


































FOREST AND STREAM. 





[DEc. 14, 1907. 


ALERT, 
elevating his ruff until they stood out almost 
straight, while his top-knot stood on end, as he 
majestically paraded before me a few steps, when 
he disappeared from my sight behind a grassy 
bog. I was there in less than a second frantically 
kicking among the bogs in order to force a rise, 
but there was never a rise, nor did I again see 
him until he was two gunshots away, when I 
heard him rise and saw him as he burst from the 
middle of the narrow strip of bogs and took his 
way toward a thicket of pines, where it was use- 
less to follow him. 
This trick of running away is by no means a 
common one, although I have known many in- 
stances of the kind, and have often heard hunters 
complain that this exasperating performance had 
been played on them. 
There is one habit that is common to the whole 
race so far as I have been able to learn, and I 
have yet to meet the shooter who does not heart- 
ily condemn it, for this trait nearly spoils the 
pleasure of pursuing them for two or three weeks 
soon after the season opens. In September, 
usually, these birds seem to be posessed of the 
very spirit of unrest, taking wing without ap- 
parent cause, and flying away into the unknown 
aimlessly and often in a direction that leads them 
away from all cover. At this time, the country 
papers often contain accounts of partridges flying 
against buildings and killing themselves, or per- 
haps their erratic flight is through an open door 
or a window, but, so far as I have been able to 
learn, all such accidents occur when a dense fog 
prevails. At this season they also devote a large 
share of the day to wandering long distances at 
a rate of speed that often puts the best of dogs at 
fault, for, long before he comes to the end of the 
erratic trail, the bird has flown, leaving its pur- 
suers in a bewildered state, not conducive to the 
enjoyment of that peace of mind and sweet con- 
tent which should obtain when seeking pleasure in 
the sports of the field. This behavior is variously 
known as “running time,” “crazy time,” or “wild 
time.” All of these are appropriate, but “crazy” 
seems to be the better word. Although I have 
no doubt that there is “method in their madness,” 
for I sincerely believe that bird or beast, or any 
created thing that possesses a trait, characteristic 
or instinct common to its race but does the will 
of an all-wise Creator when obeying the prompt- 
ings of nature. I have often heard and read that 
the falling of the leaves frightens the bird into 
this state, but it seems to me presumptuous to 
believe that He who created every living thing 
should implant in the hearts of those dwellers 
among the forests fear of any cause or effect that 
nature’s laws ordain. 
While it is true that this season of unrest is 
usually coincident with the falling of the leaf, it 
is also true that it is often the case that it begins 
long before a leaf has fallen. I remember several 
seasons when the leaves did not begin to fall until 
this period was over, and I also well remember 
more than one season when a “crazy time” did not 
begin until long after the trees were nearly bare. 
I shall not attempt a solution of this interesting 
problem, but will merely suggest that perhaps this 
may be a provision of nature to separate the 
members of the different broods, in order to 
prevent inbreeding; or it is possible that the in- 
stinct to wander was implanted in their breasts 
to scatter them abroad in the land and thus popu- 
late places that otherwise would be desolate. At 
all events, these last two conditions appear to be 
accomplished, whatever other purpose may be 
served by their seemingly aimless wanderings. 
Many writers insist that food supply alone in- 
fluences the distribution of this as well as other 
birds and animals that are undomesticated, but 
so far as my experience goes, this is not nearly 
always the case, for I have repeatedly found large 
tracts of country that, to all appearances, were 
nearly destitute of food of any description, where 
birds were always to be found in abundance. 
This has been notably the case with the partridge, 
and I have often wondered why certain apparently 
barren sections of country should be the chosen 
home of this bird, while good looking coverts not 
far distant, abounding in food of various kinds, 
should be so nearly desolate that time spent in 
looking them over was nearly always wasted. It 
is not because the birds were bred in these barren 


places that they make it their home, for many 
times I have shot in such places during the season 
several times as many birds as could have been! 
bred there. I well remember one famous cover! 
of this description that in early days I visited] 
many times nearly every season for twenty years, 
This cover was known to every one in the vicin- 
ity as Scrub Oak Hill. It was rightly named, for 
nearly the entire growth consisted of crooked and 
sprawling scrub oak bushes from eight to twelve 
feet in height, with underneath scattered clumps 
of the dwarf growing bush known as Jersey tea. 
There was not, so far as I could discover, the 
slightest trace of any food that these birds ever 
eat upon the entire tract, although I gave the 
matter considerable attention, and carefully! 
sought for something in this line that would sat-| 
isfactorily explain why it was that birds in abund- 
ance were nearly always to be found here. I ex- 
amined hundreds of the stunted acorns that grew) 
upon the scrub oaks, but never found a single one 
with anything more inside than a dried-up brown- 
ish substance that was entirely lacking in nutri-| 
ment, as the birds undoubtedly well knew, for I 
never found a single acorn in the craw of one of 
the many that I examined. My researches in this| 
direction failed for the most part to find anything! 
in the way of food, except occasionally a green| 
leaf or two or a few blades of grass; but for the! 
most part, the craw would be entirely empty.) 
Nevertheless, this barren spot was a favorite re-| 
sort for the birds, and many times I have shot) 
more than a hundred here during the season, 
often bagging every bird, only to find upon my! 
next visit, perhaps within a day or two that the! 
cover was again as abundantly stocked as before. | 
Where they all came from was also a mystery to 
me, for the nearest cover was more than a quar-| 
ter of a mile distant, with no other in any direc- | 
tion within a mile. 
The partridge subsists upon so varied an-as- | 
sortment of food that it is impossible to decide 
| 





just what its favorite dish is. I have examined 
the craws of many hundreds in order to deter- 
mine this point, but am no nearer a decision than 
when I began my researches, for the apparent 
result of the investigation of one day would 
nearly always be overthrown by later inquiry. In 
sections where some one variety of food eaten by 
them was abundant, I have often found the craw 
filled with other food that appeared comparative- 
ly scarce in the vicinity, and that but little if any 
of the former had been used; then in other sec- 
tions where the food conditions were reversed, I 
have also found the contents of the craw entirely 
different from what I expected. I long ago de- 
cided that nothing was proven by this, except per- 
haps that these birds were very like myself in the 
selection of a dinner. A large proportion of their 
diet, at least during the fall months, consists of 
the leaves of a large variety of plants, blades of 
grass, berries of various sorts, although the so- 
called partridge berry I have very rarely found— 
indeed I am sure that half a dozen instances will 
cover every case that has come under my notice 
—and in all of these not more than one or two 
berries were found in any case. Chestnuts are 
a favorite food with them, and I have often found 
in a single craw quite a handful of them. They 
are also partial to acorns, especially those of the 
white oak, although I have frequently found those 
of the red oak—greatly to my surprise, as I could 
scarcely believe that they could swallow so large 
a pill as those I have found in their craw. 
[TO BE CONTINUED. ] 
































