RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 459 



and rounded backs, whilst slowly searching the ground for grain and 

 insects, they look almost as large as Pheasants. They are partial to the 

 shelter of thick hedgerows and plantations, but, unless driven into such 

 cover, are seldom found far from the outer fence, through which they can 

 run on the slightest alarm ; and in walking quietly up a woodside, where 

 these birds are plentiEul, it is very usual to see one or more Red-legs 

 issuing from the hedge-bottom and hurrying along under the bank. They 

 are fond also of basking in thick rushy carrs ; and in low meadows will 

 hide in the sedgy margins of the watercourses, where I have shot them 

 late in the season when looking for Snipe.^' 



In the pairing-season the Red-legged Partridge is a rather pugnacious 

 bird, and not only fights with its own kind, but also with the Common 

 Partridge. The latter bird is generally worsted in the conflict, consequently 

 in many districts the Red-legged Partridge is persecuted as vigilantly as 

 Hawks and Magpies. It is even said that it will drive the Common 

 Partridge from its nest and appropriate it to its own use; but such a 

 charge is not yet clearly proved, besides the Red-legged Partridge is said 

 to lay much earlier. The nest of this bird is made upon the ground 

 amongst the tall grass in a hedge-bottom or in the growing crops, and is 

 merely a few bits of dry grass and withered leaves arranged in a little 

 hollow. Mr. J. CuUingford informs me that it often makes its nest 

 amongst the thatch of stacks or on the ground by the roadside. The 

 eggs vary from ten to eighteen in number, and are deposited by the 

 latter end of April or early in May. They are pale buff or stone-colour, 

 speckled, spotted, and blotched with yellowish or light chocolate-brown, 

 and some eggs are much more thickly spotted than others. The 

 shell is thick and strong, finely pitted, and shows considerable gloss. 

 They vary in length from 1'6 to 1"5 inch, and in breadth from 1'25 

 to 1"15 inch. The eggs of the Red-legged Partridge very closely 

 resemble those of the Barbary Partridge, but those of the latter are 

 usually redder. The Red-legged Partridge is said to lay its . eggs at 

 long intervals ; and though it may commence laying before the Common 

 Partridge, it is, through its irregular habits, the last to hatch its brood. 

 The eggs of the Common Partridge and the Pheasant are sometimes 

 found with those of this species ; and it has been suggested that these 

 birds had been driven from their nests, but the evidence is in favour of 

 the theory that they had laid in the nest of the Red-legged Partridge — a 

 habit which is common to many species of game birds. 



The food of the Red-legged Partridge consists in summer largely of 

 insects, but in autumn and winter grain and seeds are its main support. 

 The cry of this bird resembles both that of the Quail and that of the 

 Common Partridge, being a threefold note like the former, though almost 

 as harsh in tone as the latter. When the young are hatched they are 



