This section across two folios of an early 13th century English bestiary shows the section on the partridge, a creature of fraudulent habits. The text shown in the following pages begins next to the little miniature of the partridge on f.52v and contiues on the next page down to beside the miniature of the next creature, the turtle dove. The script is a protogothic book hand in which the letters are angular and the small letters are composed of minims. However, it is not so laterally compressed as to create conjoined letters. It is a close call whether to designate this as a protogothic or an early Gothic textura script, but categories in paleography are never entirely definitive.

The little miniatures of each creature are painted on a gold ground. The language of the text is Latin and the work is of English origin. The segment we have used for this example shows certain definitive characteristics of the bestiary. A bit of dubious natural history is used to make a moral statement. The partridge was, at least, a real and familiar creature to the readers, unlike some of the inhabitants of the bestiary.