The Common Partridge 121 
fed there in the severe days of winter; but it is a curious fact that young birds reared 
under bantams desert the foster-mothers in September and are wilder than wild-bred 
birds, often forming in large flocks and entirely deserting the neighbourhood of their 
birthplace. I reared about fifty young Partridges under bantams one season in Scotland, 
and found that as soon as they left the care of the foster-mothers they were almost 
unapproachable, finally straying for 8 or 10 miles down to the Tay valley and scatter- 
ing in all directions. I observed a similar case in Sussex lately, and other sportsmen 
have found that young Partridges, deprived of the restraining influence of the natural 
parents, have acted in similar fashion. 
The furred and feathered enemies of the Partridge are very numerous, and cease- 
less war must be waged against them to ensure a good stock of game birds. Rats do 
an infinite amount of damage. As soon as winter is over, the corn all threshed and 
the pigs killed, rats leave the vicinity of buildings and repair to the fields and hedge- 
rows to breed. Unless systematically destroyed with ferret, gun, trap, and poison, they 
will rob every pheasant, Partridge, and wild-duck nest in the vicinity. They seem to 
prefer pheasant and duck eggs to those of the Partridge, and will kill the young birds, 
and in some instances the old ones, when sitting. Stoats and weasels, when confirmed 
egg-stealers, are terrible thieves, and will steal eggs singly until the nest is empty. 
Weasels have a habit of taking the eggs into the mole-runs they use, whilst stoats 
will sometimes bury their capture. Stoats and weasels also kill large numbers of 
young Partridges, and moles burrow under nests and cause them and their contents to 
fall underground. Cats and foxes also do a certain amount of harm to Partridges, 
and so do rooks, crows, and all the raptorials. Jays, I think, are much maligned 
birds. Some few will undoubtedly take the eggs of game, but they are on the whole 
innocuous if kept within reasonable limits. Neither have I ever seen direct proof that 
the hedgehog is anything but a most harmless old fellow, whose tastes are almost 
wholly insectivorous. Terns will attack Partridges if they venture near the breeding 
colony, and doubtless gulls will do the same. 
The various methods of poaching Partridges are now only too well known, and if 
the Maxim "silencer" is applied to the .22 rifle and used by the unscrupulous, pre- 
servers of Partridges may fear the worst, unless some law is enforced to protect the 
game preserver. Such a weapon with its adjuncts can be carried under a coat ; in use 
it is noiseless, and its accuracy remarkable, so that in the hands of a good shot a 
district could be cleared of grouse, Partridges, and pheasants, without keepers or owners 
being the wiser. 
One of the chief causes of death amongst Partridges is the disease known as 
"gapes." It is the product of domesticity, and is not a natural malady. Partridges 
contract the disease in a marked degree where poultry farms are numerous. The 
parasite is the same in all cases. It attacks the windpipe, penetrating ultimately to 
the lungs. When viewed under the microscope it is seen to be gorged with blood 
and surrounded with eggs, of which the period of incubation is rapid. Nearly all 
birds from wrens to ostriches can suffer from "gapes," and no doubt it is conveyed 
from field to field by sparrows and starlings. Another common cause of mortality 
in Partridges is the presence of numbers of hematode worms {Hetembius papulosa) 
Q 
