The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1872-07-13
The Partridge.

There is no kinder mother in the world
than the partridge, aud none whose love for
| its offspring is put To greater tests Truly
these gentle birds have many enemies.
| They make their nests on the ground, in
the wheat fields or hay fields, and they have
to guard against dogs and hawks, and
cats and foxes, but most of all against men I;
for though partridge.shooting does not be-
gin till the first of October, their nests
are often destroyed before that time by the
hay makers or the reapers, whose long
scythes NOV down the sheltcring grass in
which they have fancied themselves safe,
and sometimes kill the poor mother-bird
while sitting on her nest. But the partridge
is such a devoted mother that she will
often remain on her nest, and die rather
than leave il.
One OF these birds has been known to
have been found sitting upon its eggs, and
being taken by a laborer, to have made no
attempt to escape, allowing herself TO be
carried away with her eggs rather than leave
them.
After the eggs arc hatched, the mother
partridge has greater trouble in keeping
her little ones safe. The carrion. crow
sometimes tries to seize one for his dinner.
saw two partridges fighting with O crow.
The battle was SO furious that none of the
birds noticed the man till he had time to
come up and seize the crow, and so let the
partridges win the day. When he looked
among The long grass near which the battle
had been Eught, he saw the young partridg.
es hidden there.
Sometimes the enemy of the partridge is
so strong that they cannot fight with him,
and then they try many curious plans to
draw him away from their nest. A gentle
man one day saw partridge come out of a
ditch and run along shivering with her wings
US it she were wounded. While he was
watching her, boy who was following him
saw the little partridges, which were too
young TO fly, running for shelter INTO an old
fox hole, while the mother pretended to be
wounded, and ran slowly before the gentle.
man 10 lead him away from where the young
ones were hid.
A farmer discovered partridge sitting
upon its eggs in a grass-iield. The birI
allowed him to pass his hand down its bacl
without moving or showing any kind O
fear but 4 he attempted to touch the eggs
the poor bird Immediately pecked at hi
! hand.
| A gentleman was one day riding over hi
farm while the plowmen were pl owing tn,
fields. lie saw partridge slip z entity OF
her nest, so near the foot ofOne OF his pillow
horses, that he thought the eggs must bc
crushed. This, however, was not the case
The nest had escaped for that time but il
was plain that the next time the pillow pass
cd, it would bury nest and eggs in the fur
row. The gentleman had the curiosity L
come hack to see what would happen, and
when he returned with the pillow, the nes
was there, bnt both birds and eggs wer,
gone. In about twenty minutes, the time
which had been taken for the round of pillow
ing, the parent. birds had removed twenty
one eggs from the nest TO the hedge, dis
lance Of forty yards.
A gentleman who was trimming a youn
pointer was crossing a field, when the do
nan on brood OF very small partridges
The old bird cried, futtered, and ran tam
bling along just before the dogs nose, til
she had drawn him 10 considerable dis
lance, when she took wing and flew still
further off, but not out of the field. n0l
this, says the gentleman, ''the dog re
turned TO me, near which place the yoanI
ones lay concealed in the grass, which tn
old bird no sooner perceived than she lev
back again 10 us, settled Just before tn
dogs nose again, and by rolling and tumb
hing about drew his attention from he
young, and thus preserved her brood
second time"