THE PARTRIDGE AT HOME AND ABROAD 7 
without decreasing in numbers or losing weight of 
substance. Most people regard the partridge as one 
of the most local of creatures, and would scout any 
suggestion of its being a migratory bird. It is not a 
migratory bird in the same sense as the landrail or the 
swallow ; our own insular race of partridge is content 
to remain upon our shores, come what may ; so far as 
we know it prefers ‘short commons’ to a flight that 
would extend even across the English Channel, and 
resides for the most part in one and the same district 
throughout the year, whatever happens. It is true, 
however, that from time to time a covey of partridges 
lands in a more or less exhausted state upon the 
beach of our eastern or southern coast, under circum- 
stances which render the hypothesis of a covey of 
Dutch or Belgian partridges crossing the German 
Ocean perfectly tenable. But, however plausible 
such a suggestion may appear, we should, on the 
whole, shrink’ from accepting it as proven upon any 
but the strongest evidence. It would be more safe to 
surmise that, though the birds in question may have 
flown in from sea, they had previously left some 
neighbouring point of our own coast, and had 
deflected from their course to catch up the land 
again. This view gains probability from the re- 
flection that we never hear of partridges boarding 
