THE COMMON PARTRIDGE.
Tetrao Perdrix, Linnæus; La Perdrix grise, Buffon; Das gemeine Rebhuhn, Bechstein.
This well known bird, which is very fleshy, and has but few feathers, measures twelve inches and a half. Its beak is bluish, the feet brownish blush red; under each eye is a naked skin of a bright scarlet colour; the general colour of the plumage is brown and ash grey, mixed with black; the forehead, a streak above the eyes, and the throat, are fine chestnut brown; the fore part of the neck and the breast are ash grey, with very fine black lines; below the breast is a deep chestnut brown streak in the shape of a horse shoe, which is not found in the female, or at least not so large nor so clearly defined; the quill-feathers are dusky, with cross bands of rust red; the tail-feathers are rust brown.
Habitation.—The common partridge is found throughout Europe, in fields and adjoining woods: when in the open country, thickets and bushes serve as a retreat during the night. In wide plains, where the frosts are severe, and the snow so deep that the game is in danger of perishing, it is customary, in winter, to catch in a net as many as possible of these birds, and keep them in a warmed room with a high ceiling. If such a room cannot be had, the top of the room and windows should be hung with cloth, to prevent the frightened birds from injuring themselves.
Food.—In the house, when permitted to range, partridges may be fed on barley and wheat. They will also eat bread, the common universal paste, cabbage, beet, and lettuce; for they like green vegetables, and these are almost indispensable to their health. In a state of liberty, they generally feed in winter on the tops of grass and young springing seeds. In the summer, they eat clover and other green plants, as well as all kinds of grain. They often roll in moist sand, which they should be allowed to do in the house.
Breeding.—The best way to domesticate the partridge, is to rear it young, in which case it becomes extremely tame, and its habits are very pleasing. These young birds must be fed at first on ants’ eggs and hens' eggs boiled hard and chopped up with salad; afterwards they will eat barley and other dry food. The covey often consists of twenty young ones, which follow the mother as soon as they are hatched, and often fall in the way of mowers, shepherds, and huntsmen. I am persuaded that it would not be difficult to render these birds quite domestic, if the eggs were hatched by our barn-door fowls, in an open, yet enclosed place, clipping the wings of the young ones, allowing them to range, during the summer, in a garden surrounded with walls, and giving them plenty of food. Supposing that this plan did not quite succeed the first summer, one would have at least half-tamed birds, which, by following the same plan, would gradually become more and more accustomed to domestic food, the society of man, and would certainly at last breed in the house, like our common fowls.
THE COMMON QUAIL.
Tetrao coturnix, Linnæus; La Caille, Buffon; Die Wachtel, Bechstein.
This species is the most common of wild poultry kept in the house. It is rather more than seven inches in length. The beak is short and horn-coloured, dusky in summer, and ash grey in winter, like the partridge’s and common fowl’l; the iris is olive brown; the feet pale bluish red; on the upper part of the body are dusky and rust-red spots, with some small white streaks; the throat is dusky, surrounded with two chestnut brown bands; the front of the neck and the breast are pale rust red, with some longitudinal dark streaks; the belly is dusky white; the thighs are reddish grey; the quill-feathers are dark grey, crossed by many rust red lines; the tail is short, dark brown, with pale rust red streaks across it.