behind him. It is by such manoeuvres that good Sportsmen always obtain game, no matter how scarce it may be.

It is no uncommon thing, and we doubt not that many of our readers will have observed the habit that Partridges have of lying very close till the Sportsman has passed by, and then suddenly flirting up, and making off behind him, before he has time to turn around; therefore, we repeat again, don't be in too much of a hurry. Recollect also that the Partridge of America has been pronounced the most difficult of all Game Birds to find, or to kill when found, and that frequently they give forth no scent whatever for several minutes after they alight, and consequently will defy the cleverest Dogs to point them. Do not, therefore, be discouraged, either at your want of success in getting Birds up or your want of skill in bringing them down on all occasions, but take things coolly, and hunt your dogs patiently, more particularly when the Birds have flown to close cover.

It is not always prudent to follow Birds immediately into a thick covert overgrown with rank underbrush, as they will give forth a better odor in ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes after settling than they would at first. Some Birds, however, run the very moment they have struck cover, and thus may be lost altogether, as they move along pretty brisk when frightened, and after a lapse of fifteen minutes may be a mile off from where they pitched.

Your Dogs will naturally or rather soon learn to hunt along the sides of the fields adjoining cover, as Partridges do not affect the middle of the fields except in portions of the country where they are seldom or never hunted after.

English Dogs, we are satisfied, from personal observation, in fact, from actual experiment, for we have imported several, cannot at first find our Partridges with the same facility that our Dogs do; and we might go further, and say there never was an imported Dog over the age of two years that ever acquired the art of finding the American Partridge equal to our own breed of Pointers and Setters.

We might enlarge considerably on this subject, but we have already referred our readers to Youatt's work on the Dog, wherein will be found all that is interesting and useful on this head.

MEMORANDA.

1. Partridges are not migratory Birds, although great numbers show a disposition to shift their quarters at the Running

season.

2. The American Partridge is not a Quail, either in habits, appearance, or the flavor of its flesh.

3. Partridges commence pairing in March; period of incubation three weeks. The young are capable of locomotion as soon as freed from the shell, and are able to fly in three or four weeks.

4. Not susceptible of domestication to any great extent.

5. Partridges are granivorous, and said to be very partial to buckwheat.

6. It is not uncommon for them to produce two broods in

one season.

7. Young Birds have soft bills, and the legs yellowish or bluish, and are wanting of the cunning of the old Birds.

8. The English Bird is much larger than the American variety.

9. No use to follow Running Birds, as they will not lie to the Dogs.

10. Partridges the best game to break Dogs on.

11. Partridges are said to have the power of retaining their

scent.

12. A dry spring will generally produce plenty of Birds the following autumn.

13. If the weather has been wet and boisterous, look to the high ground for Birds; if, on the contrary, dry and warm, seek the low lands.

14. If the morning is fair and clear, the Birds will be on the move at an early hour; if wet and cold, they are loath to stir.

15. Take the field at as early an hour as possible. Don't be in too great a hurry to get over the ground; keep cool, and take your time.

16. Dogs should be taught to hunt up wind and quarter their ground without being bellowed at.

17. Pointers are better adapted for early shooting than Set

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ters; but, when the weather is cool, give us the never-flagging, never-to-be-stopped Setter.

18. Flush the game yourself-never allow your Dogs to do it. 19. Mark the covey as it goes off. Pay no heed to the dead Birds; your Dogs ought to find them.

20. When a Bird towers and falls suddenly, he is struck in the head.

BILL shortish, robust, slightly arched, rather obtuse, the base covered by a bare membrane; upper mandible with the dorsal

outline arched, the sides convex, the edges overlapping, the tip a little declinate; under mandible somewhat bulging towards the tip, the sides convex. Nostrils situated in the basal membrane, oblique, linear, covered by a cartilage.

Head small, flattened above, with a conical pendulous, erectile caruncle on the forehead. Neck slender. Body robust. Feet longish and strong; tarsus covered anteriorly with numer ous transverse scutella, scaly on the sides, scutellate behind'; toes scutellate above, scabrous, papillar, and flat beneath; hind toe elevated, half the length of the lateral toes, which are nearly equal, and much shorter than the middle toe; claws slightly arched, strong, convex above, obtuse, flat beneath. A conical, rather obtuse spur on the tarsus, about two-thirds down. Conical papilla of the forehead rugose, sparsely covered with bristles. Head bare, and corrugated, the skin irregularly raised, and covered with a few scattered bristles.

External ear margined with short and slender thin feathers. Neck also bare, corrugated, beset anteriorly and below with a series of oblong, irregular, cavernous caruncles, interspersed with small, bristly feathers.

Plumage in general compact, glossy, with metallic reflection. Feathers double, as in other gallinaceous Birds, generally oblong and truncated. A pendulous tuft of long bristles from the upper part of the breast. Wings shortish, convex, rounded, consisting of eighteen broad, rounded feathers, capable of being erected and expanded in a permanent manner, when the Bird is excited, and reaching nearly to the ground, when the Bird stands erect.

Bill, yellowish-brown. Frontal caruncle blue and red. Rugose and carunculated skin of the head and neck of various tints of blue and purple, the pendulous anterior caruncles of the latter, or the wattles, bright red, changing to blue. Iris hazel, legs and toes bright purplish-red; claws brown. Upper part of the back and wings brownish-yellow, with metallic lustre, changing to deep purple, the truncated tips of the feathers broadly margined with velvet black. On the middle and lower back, the black terminal bands of the feathers almost conceal the bronze color. The large quill coverts are of the