MUS. COMP. ZOOL 
LIBRARY 
Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Connecticut. 
Subscription. $1.50 a year Single copy, 15 cents 
Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909. at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3, 1897. 
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, 
authorized on June : 27, 1918. 
Volume XIII. 
MARCH, 1921 
Number io 
Astonishing Experiences with a Wild Partridge. 
By Clinton G. Abbott in “The Con servationist,” Albany, New York. 
T HERE can be no denying that 
even to human ears the reverber- 
ating rumble of the Bates Steel 
Mule — as Mr. A. H. Armstrong’s farm 
tractor was technically known — sug- 
gested in its rolling beats the magni- 
fied drumming of a partridge. To 
Billy’s ears, as he stalked through the 
covert where for years, perhaps, he had 
known no partridge rival, the thump- 
rup-rup-rup that came to him from the 
distance doubtless could mean nothing 
but the taunting challenge of a giant 
foe — all the more alluring by reason of 
his evident size and power. 
How otherwise can we explain that 
when Mr. Armstrong drove his tractor 
down the woods lane that led to the 
potato field, all unsuspecting of the 
presence of a partridge within miles, 
out ran Billy from the underbrush, 
crest up and ruffs extended — all 
bristling for a fight? Nothing else 
could coax him from his retreats ; but 
when the tractor was running nothing 
could drive him away ! So all Mr. 
Armstrong had to do, when he wanted 
to exhibit his extraordinary bird to 
friends, was to back the tractor from 
its shed and ride it down the lane. The 
friends, following in the rear, seldom 
failed to enjoy the unusual experience 
of seeing a wild partridge, not only ab- 
solutely devoid of fear, but actually 
permitting itself to be picked up and 
handled in a manner to which even a 
domestic fowl would not submit. 
Upon two occasions several of us 
visited the Armstrong “farm,” which 
is what the owner prefers to term the 
country estate near Schenectady, where 
he indulges his hobby in the intervals 
of scientific research for the General 
Electric Company. 
At both visits Billy gave us his full 
line of tricks. The first time, as we 
trailed behind the pulsating Steel Mule, 
it was almost uncanny, when we had 
arrived in the neighborhood where we 
were told we might expect the part- 
ridge at any moment, to turn and see 
him hastening after us in the roadway. 
Then the fun began. Our host, who 
knew just the best way of handling the 
bird, descended from the seat of the 
tractor (though purposely letting the 
engine continue to run noisily) and, 
bending down, he talked to Billy, then 
Copyright 1921 by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn. 
