72 PARTRIDGE. 



to the compiler, he did not believe, for two seasons following, there was a covey of 

 young birds upon a tract of near three thousand acres of as fine breeding land as any in 

 the kingdom : he shot, and encouraged the destruction of this stock of ancients by all 

 possible means; and the result was, that the Partridges bred again as abundantly as 

 formerly." 



Partridges begin to pair the end of February or very early in March, but should the 

 weather prove severe after this they will sometimes form into covies again. Like other 

 gallinaceous birds, pairing is not effected without many well-fought battles by the males 

 for the possession of the other sex. 



The nest is merely a hollow scraped in the earth, with sometimes a few straws, dead 

 leaves, or blades of grass. It is placed under some tuft of grass, or small bush, or in 

 clover, grass, or corn fields. But although these are the more usual situations chosen 

 for the nest, still it is occasionally found in very curious, and one would imagine insecure 

 places. Thus instances are mentioned by Montagu and Daniel, where nests were placed 

 in the broad tops of pollard oaks, and the young birds hatched and carried off in security. 

 Frequently, too, the nest may be discovered near to some well used footpath, and yet 

 the young are very generally reared in these situations, the birds sitting remarkably 

 close, and so escape the eye of the marauding schoolboy. To these may be added the 

 tops of haystacks ; and holes in decayed trees in hedgerows, as much as four feet from the 

 ground, as mentioned by Mr. J. Mc'Intosh, in "The Naturalist," vol. i., p. 131. Although 

 the birds pair so early, they do not commence laying till the middle or end of May ; or 

 even much later in elevated districts. The female lays from ten to twenty eggs, which 

 are of a uniform pale wood, or olive brown colour, and measure in length about one 

 inch and a half, by one inch and one line in breadth. 



The hen alone sits on the eggs, and incubation is completed in twenty-one days. The 

 young run immediately that they are hatched, sometimes even with the shell adhering 

 to them. Although the cock bird takes no part in actual incubation, he remains in 

 the neighbourhood of the nest, and will practice all his arts to entice from it any one 

 whose presence may threaten it with danger. As soon as the young birds are hatched, 

 he joins the hen in leading about and protecting them, and the two will, if occasion 

 require, fight stoutly in their defence: of this Mr. Selby gives a striking instance: — "A 

 person engaged in a field, not far from my residence, had his attention arrested by some 

 objects on the ground, which, upon approaching, he found to be two Partridges, male 

 and female, engaged in battle with a Carrion Crow ; so successful, and so absorbed were 

 they in the issue of the contest, that they actually held the Crow till he was seized, 

 and taken from them by the spectator of the scene. Upon search, the young birds, (very 

 lately hatched,) were found concealed among the grass. It would appear, therefore, that 

 the Crow, a mortal enemy to all kinds of young game, in attempting to carry off one 



