them in the oblique cases shorten the penultima of the noun; as Archilochus does where he writes—
[Greek: ptôssousan hôs te perdika],
in the same way as [Greek: ortyga] and [Greek: choinika] have the penultima short. But it is usually made long by the Attic writers. Sophocles, in his Camici, says—
A man arrived, who in the famous hills
Of Attica is a namesake of the partridge ([Greek: perdikos]).
And Pherecrates, or whoever it was who wrote the Chiron, says—
He goes against his will, like any partridge ([Greek: perdikos tropon].
And Phrynichus, in his Tragedians, says—
And Cleombrotus the son of Perdix ([Greek: Perdikos]),
(for the bird is sometimes cited as a model of lasciviousness).
Nicophon, in his Handicraftsmen, says—
The hepseti, and all those partridges ([Greek: perdikas]).
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 ([Greek: perdikas]) 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.
42. "But it is a very ill-disposed and cunning animal; and moreover it is much devoted to amatory enjoyments; on which account it breaks the eggs of its hen, that it may not be deprived of her while she is hatching them; and therefore the hen, knowing this, runs away and hides her eggs." And Callimachus gives the same account in his treatise on Birds. And the single birds fight with one another, and the one which is defeated becomes the mate of the conqueror. But Aristotle says that they all in turn use the bird which has been defeated as their mate, and that the tame birds also
