THE PARTRIDGE. 29 



Description Manners. 



feathers, of which the seven nearest the sides are 

 red, with an ash-coloured border. Sportsmen as 

 Well as naturalists have believed that the female 

 has no crescent on the breast, like the male. 

 This, however, on dissection has proved to be a 

 mistake ; for Mr. Montague happening to kill 

 nine birds in one day, with very little variation 

 as to the mark on the breast, was led to open 

 them all, and discovered that five of them were 

 females. On carefully examining the plumage, 

 he found that the males could only be known by 

 the superior brightness of colour about the 

 head which alone after the first or second year 

 seems to be the mark of distinction. 



Partridges are found principally in temperate 

 climates: they are no where in greater abun- 

 dance than in this island, and form a part of the 

 most elegant entertainments. They pair early in 

 the spring; the female makes a nest of grass and 

 dry leaves on the ground, and lays from fifteen 

 to twenty and sometimes five and twenty eggs. 

 Mr. Daniel says thirty-three eggs have been 

 found in one nest and of these twenty-three pro- 

 duced young ones. They run the moment they 

 are hatched, frequently carrying along with them 

 part of their shell. 



The male shares with his mate the trouble of 

 rearing their young. They immediately lead 

 them to ant-hills, on the grubs of which insects 

 they at first principally feed: for, at this season 

 the various species of' ants loosen the earth about 



