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THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
long. In England the pheasant is protected in preserves, and poaching is 
punished by severe penalties. There the bird is quite numerous, and fur¬ 
nishes splendid sport to those whose wealth enables them to indulge in the 
pleasure. It is a strange fact that the pheasant , when proper opportunity 
offers, will mate as readily with other birds as with members of its own 
species, so that in England hybrids between it and barn-yard fowls are quite 
common. Indeed, cock pheasants have been known many times to beat the 
autocrat of the barn-yard and usurp his place among the hens. 
The English Partridge (.Perdix cinereus ) is a bird which forms one of 
the connecting links between pheasants and quails. By the protection given 
it in game-kept preserves, the partridge is plentiful in England, as well as in 
a greater part of Europe. Like the pheasant, the partridge builds a nest upon 
the ground, and lays therein a dozen eggs, and sometimes more, which are 
hatched in about seventeen days. It is a singular fact that the partridge and 
pheasant exchange nests occasionally, so that the eggs found in one nest may 
ENGLISH PARTRIDGE. 
