Concord, Mass.
1908.
March 24.
  Clear and mild with fresh W. wind.
  As I was strolling through Birch Field this
evening about half an hour after sunset I started a
Partridge from a grove of poplars thickly hung with catkins.
Stopping at once I looked the trees over carefully and
presently made out the form of another Partridge sitting
erect and still among the branches about thirty feet above
the ground and as many yards from me. She evidently
saw me but after I had remained perfectly motionless
for five minutes or more she began feeding again. I
had her clearly silhouetted against the afterglow in the
nest and watched her through my glass for nearly fifteen
minutes. During most of this time she was pecking off
and swallowing the poplar buds almost as quickly as
 a hungry hen can pick up & eat kernels of corn from
a full supply on the ground at her feet. This Partridge
was somewhat less active than the birds I watched
in the apple trees near the farm house in March a
few years ago but she hopped from twig to twig quite
nimbly whenever she found it necessary to get to a fresh
supply of buds and once I saw her bend forward
and downward with her tail pointing nearly striaght
upward as she reached for a terminal sprig beneath
her feet. She flapped her wings a number of times,
too, to maintain her balance. I do not think 
that she felt quite at her ease under my observation
for she repeatedly stopped feeding and straightened
herself up to look at me. It was getting dark
among the trees when I started on & forced her to
take wing.
Partridge seen in poplar, "budding"