SPORTING. 
labyrinth of springes. The male bird 
generally weighs nearly a pound, the female 
ordinarily about two or three ounces less. 
They pair about the middle, or end of Fe- 
' brnary : there are always more cock, than 
hen-chicks : this produces great struggle for 
possession of mates, in which many are 
killed. The Duke of Kingston used to have 
his covies netted so soon as the birds be- 
gan to pair, and thinned the number of 
cocks, and thereby had regular broods, 
which never happens when the hens are 
followed by two or more cocks ; as she then 
drops her eggs in dilferent places, and can- 
not, of course, hatch them in any mimbers. 
The hens lay on the ground,- among a few 
bents and leaves scraped together, usually 
within some hollow made by the tread of a 
horse, or by the removal of some large 
stone or clod. Partridges are very amo- 
rous and prolific : they ordinarily lay from 
sixteen to twenty eggs, and often may be 
seen leading their young in covies of seven 
or eight brace. In 1793, on a farm occu- 
pied by Mr. Pratt, near Terling, in Essex, a 
nest was found in a fallow, containing thir- 
ty-three eggs ; of these twenty-three were 
hatched, and the birds fledged ; four more 
had nine birds in them ; the eggs were piled 
in a very curious manner by the hen, which 
covered them all. The above instance of 
fecundity, though rare, is not singular ; for 
in June, 1801, at the seat of Mr. Clarke, 
Walton Place, Northumherland, a nest was 
found in a plantation, containing thirty^- 
three eggs ; and in 1798, one was found in 
a wheat-field, in Somersetshire, with twen- 
ty-eight eggs. In the year 1788, a partridge 
was found sitting in the heart of an oak pol- 
lard, many feet from the ground ; although a 
stile was fixed into the tree, and persons 
were perpetually passing by. She hatched 
sixteen eggs, and assisted her chicks to 
scramble down among the twigs, until they 
were all in safety on the grass. 
While the chicks are young, and unable 
to fly, the old birds attend to them very as- 
siduously ; at the least alarm they all shel- 
ter under the hen’s wings, or perhaps under 
those of the cock. When a dog, &c. breaks 
in, the cock pretends to be in a state of de- 
bility, and separates from the hen, which 
leads the brood away ; the dog is thus led 
astray. Partridges will also fly at a kite 
that hovers over their young, in defence of 
which they are extremely daring and inde- 
fatigable. These birds often pair with barn- 
door fowls ; but are by no means prone to 
domestication. It is probably owing to the 
intermixture,- that covies have been seen 
pied, party-coloured, or white. 
In shooting partridges, pointers and set- 
ters are usually employed ; they should be 
thoroughly staunch, and perfectly under 
command. The best pointers are of a tall 
stature, rather light than heavy, in the 
limbs, with small heads, deep chests, and, 
lank about the abdomen. The more white 
about them, the better they will be distin- 
guished, especially towards the close of day. 
All dogs that stand, or set, ought to quar- 
ter their ground well, and should naturally 
turn to windward ; so as neither to blink, 
nor to run up, the birds. Though setters 
are much used by poachers, yet many gen- 
tlemen prefer t.em to pointers ; but they 
answer for low coverts only, such as clover 
and stubbles. The poachers work by night, 
and prefer open countries to such as are 
enclosed ; especially when they use the tun- 
nel-net. To prevent them from catching 
birds with that destructive machine, a few 
young partridges should be got early in the 
season ; these having their bearing claws 
cut off, cannot run, but always spring, and 
induce the whole covey to rise. To obviate 
the ordinary mode of netting birds at night, 
the stubbles should be bushed ; that is, a 
number of strips of aglantine, dog-rose, or 
even large thistles, should be laid about in 
the fields ; that the net may be intercepted, 
and the birds be alarmed. 
With regard to the variety of partridges, 
it would be almost endless to describe 
them : in some countries, they are of a fine 
black on the breast, where each feather 
bears a white spot about the size of a pea ; 
the rest of the body being strongly marked 
with game-feathers. The red-legged par- 
tridge is a native of hot climates ; it is a 
beautiful bird, grows very large, and is pe- 
culiarly marked with yellow near the eyes, 
while the breast bears a large dark-colour- 
ed crescent. Whatever is of a red, or glow- 
ing colour, attracts these birds greatly ; 
hence they are very keen in swallowing 
red-hot cinders, &c. which, however, soon 
kill them. This bird is possessed of great 
speed, and after running for some distance, 
generally into a covert, will crouch, and al- 
low the dogs to be on the point of seizing, be- 
fore he will take wing. There are very few 
of tliis breed in England / what there are seem 
to be purely accidental. When wounded, 
they go to ground in rabbit burrows, &c. 
The Black-grouse, which is a species of 
partridge, is found chiefly on extensive 
woods, in the northern parts of Britain; 
