THE MOVEMENTS. 
35 
to find their food; others never rest,* such as the Frigate 
bird and the Swallow; yet they are always as fresh and 
joyous in the evening as they were in the morning. 
There are, indeed, those less privileged that are unable 
to do this, and in untoward circumstances they become 
so dead-beat as to lose all further use of their pinions. 
All birds that shun the presence of man or predatory 
animals lose their self-control, and allow themselves to 
be taken by the hand. In storms migratory birds often 
seek ships for shelter and rest; migrating Quails reach 
the sea-shore from the opposite coast quite powerless; 
and the red-legged Partridge (Perdix rubra), as I have been 
again and again assured by a Spanish sportsman, can be 
taken in pursuit, if it has previously been flushed several 
times together in rapid succession, and especially during 
the hot summer months, f Swimming birds and birds 
that run, if they are continuously hunted by several 
persons, may at length be overcome by fatigue : but this 
kind of sport requires much time. The Ostrich (Struthio 
camelis) shows this, for it can only be outstripped by 
several relays of riders mounted on steeds fleet as the 
wind in pursuit along the desert, because it always has 
its eye upon the motions of a single pursuer; for while 
one huntsman follows the bird in all its motions, the 
rest cut off all the angles of the chase. As a general 
rule, the endurance of all birds is remarkably great. The 
* A rather broad assertion.— TV. J. 
+ What Dr. Brehm states here, with regard to the red-legged Partridge being 
taken by the hand, has been known to occur in the hunting-field in this country; and 
I have heard it stated by several people in Essex, that in the southern district of the 
country, parties of eight or ten persons are not unfrequently made up, at which these 
birds are regularly ridden down on horseback, and as many as several brace taken 
in the course of the day’s sport: heavy land and wet weather are, however, 
indispensable for this amusement, the birds being unable to run, by reason of their 
feet becoming clogged with the soil.— W. J. 
