Its eggs, which vary from seven to twelve in number, are sometimes laid on the bare earth, under the shadow of a rock or some plant; their colour is white, with sometimes a green, yellow, or reddish tinge; they are blotted and spotted with dark brown. The laying does not commence until June; incubation lasts three weeks. The young at first feed on insects.
The scientific name of this bird is _Tetrao lagopus_, the meaning of which has already been explained, and _Lagopus vulgaris_, that is, common, or mutus--changeable, in allusion to the variation in the colour of the plumage.
This is one of the best-known and most-esteemed of our native game birds; its scientific name is _Perdix cinerea_, the first term meaning a Partridge, and the last ash-coloured, the prevailing tint of the plumage of this species being ashy grey and brown, with a reddish tinge throughout. Beautifully marked and mottled is the dress of the plump little Partridge, as our readers know well,--delicately barred, and pencilled, and variegated, as if to shew what glorious effects may be produced with two or three colours only.
Partridges are tolerably plentiful in nearly all parts of Great Britain, where cultivation has smoothed the rugged features of the landscape; for, unlike the Grouse, which retreat as man advances further and further into the wilds of nature, these birds seldom go far from the farm and the home plantations. Coveys, as the family parties are called, are sometimes met with on the edges of moors, and they often wander, as Mr. Morris tells us, to wastes and commons; but their home is not there; the clover, turnip, grass, or stubble field is their cover and resting-place; there, and in the coppice and along the hedge-row they feed, and build their nests, if the placing a few loose straws in a hole scratched in the ground can be called building; there they lay their eggs, generally ten or twelve in number, although sometimes more, and of a uniform pale greenish brown colour. Early in the spring, from the first to the middle of February, may the not unpleasing call--_chicurr, chicurr_--of these birds be heard; and towards the end of May, or the beginning of June, the nest will most likely be quite finished. The hen bird alone sits, the male keeping watch, and, when the covey are hatched, assisting to feed and protect them from their numerous foes. The chicks run directly they are out of the shell, frequently with portions of it sticking to them; they are very lively and nimble, and so escape many dangers. But one brood is reared in the year, unless the first eggs are taken, in which case others will be laid, and the work of incubation recommenced, although the eggs will be less in number, and the young, it is said, weaker. It is related by Mr. Jesse, as a curious fact, that "when young Partridges are hatched, and have left the nest, the two portions of the shell will be found placed one within the other." We have observed this in eggs of the Common Fowl, and believe with the above-named naturalist that it is done by the chicks themselves, in their efforts to escape from their confinement.