Book 9
41
Nicophon, in his Handicraftsmen, says— The hepseti, and all those partridges (περδι·κας). But Epicharmus, in his Revellers, uses the word with the penultima short, where he says— They brought in cuttle-fish, who swim the deep, And partridges (πέρδικας) who fly in lofty air. And Aristotle gives the following account of the bird— "The partridge is a land bird, with cloven feet; and he lives fifteen years: but the female lives even more. For among all birds the female lives longer than the male. It lays eggs, and hatches its young itself, as the common hen does. And when it is aware that it is being hunted, it comes away from its nest, and rolls near the legs of the huntsman, giving him a hope that he may catch it; and so it deceives him, until its young have flown away, and then it flies away itself also.
