408 BIRDS OP NORFOLK. 



here proved the victor, it is doubtful which was the 

 rightful owner. If, however, to this grave charge, we 

 return the Scotch verdict of "not proven," the shy, 

 restless nature of this species, continually "footing it" 

 before the guns, and taking wing only when closely 

 pressed, or far out of reach of any ordinary fowKng 

 piece, renders it particularly obnoxious to sportsmen 

 in the more closely cultivated and enclosed portions 

 of the county. In such districts, many are the voUies 

 of something more than small shot, called forth by the 

 provoking habits of these birds in the early part of the 

 season. No sooner do the guns enter the turnips at one 

 end of the field, than the wary Frenchmen are seen 

 topping the opposite fences one after another, alighting 

 again on the adjoining stubbles, and, with heads erect, 

 making off at a most incredible pace. Scattering them- 

 selves in all directions, they unsettle the English birds 

 that would otherwise lie well in good cover, and, of 

 course, from their running before the dogs, were still more 

 objectionable under the old style of partridge shooting 

 with pointers or setters. Thus trying his patience in 

 every possible way, it is no great wonder if the sports- 

 man, under such circumstances, delights to bag every 

 red-leg he can, and considers no distance too far, to ^' let 

 fly" at his feathered tormentors. Nor is he repaid, after 

 all his trouble and many disappointments, by securing 

 a delicacy for the table, the chief attraction of this 

 species consisting far more in its handsome plumage 

 than its edible qualities. Undoubtedly a fine old 



the " Field," of June 20tli, 1865, there is also a note by the Eev. 

 James Shirley, of Frettenham, describing the nest of a French 

 partridge placed about twelve feet from the ground on the top of a 

 haystack. Although the stack was being constantly distm-bed, 

 fifteen young birds were hatched, and were seen in the act of 

 tumbling down the stack, when they were safely led oflf by the old 

 birds. 



