THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
The hen partridge is a most excellent mother, and in very wet cold 
weather, such as too frequently occurs in the British Isles in June, often 
pays the penalty of her devotion, being found dead on her nest. The cock 
bird remains in close proximity to the nest, and mounts guard over his 
sitting mate, driving off any intruder, and showing a bold front to prow- 
ling cats and other vermin. When hatched, the young are very carefully 
tended by both parents, the hen uttering a soft clucking note as she leads 
her chicks after the cock bird in search of food. On the approach of danger 
the old birds will attack or lead off their enemy by feigning a broken wing 
while the young scatter and seek safety by hiding in the nearest covert. 
For the first five or six weeks of their lives the young live almost 
exclusively on insect -food, especially on ants and their pupae. 
By the end of September they are usually fully grown, and as the season 
advances the coveys unite and form packs, which feed and roost 
together. An open spot in a field is the usual roosting-place, the birds 
crouching close together on the ground. Some say they all face outwards 
to guard against a possible attack, others assert that they all face inwards, 
a most unlikely theory. It seems much more probable that they all face 
the wind ; for such is the universal custom of all birds.* 
The early morning and afternoon are the principal feeding times of the 
partridge during the summer and autumn months; during the rest of 
the day the coveys hide themselves in cover, basking on sunny banks, 
or dust themselves on some convenient sandy spot and preen their 
feathers. During the winter and spring months they are far more active 
during the day, and may be seen feeding at all hours. 
The average weight of a cock partridge in good condition is about 
thirteen ounces, and the hen about twelve ounces, but much heavier birds 
have been noted by Mr G. E. Lodge, who has paid special attention to the 
matter of weights, and he tells me that cocks of seventeen ounces are not 
uncommon in north Norfolk, and hens of sixteen ounces, while in one 
instance a young hen bird of the year, shot in January, weighed seventeen 
ounces, t 
The partridge has many enemies. Stoats, weasels, and rats steal the 
eggs and kill the young. Hedgehogs also are said to take the eggs, though 
this has been denied. Foxes, prowling dogs, and cats account for a good 
*It is evident that they all face outwards, because the droppings are always found in a mass in the centre instead of 
in a circle round the covey as would otherwise be the case. — Ed. 
fThis increase In weight was attributed by the shooting tenant on the land referred to, the late Mr T. J. Mann, 
to the fact of his having introduced fresh blood by turning out a number of Hungarian partridges. — Ed. 
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