HUNGARIAN PARTRIDGES QUAILOLOGY X-II 



the best suited, but the partridge is easily pleased and can practic- 

 ally make its living anywhere. There are few birds which so strict- 

 ly adhere to their once selected abode as do the Hungarian Part- 

 ridge. Even their offspring do not winder away. This virtue es- 

 pecially, together with the extreme hardiness, high prolificacy and 

 other fine qualities make this bird the most ideal game bird known 

 for stocking game parks and preserves 



The Hungarian Partridge is very sociable, peaceful, affectionate 

 and faithful to its mate and offspring, and even gladly adopts des 

 titute young ones of its kind. The amity of the partridge is nicely 

 illustrated by the following observation where a partridge hen and 

 a pheasant hen were found setting side by side on a nest containing 

 9 pheasant eggs and 13 partridge eggs. The eggs were left for the 

 partridge hen to hatch She good-naturedly took upon herself 

 the task and afterwards faithfully reared the pheasants with her 

 own flock. The partridges mate in pairs only and it is claimed 

 that the mates remain always true to each other. 



-Toward the end of April or beginning of May the hen commences 

 to lay. Her nest is usually a shallow hollow on the level ground. 



She lays from 9 to 17 eggs, which hatch 

 in 26 days. The chicks are most charm- 

 ing little creatures, very pretty in color 

 and shading. They commence running 

 about as soon as they leave the egg. Both 

 .zHy .^--^; parents take eqaul part in the care and 

 training of the young. The cock guards, warns and defends, while 

 the hen leads, feeds and shelters them. If either one of the parents 

 are killed the other will take care of the brood, the male even tak 

 ing the place of the mother. It is due to this untiring care by the 

 parent birds that nearly all of their young are reared and it does 

 not take long to populate a whole district. 



During their earliest age the partridges feed almost exclusively 

 on insects and worms, to which they later add vegetable matter. 

 Snow and cold weather do not deprive them of food. If hard frozen 

 snow covers the ground they seek berries or buds of trees & bushes. 

 While it is a known fact that bob whites will succumb in a.heavy 

 snowfall lacking sufficient size and strength to come to the surface 

 the Hungarian Partridge can easily work itself through from 2 to 3 

 feet of snow. This most important feature cannot be sufficiently 

 emphasized in recommending these birds to sections of the country 

 where severe winters are experienced. 



The Hungarian Partridge can also be bred in captivity by practi- 

 cally the same methods employed for the successful rearing of quails 



