made at the distance of about three yards ; and she remained on her nest during the time the work was 
going on, and is still sitting, though at the funeral there were many persons standing round the grave and 
several on the flat tombstone. — June 21, 1870.” 
To say that AA'ith us the Partridge is migratory would be incorrect ; but it appears to be certain that it 
does occasionally change its locale, so as to almost desert an estate on which it has been plentiful, and take 
up its quarters on an adjoining one. I believe, however, that they merely sojourn there for a time, and 
return to the district in which they.were bred. The reverse, however, is the case on the Continent. There, 
when the rigour of winter covers the face of the northern and central parts of Germany with deep snow 
for three months at a time, the Partridges of those districts cannot exist. Burrowing beneath the snow is, I 
am aware, occasionally resorted to ; hut the temperature, when it falls below zero, speedily urges the birds to 
remove further south, where gi*asses and other plants may still be found. While travelling over the northern 
part of Europe in winter, I have seen numbers of coveys huddled together for the sake of warmth. 
Partridges occasionally occur clothed in a very singular chestnut-coloured livery. By some persons these 
are regarded as a distinct species, by others as a cross between a Partridge and a Grouse or the Common 
Partridge and the Red-leg : for myself I am confident that they are not due to either cause ; at the same 
time I must admit that I am unable to throw any light on the subject of these abnormally coloured birds ; in 
size they do not differ from the common species ; and usually both sexes have the horseshoe mark on the 
breast ; but in many of the females from the chalk-districts it is white instead of chestnut-coloured ; some- 
times the females of a whole covey cire so distinguished. 
There is, perhaps, no one of our game birds that gives more pleasure to the sportsman than the Partridge 
does, and is still likely to do — the Grouse, which principally inhabit the northern portion of the British 
Islands, annually becoming more scarce, and the Partridge encroaching upon the lands from Avhich the 
Grouse have been driven by the process of clearing and cultivation ; what is loss to the one, therefore, 
is gain to the other. Those whom circumstances do not permit to visit the heather-clothed hills of 
Scotland, Wales, or Ireland on the 12th of August take up their guns on the 1st of September and traverse 
the parched lowlands, where numerous great “ hags” are from time to time made on the estates of rich 
landed proprietors ; hut as an enumeration of the many instances on reeord would merely serve to amuse 
those who are fond of sport, and not answer any scientific purpose, I omit them, contenting myself with 
mentioning that fifty, and even a hundred, brace are said to have fallen to the gun of a good shot in a single 
day ; and where “ driving” is resorted to, as it frequently is in most of our midland counties, five or six 
hundred birds are often counted at the end of a day’s sport. 
“ The Partridge,” says the Rev. C. A. Johns, “ though decorated with no brilliant colours, which would 
tend to thwart it in its habit of concealing Itself among vegetation of the same general hue as Itself, is a 
beautiful bird. Its gait is graceful, its feet small and light, its head well raised, and its plumage, though 
devoid of striking contrasts, is exquisitely pencilled, each feather on the hack and breast being veined like 
the gauzy wings of a fly. The most conspicuous part of the plumage of the male bird, the horseshoe on 
its breast, is invisible, as it walks or crouches ; and the general tone is that of the soil. The nest is merely a 
depression in the ground into which a few straws or dead leaves have been drawn. When the hen is sitting, 
the male bird remains in the neighbourhood, and gives timely warning of the approach of danger ; when the 
eggs are hatched he accompanies his mate, and shares in the work of teaching the young to shift for them- 
selves. The food of both old and young is to a great extent insects ; the young are especially fond of 
ants and their larvae. The number of eggs varies from ten to fifteen or more. The character of the 
Partridge’s flight is familiar to most people. Simultaneously wltli the startled cry of alarm from the cock 
comes a loud whir-r-r, as of a spinning-wheel ; away fly the whole party in a body, keeping a horizontal, 
nearly straight line. In turns each bird ceases to heat its wings, and sails on for a few yards with extended 
pinions, then plies its wings again, and, if it has so long escaped the fowler, may consider itself out of 
danger; for its flight, though laboured, is tolerably rapid. 
“ The call of the Partridge is mostly uttered in the evening, as soon as the beetles begin to buzz. The 
birds are now proceeding to roost, whieh they always do in the open field, the covey forming a circle with 
their heads outwards, to he on the watch against their enemies, of whom they have many. They feed for 
the most part in the middle of the day, and vary in size according to the abundance of their favourite food.” 
The plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size. The plant is the Bladder Catch-fly or Campion 
{Silene injlatd). 
