STRVCTUBE. FOOD. AND HABITS. 



reeds, and here and there pastures and fields are found, are 

 its chosen places of abode. Nor must well-cultivated and 

 grain-growino- fields be wanting- where this bird is to do well. 

 It neither likes the Ijleak niountaiu country nor dry sandy 

 places; nur does it frerjuent the pine woods nnless for protec- 

 tion against its enemies, or d\iring bad weather, or at night." 



"In our <jwn conntry," says j\Iacgillivray, "its favourite 

 places of resort are thick plantations, or tangled woods by 

 streams, whei'e, among the long grass, braml)les, and other 

 shrubs, it passes the night, sleeping on the ground in summer 

 and autnnin, but commonly roosting in the trees in winter." 



hike the domestic fowl, which it closely resembles in its 

 internal strnctnre a.nd its habits, tlu^ jdieasaut is an 

 omnivoriuTs feeder ; grain, herbage, roots of the wood anemone, 

 berries, and other small frnits, worms, small field slugs, 

 insects, acorns, beecli mast, are alike acceptaljle to it. 

 Naumann gives the following detailed description of its 

 ilietary on the Continent. " Its food consists of grain, 

 seeds, fruits, and berries, with green herbs, insects, and 

 worms, varying with the time of year. Ants, and pni'ticularly 

 their lai'vie, art' a favoui'ito food, the latter forming the chief 

 su])port of the young. It also eats many green weeds, the 

 tender shoots of grass, cabbage, young clover, wild cress, 

 jhmperuel, young jieas, Ac, Ac. Of berries : the wild 

 me/.ereum {DkiJuu' iiiezcrcwm) , wild strawberries [Fraijarln), 

 currants, elderberries from the species Snmliticus raceiiKi.s-a, 

 S. nigra, a,nd iS'. ehiilii>t ; bhickberries {Riibii.i cic.viw.v, if. idn'ii.^, 

 and R. /'/7((7/c-(;.v/(.v) ; mistletoe (I'/.vc/mh allium) ; hawthorn 

 {(h-afa:gn.s tor in in a li^). I'lums, apples, and pears it eats 

 readily, and cherries, mulljerries, and grapes it ahn takes 

 when it can get them. In the autumn ripe seeds are its chief 

 food, it eats those of many of the sedges and grasses, 

 and of several species of l'oli/ii(niiiiiK as I' ilii/inrluridii ; Ijlack 

 bindweed (P. ciinvoln(In.'<) ; knot grass (/' ai-icularc) ; and 

 also those of the cow-wheat [MpJam injni m) ; and acorns, 

 beech mast, &c., form a large portion of its food in the hitter 



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