SWALLOW TRIBE. 93 
her return, and she would afterwards frequently feed 
the young while he held the nest in his hand. 
The Partridge has generally been represented by 
ornithologists as possessing a more than ordinary 
share of affection for its offspring ; and the anecdote I 
am about to relate tends greatly to corroborate this 
idea. A near relation of my own * was told by the 
late Rev. W. Evans, of Mayfield, near Ashburn, that, 
some years since, his men, who were employed in 
cutting a field of mowing grass, brought to him a 
hen Partridge which they had caught on her nest. 
Being desirous to save the eggs from destruction, he 
ordered that they should be removed to his house, 
and placed on some hay in an unoccupied room, 
intending to put them under the care of a Domestic 
Hen; but wishing to know whether the parent bird 
would take any notice of them in that novel situation 
or not, he directed that she should be set down near 
them; when, to his great astonishment, she imme- 
diately ran to the spot where they were deposited, 
and, covering them with the utmost care, continued 
to sit till they were hatched. At first she was un- 
remitting in her attention to her young, many of 
which were ultimately reared and set at liberty, but 
her anxiety to regain her freedom evidently increased 
with their growth; and, as soon as her assistance 
could be dispensed with, she was suffered to make 
her escape. ‘This instance is the more remarkable as 
* John Blackwall, Esq., of Blackwall, Derbyshire. 
