410 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK. 



"doubling" tlie fences with a steady dog to flnsli the 

 birds. Advantage is likewise taken by some persons of 

 the altered character of the red-legs when the snow is 

 on the ground, for by flushing them again and again, 

 and following them up directly, the birds become 

 sufficiently exhausted to be run down, one after the 

 other ; a method not unfrequently adopted by poachers 

 in districts not strictly preserved. Under similar 

 circumstances our English birds, if they seek cover 

 at all, betake themselves to the thickest plantations, 

 frequenting the hedgerows even less than at other 

 times, but they prefer, for the most part, the open fields, 

 where their dark forms are plainly visible on the white 

 ground, and where they are more difficult than ever 

 to approach within shot. There is no reason, however, 

 to suppose from this habit, that the red -leg is more 

 susceptible of cold than the grey partridge, as, with the 

 same opportunities of procuring food, I have never 

 found their condition affected by the sharpest weather ; 

 indeed, they come to us from a country where the 

 winters are uniformly more severe than our own. 



They frequent both heavy and light lands; and I 

 have frequently found them plentiful on heavy-land 

 farms, where the English birds have been comparatively 

 scarce, thus filling a void; for as French birds thrive 

 well where, before their introduction, the grey partridge 

 was not found, it is unfair to suppose that the absence 

 of the latter is now owing to the pugnacity of the 

 red-legs. In such localities, by pursuing them in wet 

 weather, when the sticky soil prevented their running, 

 I have been pretty successful in making a bag; and 

 they may be readily killed during a drenching shower, 

 if the gun-caps or cartridges will but go off when 

 required. Strong on the wing, and not often affording 

 a close shot, they require very hard hitting, and will 

 frequently carry off the best part of a charge to die 



