ENEMIES OF THE PARTEIDGE 163 



no decrease was noticeable in the number of 

 the rabbits ; always the signs of their '' traffic " 

 on the mounds near the burrows seemed to be 

 fresh ; and, in the moonhght, when fear of dog 

 and hawk was forgotten, they moved hither and 

 thither by the margin of the tangles, and, ventur- 

 ing even into the middle of the field near the 

 roosting-place of the partridges, fed and played 

 without a thought of death. Sometimes a 

 hunted rabbit escaped by leading her enemies in 

 and out of the tortuous trails through the under- 

 growth, where, at every step, the scent of 

 other conies crossed her own and baffled close 

 pursuit. 



In the early morning and late afternoon 

 these cross-scents were so strong and numerous 

 that the partridges, while wandering between 

 the outer line of the furze-brakes and the 

 hedges, seemed to be surrounded by a different 

 atmosphere from that of the open fields, and 

 their movements rarely excited the curiosity of 

 the weasels or the stoats, unless the animals 

 chanced to arrive at a spot where the brood 

 had lately " dusted " in the dry loam near a 

 gap, and where the scent of the birds' bodies — 

 far more powerful than the scent of their claws 

 and legs — could be readily distinguished from 

 anything indicating the presence of the rabbits. 



In a small but dense covert on the hillside, 



