

 which grow by the edges of springs and water-rills that have not 

 been frozen ; and the birds, on such occasions, were in fact fatter 

 than at any other season of the year."f 



* Tour in Sutherland, vol. ii, p. 21 8. 



f "Observations on Game and Game Laws," by J. Burn Murdoch, p. 21. 



