COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 
293 
In the month of March the Spaniards begin the sport of 
hunting with the “ Reclamo,” that is to say, they place a 
tame male Redlegged Partridge in a cage, within shot; 
his challenge quickly decoys all the wild males in the 
neighbourhood, who, without exception, are in full 
readiness to enter the lists, and, of course, fall to the 
gun of the fowler. This sport, with the male as a decoy, 
finishes by the end of April; each cock bird has fought 
for and won his mate, and has, therefore, no further 
need to seek other adventures. The fowler now changes 
his method; he brings, instead, a female decoy bird, 
and in a minute all the males in the neighbourhood 
appear on the scene; not, indeed, the bachelors only, 
but also respectable fathers of families, whose legitimate 
partners are occupied with the cares of breeding, and 
cannot thus become acquainted with the short-comings 
of their husbands. The fact that males, which have 
already paired, are to be seduced by the voice of the 
tender charmer, is amply proved by the number of 
widows which one sees in June and July at the head of 
the half-grown coveys. With our Gray Partridge such 
temptations have not been tried, though I doubt much 
if they would be any better able to resist them than 
their red-legged cousins. 
With the exception of such rare cases of infidelity, the 
married life of birds, so to speak, is happy and guileless 
enough, well worthy, indeed, of our imitation. Let the 
pair be ever so aged their mutual affection shows no 
falling off; it always remains the same; and each spring 
adds fresh fuel to the flame. The tenderness of one mate 
to the other, no matter how long they have lived together, 
is unalterable. Both birds alike assist in fulfilling the 
numberless duties of the breeding season; the male 
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