538 THE VIRGINIA PARTRIDGE. 
seldom, though sometimes, accompanied by the male, and se- 
lects the spot for her nest, which is under a tuft of grass, or a 
bush, or something that affords both shelter and concealment, 
and makes it of dried grass or of such material as lies about 
the spot, and then lays from fifteen to twenty pure white 
eggs, which measure one and four-sixteenths of an inch in 
length, by fifteen-sixteenths of an inch in breadth; they are 
very pointed at the smaller end, and are put in such nice 
order within the nest that if taken out it is difficult to place 
them as they previously were. The young leave the nest 
soon after they are hatched, and follow their mother, who 
shows great anxiety for their welfare and will defend them 
when in danger at the cost of her life. When surprised 
with her brood she makes use of the same artifices with . 
the Grouse and other birds which build upon the ground ; at 
such times she will flutter along on the ground in the great- 
est disorder only a few feet in advance of a dog, and yet 
elude every attempt he may make to seize her, until she has 
led him a sufficient distance from her young ones, and then 
rising in the air by a circuitous route returns to them. I 
was once passing over a cart path that led between a wood- 
land and a field from which barley had been lately harvested, 
and saw an old Partridge coming through the stubble with 
her numerous family towards the woods. I stopped to let 
them pass before me, and I soon saw by her movements that 
I was not discovered by her, and concealed myself as well 
as I could. As they approached the young ones were heard 
to call incessantly for their mother to stop and cover them. 
After she had cleared the stubble, she stood a moment upon 
one foot in the hard beaten track, and looked earnestly about, 
. and apprehending no danger, she partly squatted down, and 
as the young emerged from the damp grass, with wet legs 
and thighs, they eagerly sought the warmth of her body by 
crowding under it, and although they were young and small, 
they jostled her considerably until they became settled. 
_ After brooding them for a time she led them into the woods. 


