Lhe Common Partridge. 207 
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black and reddish-brown; the two middle feathers of 
the tail match the back, the others are rust-red.. The 
female has no horse-shoe on the breast, and the rust- 
colour round the -beak is less red. Length, thirteen 
inches. Eggs olive brown. 
The most striking part of the male bird’s plumage 
is the horse-shoe, as that beautiful patch of dark 
brown on the breast is called ; the general appearance 
of. the upper feathers at a distance resembles the 
colour of the ground, and when crouching among 
dead leaves, it is not easily detected. | 
Partridges pair early in spring, although the female 
does not make her nest till May, and at that time of 
the year these birds may be heard calling, when the 
sun has sunk from our view; at such seasons they are 
very pugnacious, and the coveys break up into pairs. 
The nest of this bird is only a few dried leaves or 
pieces of straw placed in a shallow hole, which it has 
recently scratched, where it deposits its eggs, the 
number of which vary from twelve to eighteen; hay, 
clover, and corn-fields are very favourite places for 
its nest, as also open cultivated ground. Here, when 
