THE GREY PARTRIDGE. 53 



tions. The aroused camp striking its tents, the grateful cup of 

 coffee by the log fire, the fragrant Manilla, the hum of the 

 gathering column, the early march along the wild road." 



Morning and evening the fields and groves re-echo with their 

 cheery cry, and, during the spring and summer especially, it may 

 be heard occasionally at all hours. 



They feed on grain of all kinds, grass seeds and insects, 

 especially white ants and their eggs, and on the young leaves 

 of mustard, peas and other herbs. 



Dig open an ant's nest in some scrub frequented by these 

 birds, retire for 10 minutes, and the chances are that on your 

 return you find half a dozen Greys busy at the nest. 



They feed in fields, on stubbles, on ploughed land, and in 

 any broken or scrub-clad waste, and are continually seen along 

 paths and roads pecking the grain out of the droppings of 

 passing animals. Boldly do they come out at day-break on to 

 the open threshing floors of the native peasants, and many 

 times have I surprised them on these, the vigilant watchmen 

 fast asleep and tightly rolled up in their blankets floundering to 

 their feet aghast at the double shot fired just over their heads. 

 Unquestionably, in the neighbourhood of villages, at seasons 

 when grain is scarce, these birds are inveterately foul feeders. 



They run very swiftly and gracefully ; they seem to glide 

 rather than run, and the native lover can pay no higher compli- 

 ment to his mistress than to liken her gait to that of the 

 Partridge. 



It is often difficult to flush them, but when they rise it is with 

 a true Partridge whirr ; and their flight is swifter and stronger, 

 and they will carry off more shot than our English bird. 



In many places they are to be found in pairs, but where they 

 are really numerous, they often keep in regular coveys, a dozen 

 rising within a small space if they are in ground in which they 

 cannot run well. 



As a rule, though a few are shot by chance shots every day, 

 they afford little sport, owing to the rapidity and persistence 

 with which they run. In beating a piece of scrub for hares, you 

 may catch glimpses of a dozen Partridges scuttling away ahead. 

 It is not worth going after them ; you risk losing the hares and 

 quail that you would otherwise certainly get, and the faster you 

 go, the faster they go, rising at length generally out of shot. 

 You may manage to head one and force him to rise ; and every 

 now and then, for some inscrutable reason, one decides to squat 

 under some bush even in the midst of the scrub, and you un- 

 expectedly get an easy close shot. Just when they reach the 

 edge of the cover, they commonly squat, hesitating apparently 

 to cross the bare ground in front ; but unless you are very careful, 

 they will turn back when you get near them and pass between 

 the beaters, unseen, till they are forty or fifty yards in the 

 rear. 



