The COMMON PARTRIDGE (_Perdix cinerea_, or _Starna cinerea_) is
distinguishable from the above birds by the coloration of its plumage,
by the plates protecting the feet forming two distinct rows both before
and behind, by the absence of the spur-like wart on the tarsus, and by
the formation of its wing, the third, fourth, and fifth quills of which
are longer than the rest; the tail is composed of sixteen or eighteen
feathers. In this species the brow, a broad line above and behind the
eye, and the sides of the head and throat, are light rust-red, the rest
of the head is brown, marked with yellow, and the grey beak is striped
with rust-red; the feathers are delicately traced with black zigzag lines,
and have light shafts: a broad dark band, varied with black, adorns the
breast, and passes along both sides of the belly, where it is interrupted
by various rust-red streaks, surrounded by a white line. The white belly
has a large horseshoe-shaped brown spot at its centre; the rump-feathers
and those in the centre of the tail are streaked with shades of brown; the
primary quills are pale brownish black, spotted with reddish yellow. The
eye is nut-brown, the eye-space and stripe that passes behind it are both
red, the beak is blueish grey, and the foot reddish grey or brown; the
female is smaller than her mate, and less pleasing in her colour: her back
is darker, and her belly without the brown patch in its centre. The male
is twelve inches long and twenty broad, and the wing measures six, and the
tail three inches.
The Common Partridge is almost exclusively a European bird. Mr. Gould
states that in his extensive observations he has never met with a single
species either from Africa or Asia. Temminck, however, tells us that it
visits Egypt and the shores of Barbary, and Russian naturalists have
included it among the birds found between the Caspian and Black Seas,
south of the Caucasus.
In Europe it is extensively distributed in all suitable localities, and
inhabits all the level parts of England and Scotland.
It frequents cultivated land and corn-fields, ranging sometimes into
neighbouring waste ground covered with furze and broom. It runs with great
rapidity when alarmed, but often squats close to the ground and flies
off when nearly approached. The food of the Partridge consists of corn,
grain of various kinds, peas, seeds, and tender shoots of grass; it also
consumes insects and larvæ of many kinds, that would otherwise injure the
crops. It feeds principally in the early morning and late in the evening,
when coveys of these birds may be met with in fields of corn or stubble,
according to the season. During the day they frequent pasture lands, and
sun and dust themselves in dry bare places, or bask under hedgerows. In
the evening their sharp shrill call-note is heard as they collect together
to roost on the ground. The coveys, which assemble in the latter part of
the autumn, and keep together during the winter, separate again early in
the spring, when pairing-time begins.
The nest is merely a slight hollow in the ground, lined with a few dried
leaves, or bits of grass scraped together; it is usually placed beneath a
tuft of grass, among standing corn, or even by the road-side.
The eggs are from twelve to twenty, and of a greenish brown tint;
occasionally, a greater number are found, but these are not supposed to be
the produce of one bird. The female alone broods, guarding her nest with
zealous anxiety, but her partner is also on the watch, lest danger should
approach.
The following instance of the care of the Partridge for her eggs is
related by Mr. Jesse:--"A gentleman living near Spilsby, in Lincolnshire,
who was one day riding over his farm superintending his men as they
ploughed a piece of fallow land, saw a Partridge glide off her nest so
near the foot of one of his plough-horses that he thought the eggs must
have been crushed: this, however, was not the case; but he found that
the old bird was on the point of hatching, as several of the eggs were
beginning to chip. He observed the old bird return to her nest the instant
that he left the spot. It was evident that the next round of the plough
must bury the nest and eggs in the furrow. His surprise was great, when
returning with the plough, he came to the spot and saw the nest indeed,
but the eggs and bird were gone. An idea struck him that she had removed
her eggs, and he found her before he left the field sitting under the
hedge upon twenty-one eggs. The round of ploughing had occupied about
twenty minutes, and in this short time she, assisted by the cock bird, had
removed the twenty-one eggs to a distance of about forty yards."
Another interesting anecdote is thus related by Mr. Murkwick:--"As I
was hunting with an old pointer the dog came upon a brood of very small
Partridges, the old bird cried, fluttered, and ran tumbling along, just
before the dog's nose, till she had drawn him to a considerable distance,
when she took wing and flew still further off, but not out of the field;
on this the dog returned to me near the place where the young ones lay
concealed in the grass. This the bird no sooner perceived than she flew
back again to us, settled before the dog's nose again, and by rolling and
tumbling about drew off his attention from her young and thus preserved
her brood a second time. I have also seen," continues the same writer,
"when a Kite has been hovering over a covey of young Partridges, the old
birds fly up at the bird of prey, screaming and fighting with all their
might to preserve their brood."
Of the same daring spirit Mr. Selby gives the following remarkable
instance:--"A person engaged in a field not far from his residence,
had his attention arrested by some objects on the ground, which upon
approaching he found to be two Partridges, a male and female, engaged in
battle with a Carrion Crow; so successful and so absorbed were they in
the issue of the contest, that they actually held the Crow till it was
seized and taken from them by the spectator of the scene. Upon search, the
young birds (very lately hatched) were found concealed in the grass. It
would appear that the Crow (a mortal enemy to all kinds of young game),
in attempting to carry off one of these, had been attacked by the parent
birds, with the above singular result."
The eggs of Partridges are frequently hatched under a Domestic Hen, and
the young reared on ants' eggs, curds, and grits, with a little green
food, when old enough they should be fed with grain. They are easily
tamed, though it is said they never wholly forget their wild origin. An
account is given by Daniell of one of these birds that became an inmate of
a clergyman's house, which long after its full growth entered the parlour
at breakfast and other times, received food from any hand, and stretched
itself before the fire, the warmth of which it seemed to enjoy.
* * * * *
The FRANCOLINS (_Francolinus_) are distinguishable by their moderately
long, powerful, and slightly-hooked beak, and by the two spurs upon their
foot. The tail, composed of fourteen feathers, is either quite straight or
gently rounded at its extremity; the third or fourth wing-quill exceeds
the rest in length. The thick plumage is often much variegated. The male
and female are usually alike in size, colour, and markings. These birds
inhabit the southern portions of Asia, and are very numerously met with on
the continent of Africa. Some species frequent level plains, while others
live in forests; when disturbed they conceal themselves in the brushwood
in the thickest part of the jungle, not venturing forth again till all
danger has disappeared. Should no hiding-place be near, they endeavour to
escape by running, and have only recourse to their wings when the danger
is very urgent. In their general habits they very much resemble the true
Partridges; they breed at the same season, testify the same care and
devotion for their young, and are equally prolific. They differ, however,
from Partridges, inasmuch as they do not frequent cultivated grounds,
but prefer the neighbourhood of woods, where they seem to select damp
localities overgrown with reeds. They live upon berries quite as much
as upon grain, and seek eagerly for such worms and insects as abound in
marshy soil. The African species feed on small bulbous roots which they
dig from the ground with their beaks. They are very fond of perching upon
trees, especially during the night, and their call is much more harsh
and noisy than that of the Partridge. Their flesh is excellent. (See
XXIX.--Coloured Plate--Sanguine Francolin, _Ithaginis cruentus_.)