File:A hand-book to the game-birds (1896) (14749481942).jpg

Identifier: handbooktogamebia01ogil (find matches)
Title: A hand-book to the game-birds
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Ogilvie-Grant, W. R. (William Robert), 1863-1924
Subjects: Game and game-birds
Publisher: London : E. Lloyd
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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fectly similar to those of the adult, while the pointed firstflight-feather is retained till the following autumn moult. Theonly reliable character for distinguishing the sexes at all ages,except in very young birds in their first plumage, is in the mark-ings of the lesser and median wing-coverts and scapulars, the buffcross-bars in the female being an unmistakable mark, and quitesufficient to distinguish her from the male at a glance. It isnow some years since we first drew attention to these ratherimportant differences which had hitherto been entirely over-looked, and we may now safely say, that though many people,especially sportsmen, were at first disinclined to believe in thischaracter being a sexual difference, and tested it severely, ithas, so far, never been found to fail. To convince gamekeepersof these facts is in most cases a hopeless task—that the horse-shoe mark on the breast is a certain sign of the male is bredin the bone, having been handed down as gospel for genera-
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THE TRUE PARTRIDGES. 147 tions. One Scotch keeper in particular, at a place where wehave enjoyed many a pleasant days Partridge-shooting, risesbefore our mind, and the remembrance of this excellent andextremely obstinate soul always makes us smile. Often atlunch-time have we started him on the Partridge question,merely for the fun of hearing him argue, and stick to hisopinion and that of his forefathers; and his politely increduloussmile on being shown by the help of a knife that some parti-cular bird with a large horse-shoe mark really was a female bydissection, had to be seen to be appreciated. But there aresome people who will never allow that they are mistaken, andas long as this good man remains, we may safely look forwardto many a half-hours amusement, though the dissection ofnumerous Partridges does not meet with our hosts entireapproval! It must be added that barren females are some-times met with in more or less perfect male plumage. Onebarren female (by dissection), in the N

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