2 
llED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 
from the Continent to the Norfolk coast ; and as a proof of this assertion it may be stated that there is no 
mention made in any work of the presence 'of this species, till foreigners were imported and turned 
down on our shores. That the birds are restless and excited in spring, and make occasionally vain 
attempts to change their quarters, is by no means unlikely, and this is doubtless the cause of the 
additional numbers seen near the coast and round the broads. If we were annually visited by these 
wanderers from foreign countries in the spring, some would certainly take their departure again in the autumn. 
I can, however, find no reference to any having been seen while gathering in the vicinity of the coast 
at that time of year, nor have they been observed on the passage by the men on the light-ships or the 
crews of the fishing-hoats I have conversed with. 
It is stated by several writers that Red-legged Partridges often settle on trees or on hedges and 
walls ; it is, however, but seldom I have seen them in such elevated positions. A few years hack one was 
noticed perched on the point of the shaft of a farm-roller which was tilted up in a field near Brighton; 
a week later as I drove along the road a bird was again calmly surveying the scene from the same 
spot. In September 18G4-, while in pursuit of a mixed bag over the flat country between Cambridge 
and Newmarket, I noticed three or four clustered on a stack of peats in Qui fen; two or three also at 
different times have attracted my attention on gates or the adjoining posts and rails. 
I was not aware that the marten was found in Sussex, or even in the south of England, till 
early in the summer a few years back, while passing through one of those long straggling beech- 
woods that spread along the slopes of the South Downs facing the north, I caught sight of what at 
first appeared an immense stoat descending the trunk of a large beech tree. The animal came down 
slowly, deliberately placing one foot below the other, and proceeding with the greatest ease, though 
how it held on to the smooth bark was a mystery. On reaching an extending root it dropped to 
the ground at once, and disappeared in the dense undergrowth, before I had time to pick up my gun, 
which had been laid down, and ascertain with certainty its identity. A further view of the stranger 
had just raised a doubt as to whether it was not a heech-marten ; and this I now believe to have been 
the case. Though a thorough search was shortly after made through the grove with the assistance of a 
keeper and his dog who had arrived on the scene, no signs of the robber could be discovered. The 
fresh-killed remains of a newly hatched young Red-legged Partridge had first attracted my attention, 
lying on the bank at the side of a rough cart-track through the wood, and an examination of the 
surrounding stunted bushes and long coarse grass revealed the nest also on the top of the bank, from 
which the juvenile must have but lately made its way. Ten egg-shells were laying around, and it is 
probable that the youngster had been seized and killed while the brood Avere making their way for the 
first time from their cradle. By the nature of the wound in the throat from Avhich the blood had been 
sucked, it was evident that one or other of the stoat tribe had committed the murder, and doubtless my 
approach had prevented the marauder from bearing off his victim to the spot where his larder was 
stored up. Before leaving, the keeper pointed out the nest, Avith the egg-shells still remaining, in Avhich 
a Common Partridge had hatched off a brood of sixteen, on the top of the bank on the opposite 
side of the road, and Avithin the distance of four or five yards of the spot the Red-legged bird had 
selected for her nursery. An hour or so earlier, and immediately after the marten had descended from 
the tree, I had sat doAvn on the twisted roots of a largo beech to watch quietly for a few minutes in case 
this peculiar-looking creature might again be observed Avithin shot. Suddenly a sound as though small 
tAvigs among the hranches Avere being cut, followed by a sharp crack or click, as if a bullet had buried 
itself in the bark of the tree above, caught my ear, and there Avas little doubt that a ball from a rifle 
had struck the stem of the beech tree. The day was fine and Avith scarcely a breath of Avind, still no 
report had been heard ; and Avondering Avhere the Aveapon could have been fired, I looked carefully round 
